HP ProDesk 600 G4 Black 2019

A refurbished office champ with a killer port selection and a proper Windows 11 Pro license. Just don't pay more than $300, and forget gaming exists.

That 8th-gen hexa-core i5 is a pleasant surprise. It sits comfortably in the 65th percentile for CPUs in our database, which means it chews through everyday multitasking without feeling sluggish. The real bottleneck is the integrated Intel HD Graphics 630, which is a weak spot, landing in the 12th percentile. It's fine for a 4K monitor for desktop work, but don't even think about anything beyond 2D games. The 16GB of RAM is a bit of a letdown, falling into the mediocre range, but it's enough for the target audience.

Stacked against a new Apple Mac mini M4, the HP gets obliterated in performance and efficiency but costs a fraction of the price. The real fight is with other refurbished office PCs like the Dell Optiplex 7070. The HP often wins on port selection and that high social proof score, but Dell's business machines can sometimes be found with newer CPUs for similar money. If you need something tiny, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 is a better fit, but you'll pay more for the compact size.

Pricing on this thing is all over the map, with a wild spread from $245 to $4890 across vendors. At the low end, it's a steal for a capable office desktop with a Pro OS. At the high end, you're getting absolutely fleeced. Stick to the sub-$300 listings from reputable refurbishers on Amazon to make this a smart buy.

The HP ProDesk 600 G4 is a refurbished workhorse that knows exactly what it is, and more importantly, what it isn't. It's not going to blow your hair back with raw speed or play any modern games, but for a no-nonsense office PC that handles spreadsheets, Zoom calls, and a frankly ridiculous number of open browser tabs, it's a solid deal. The one thing to know? You're buying a reliable, well-connected desktop for basic productivity, and the included Windows 11 Pro license is the real cherry on top.

If you're looking for a gaming rig or a machine for creative work like video editing, this isn't it. Go get a used gaming PC with a dedicated GPU instead. If you just want a tiny, silent PC for media streaming, a modern mini PC like the Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus is a much better, more power-efficient choice.

If you need a dependable desktop for a home office or a point-of-sale system and you find it for under $300, buy it. The Windows 11 Pro license alone makes it a better deal than building a cheap new PC. Just go in with your eyes open: this is a tool for getting work done, not a toy.