Of course. Small Claims process in the UK has a fee of about 10% of claim value and covers claims up to £10,000. If you win the other party has to repay those fees. No legal fees allowed. So would be the right process here - presumably as HP are in breach of contract the laptop buyer would win a case for a claim of the extra cost of the same laptop at full price.

How can a corporation represent itself without a lawyer?

I'm not from there but I take a guess: they send a manager that must not be a lawyer.

They are required to send an employee of the company (a manager usually) who does not have a law degree to represent them.

Not sure what Texas' relevance here is? In Washington it's $50 and up to $10,000.

That being said, yes it does: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-syste...

yep https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court...

> And this is why Texas allows for small claims court, where no lawyers are allowed for either side [...]

Are you sure about that? The small claims FAQ [1] on the Texas State Law Library site says lawyers are allowed. It cites section 500.4 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

Looking at the Texas RCP, it looks like small claims is defined by rule 500.3, which among other things says small claims cases are governed by Rules 500-507, so 500.4 would apply as stated in the FAQ.

Most states actually allow attorneys in small claims court. But even in a state that doesn't allow attorneys it probably doesn't matter. That's because it is usually easy to appeal small claims decisions, so if you lose in small claims court but think you would have won if only you had had an attorney you can appeal. The appeal is heard in regular court.

[1] https://faq.sll.texas.gov/questions/48996