Best 17-inch HP STEM Students Laptops Under C$800 in Canada

What a STEM Student laptop means: a laptop that holds up to engineering coursework,fast CPU for compilation, enough RAM to run simulations or a VM, GPU headroom for the occasional ML or CUDA assignment, while still portable enough for daily campus life. Typical use: MATLAB, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Python and Jupyter notebooks, compiling C++ or Rust, occasional CUDA work, recorded lectures. Fits engineering, computer science, physics, math, and data-science majors,undergrads through PhD.

Also relevant for: STEM laptops · engineering laptops · CS student laptops · MATLAB & simulation

Updated: July 2026
Products evaluated: 2281
How we work: Editorial principles →

Showing: 17-inch · Under C$800 · HP or Framework or Microsoft

Showing 1–10 of 11 STEM Students laptops
  1. #1
    Champion
    Objective profile
    HP 17
    (i5-1334U, 64GB, 2TB)
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$668 – C$817
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    43 / 100
    Weight2.09 kg
    Battery8.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1600x900
    RAM64 GB
    Storage2 TB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 45
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 70
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 75
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 58
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 55
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 46
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 31
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  2. #2
    Runner-Up
    Objective profile
    HP 17
    (i3-N305, 16GB, 512GB)
    2 configs
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$702 – C$857
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    36 / 100
    Weight2.09 kg
    Battery7.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1600x900
    RAM16 GB
    Storage512 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 36
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 42
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 31
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 34
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 49
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 46
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 66
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  3. #3
    Top Pick
    Objective profile
    HP 17
    (Ryzen 5 7430U, 16GB, 256GB)
    2 configs
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$689 – C$842
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    36 / 100
    Weight2.09 kg
    Battery5.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1600x900
    RAM16 GB
    Storage256 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 40
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 42
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 36
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 34
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 31
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 47
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 58
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  4. #4
    Objective profile
    HP 17
    (Ryzen 5 7520U, 8GB, 512GB)
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$576 – C$704
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    36 / 100
    Weight2.08 kg
    Battery8.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1920x1080
    RAM8 GB
    Storage512 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 36
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 25
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 44
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 34
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 55
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 48
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 66
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  5. #5
    Objective profile
    HP 17
    (Ryzen 5 7520U, 16GB, 512GB)
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$702 – C$857
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    35 / 100
    Weight2.08 kg
    Battery6.7 hr
    Display17.3" 1920x1080
    RAM16 GB
    Storage512 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 36
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 42
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 21
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 34
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 47
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 48
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 49
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  6. #6
    Objective profile
    HP OmniBook 5 17
    (i3-N305, 16GB, 512GB)
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$691 – C$845
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    35 / 100
    Weight2.09 kg
    Battery10.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1920x1080
    RAM16 GB
    Storage512 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 36
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 42
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 31
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 34
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 67
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 46
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 66
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  7. #7
    Objective profile
    HP 17 Notebook
    (N4120) (Celeron N4120, 16GB, 1TB)
    HP · 17.3" · 2020
    C$674 – C$824
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    34 / 100
    Weight2.06 kg
    Battery6.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1600x900
    RAM16 GB
    Storage1 TB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 11
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 42
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 21
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 34
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 42
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 48
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 78
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  8. #8
    Objective profile
    HP Essential
    (i3-N305, 8GB, 256GB)
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$494 – C$604
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    34 / 100
    Weight2.09 kg
    Battery7.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1920x1080
    RAM8 GB
    Storage256 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 36
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 25
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 31
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 58
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 49
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 47
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 66
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  9. #9
    Objective profile
    HP 17
    (i3-N305, 8GB, 512GB)
    4 configs
    HP · 17.3" · 2023
    C$588 – C$718
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    33 / 100
    Weight–
    Battery8.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1600x900
    RAM8 GB
    Storage512 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 36
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 25
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 31
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 58
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 55
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 45
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 66
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →
  10. #10
    Objective profile
    HP 17
    (i3-1125G4, 8GB, 256GB)
    HP · 17.3" · 2021
    C$494 – C$604
    STEM Student SelvaScore
    28 / 100
    Weight2.17 kg
    Battery6.0 hr
    Display17.3" 1600x900
    RAM8 GB
    Storage256 GB
    SelvaScore breakdown
    • 25
      Multi-Core Performance Multi-Thread Scalability
    • 25
      System Memory RAM Capacity
    • 42
      Single-Core Speed Single-Thread Velocity
    • 19
      Storage Speed Storage Throughput
    • 42
      Battery Life Autonomous Runtime
    • 43
      AI Acceleration NPU Inference Capacity
    • 44
      Weight Gravitational Load
    • 31
      Thermal Stability Thermal Throttling Resistance
    Canadian retailer links coming soon, check back shortly.
    View full review →

Quick Comparison

#LaptopScorePrice WeightBatteryDisplayRAMStorage
1 HP 17 (i5-1334U, 64GB, 2TB) 43 C$668 – C$817 2.09 kg 8.0 hr 17.3" 1600x900 64 GB 2 TB
2 HP 17 (i3-N305, 16GB, 512GB) 36 C$702 – C$857 2.09 kg 7.0 hr 17.3" 1600x900 16 GB 512 GB
3 HP 17 (Ryzen 5 7430U, 16GB, 256GB) 36 C$689 – C$842 2.09 kg 5.0 hr 17.3" 1600x900 16 GB 256 GB
4 HP 17 (Ryzen 5 7520U, 8GB, 512GB) 36 C$576 – C$704 2.08 kg 8.0 hr 17.3" 1920x1080 8 GB 512 GB
5 HP 17 (Ryzen 5 7520U, 16GB, 512GB) 35 C$702 – C$857 2.08 kg 6.7 hr 17.3" 1920x1080 16 GB 512 GB
6 HP OmniBook 5 17 (i3-N305, 16GB, 512GB) 35 C$691 – C$845 2.09 kg 10.0 hr 17.3" 1920x1080 16 GB 512 GB
7 HP 17 Notebook (N4120) (Celeron N4120, 16GB, 1TB) 34 C$674 – C$824 2.06 kg 6.0 hr 17.3" 1600x900 16 GB 1 TB
8 HP Essential (i3-N305, 8GB, 256GB) 34 C$494 – C$604 2.09 kg 7.0 hr 17.3" 1920x1080 8 GB 256 GB
9 HP 17 (i3-N305, 8GB, 512GB) 33 C$588 – C$718 – 8.0 hr 17.3" 1600x900 8 GB 512 GB
10 HP 17 (i3-1125G4, 8GB, 256GB) 28 C$494 – C$604 2.17 kg 6.0 hr 17.3" 1600x900 8 GB 256 GB

How we ranked these

SelvaScore is independent. Rankings reflect our editorial judgment, not vendor relationships. No laptop manufacturer pays for placement, and affiliate revenue from retailers does not affect which laptop wins this list.

Every laptop here has been evaluated through the same lens for this use case. The same machines are evaluated differently for other use cases. What works for one use case doesn't always work for another.

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