Patio, the model in question has been for sale for a few years, however they were being sold new until fairly recently.
Rant about manufacturers incoming...
I don't think this storage issue is necessarily really related to age. The problem is HP, and other manufacturers, and their disgusting tactic of exploiting general user ignorance regarding aspects like disk storage. people see the low price tag and see it in action for a bit and it all looks up to snuff. It's not until- say a year later- that the user discovers that the storage space provided makes the system useless. For a while the models sold could be upgraded- HP and other manufacturers would use an interposer to install the eMMC drive. But, now, they are basically using proprietary plugs *specifically* to prevent their consumers from upgrading the storage.
Strictly speaking, 32GB is "big enough" for Windows 10. But only on paper. And only if you never install applications. Once you install a few applications- and actually use the system- files will accumulate on the drive and without constant maintenance and cleaning out of the drive it's very easy to run out of space. And the very user that these manufacturers target- individuals like JackCatalano- don't have the skillset to really tackle that problem appropriately. (And heck, even if they do, why is that Pain in the *censored* their responsibility when manufacturers should be selling products that aren't hot garbage?). So they end up screwed. Naturally, if you call their support, they will push their laptop models that come with larger drives, Particularly now that they have *intentionally* made it so that the drives cannot be upgraded on some of their lesser models like this one.
I don't think an External HDD will really fix the problem. That is only useful because you can save your own files onto the HDD; but 32GB is simply much not big enough for Windows 10, that's why pretty much everybody with a 32GB eMMC has to deal with this problem. You *can* use an External to help with some of the Windows stuff- but That is a despicably involved process f or the manufacturers to require of users just to use their PC normally like a normal person. When the crappy, awful design and proprietary limitations intentionally added to a system require the user to follow a three step process involving a second PC (which itself is not strangled in the same way) and a Flash Drive in order to install, I think it's fair to say the manufacturers don't have the consumer's best interest in mind when they save the 10-15 bucks on storage by using a 32GB eMMC instead of 64GB.
A typical laptop from ten years ago came with a hard drive that had at least 7 times as much storage. My Smartphone from 2014 has twice the storage. The only reason these laptop manufacturers are selling hot garbage with 32GB eMMC drives is to exploit users who don't know any better and aren't aware of all the stupid hoops they are going to have to jump through because of it. You can just imagine the marketing folks in those companies, with their squirrelly faces, in the break room laughing about how they pulled one over on so many people, and can only wish you could clamp their eyelids open, fill the sprinkler system with lemon juice, and burn some toast.
