I have been looking at specs for an hour. Taking a break

This is the guts of an enclosure without the metal box around it.

you can use it on a cooling pad for quite a while - just make sure the pad's fan(s) are aimed to vents on the laptop - you can even remove battery covers and such to allow more airflow.

if you don't find one with a card reader, external readers are pretty cheap

That is helpful.

I still have a desktop set up which I can use for awhile longer.

Dell has a "ticket number" or something like that that is unique to each laptop. When you contact tech support they can look up the exact specs on each one sold and can tell you the exact fan - if they will.

Start here: https://parts.hp.com/hpparts/Default.aspx?mscssid=

The Cnet page for it does list "Memory Card Reader Yes (SD Card, SDHC Card, SDXC Card)." https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-probook-645-g1-14-a4-4300m-4-gb-ram-320-gb-hdd/

I'd worry that the 4GB RAM would not be enough to run Windows 10, but I have not worked with 10 much so can't be sure.

it will work with 4 gigs but it will be slow.

It depends on how the device is used, too - if all you're doing is internet, email, and light use, 4 GB might cut it.

On my old Windows 7 Pro desktop that is mostly used for scanning, Photoshop, printing, and massive data, I have 32 GB, which speeds up Photoshop tremendously. I'm getting a new one soon with Windows 10 Pro and I think the recommendation is still 32 GB, though I may go higher, depending on the prices.

The laptop I took on my last trip had 8 GB and compared to my desktop crawls even though the most demanding program was Lightroom.

It's been a long time since I learned about computer terms, so refreshing my memory. I have a friend who, as part of her work, orders computers and parts. She said orders/shipping have been snarled, and with coronavirus, she thinks it'll get worse before it gets better.

Thanks for helping me.

The Dell info was on the bottom, but HP wasn't.

The new Dell laptop is working fine on 4g RAM. I am only using for entertainment, but even so, it is quick and I am not seeing any holdups.

I always mean to keep my serial number somewhere handy but never remember to.

I thought it'd be quicker than looking for the information over and over.

I'm happier now that I have it. I don't want to get lazy and let the rest of my tasks go undone. You are so helpful and I wish I could buy you lunch

Take a local friend to lunch for me.

I'll let you know what you had lol

After looking almost every day since I posted, I think this has what I want or need, a little more than I wanted to pay, but I haven't bought any devices since my husband passed away. Since it is a Dell and the last two have had hinge problems, I might coat the hinges with glue to extend their lives. <jk>

I can hammer away at my other concerns, try to get a fan and try to retrieve my information.

Thank you for all of the help and advice.

I am working on getting it set up. Works nice, lots of memory. It has Cortana installed, so it is quite chatty I have a lot of organizing and consolidating to do.

Thanks again for being so helpful. I love this forum