Here at Neowin, we regularly highlight great deals on Amazon so our readers can get the best value for their money. However, these deals are carefully curated by us based on our own research into the specifications on offer and the price tag attached to them. Now, it seems like some vendors on Amazon are trying to sell laptops with fraudulent specs in the title.
This problem was noticed recently by bmr99 on the r/LinusTechTips subreddit, where the user highlighted that several laptops, many produced by HP, are being sold with a marketed 1.1TB or 1.2TB of storage. You would think that is an odd number considering that storage capacities typically come in base-2 figures like 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB (1024GB) etc., and you"d be absolutely justified in being a bit wary.
Because the fact of the matter is that these PCs only have 128GB of storage in most cases. Where does the other 1TB come from, you ask? Well, that"s 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage that you get through a 1-year subscription of Microsoft 365 that comes bundled with your purchase.
A person who is not tech-savvy would probably see a listing for an HP laptop with 1.2TB of storage and get excited because of the low price tag without realizing that the title description also includes OneDrive capacity. Some examples of this are attached below:
- HP 15.6" Business Laptop Computer with Microsoft 365 • 2026 Edition • Copilot AI • Intel 4-Core N100 CPU • 1.1TB Storage (1TB OneDrive + 128GB SSD) • Windows 11 • w/o Mouse - $299.99 (58% off from usual price of $799.99)
- HP 15.6" Business Laptop with Microsoft Office 365, 1.1TB Storage (128GB UFS + 1TB OneDrive), 16GB RAM, Quad-Cores Intel Processor, Windows 11, PLUSERA Earphones & 8-in-1 Hub Included, Moonlight Blue - $439.98 (32% down from usual price of $649.99)
- HP 14″ Willow Green Lightweight Laptop, Intel 4-Core Processor, 4GB RAM Memory, 1.6TB Storage (128GB SSD + 512GB Portable + 1TB OneDrive), w/WOWPC Bundle，Microsoft 365 Web Apps - $245.99 (12% down from usual price of $278.88)
There are a few other observations to keep in mind too. First, while the examples above are of HP laptops, they are not constrained to the particular OEM. In fact, if you search "Laptop OneDrive" on Amazon, you"ll come across many other OEMs too. Secondly, these tactics are not being employed by a single seller. It seems like several have started competing in this way. Lastly, this problem isn"t restricted to just Amazon either; you"ll see similar examples on other storefronts like Newegg.
All in all, this shady tactic emphasizes yet another important lesson for people engaged in online shopping: it"s better to carefully read through all of the specifications of the product that you"re purchasing, while also making sure that it comes from a credible seller. Or better yet, make sure to check out the multiple deals that we publish on Neowin on a daily basis, such as this LG gram Pro 17 with an RTX 5050 that has been discounted by almost a thousand dollars.
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