Did I just buy a new laptop with the same processor speed?

it is the same speed, if you return it within a certain time period they may exchange it. but it all depends on what you need the laptop for. the processor wont speed up or slow down based on RAM,,, but ram affects how many programs you can run at once on your laptop. the processor is like your subconscious, your RAM is like your consciousness. if you use your laptop for basic things like microsoft office, playing sims 3, email, web camming, downloading music,ect...then this laptop is fine. however, i have a Friend who works for hp as a software engineer and hp has the highest hardware failure rates within two years of the major companies(meaning that more HPs break as compared to other companies within the first two years).so you may want to try and exchange it for that reason. i would suggest dell or acer/gateway(acer owns gateway).