HP Envy 13-ab016nr Notebook (Intel Core i5-7200U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) with Windows 10

Sweet machine here. No known faults like everything else I looked at. Great battery life. Snappy as all hell! This thing is ka-wik! Boots up in a flash, like 5-8 seconds. Thanks to it having an: NVME Drive Which is the best thing ever. And if for some reason you need more space. This one can be swapped for a bigger one. Other then that and I think the WiFi card. There's no other upgrading that can be done. But if you need an i7 and 16 gigs of RAM. This really isn't the class you should be shopping for anyway. This I felt blew away everything else for the money (I paid $599.99 on a flash sale). It's lightweight, compact, very portable, has all the right specs for everything but heavy stuff on the regular, screen is Full HD and looks great, speakers sound great although could go just a bit louder, they fire up which is so nice compared to underneath (WTF is up w/ that anyway?), plenty of ports including USB C, amazing battery life, nice back lit keyboard, etc I had my list, and this checked all the boxes. It's not for gamers, or intensive stuff that needs a quad core desktop i7, or 32 gb of RAM. But for everyday stuff this is just so much nicer then a budget machine at a really reasonable price. It's specs are better then a Dell XPS, until you spend about twice as much. Buy it. You'll be impressed. Everybody I've shown it to has been, as am I. I would definitely plunk down my hard earned dollars again.

I was looking around Amazon for a good enough laptop to last me through a couple of years if high school, a good coding machine and for a couple of games. I spent less time than I should've researching alternatives and other options, so before you make any decisions, I’m going to recommend the obvious, look around, get a feel of what the market at this price point feels like and then make your call. What I use it for: TL/DR: it can run several games, including AAA titles. A light, thin and fast enough, with a great processor, laptop is what I needed for coding. For basic stuff, the first things I’ve learned at least, the machine can stand up for itself. Its good enough and has out sped several of my peers’ Macbooks. Even though it doesn’t have a dedicated graphics card, I still use it for a couple of games. • Battlefield 4, amazingly can run and with a couple of tweaks can run at 60fps, but at the lowest setting, very playable. • Minecraft, not a surprise, a CPU demanding game that the LT handled with ease, even with a couple of mods. • League of Legends, great, more than so, can pay at good resolutions and maintain smooth gameplay. • Watch_Dogs, kind of? It’s a demanding game, an depending on what you deem “playable” you could, or at least I can. • Call of Duty-BlackOp2/MW3, good enough to play for fun, with decent enough graphics not to look like Minecraft. There are several other games, but these are the ones I play the most. And lastly, I use this LT for media consumption. PROS: • Its lightning fast, boots in record speed and can load programs and files like they were nothing. The 8GB of RAM are enough for some multitasking. • The looks on this thing are godly. One of the main reasons why I bought it. The build quality of overall great (more on this later) and the hinge hasn’t seemed to have worn off, nor has the chromed finished at the border. • For my taste the keyboard is great, it’s backlight adds to it, it’s a shame there are only to modes; either on or off. • THIN, comparing it against a MacBook Air, I can dare to say they are about the same and this baby kills the other machine in power. • Ports for a laptop this thin wasn’t something I expected, but with a USB-C (non thunderbolt) a couple of USB-A, and HDMI and an Mini SD card there’s nothing to complain about. • Battery is outstanding, can last as advertised. 14 hours and even more. OK: • The speakers are great, sound clear and loud enough, Bang&Olufsen doesn’t disappoint. I had a couple of issues were they wouldn’t work, had to reinstall the audio drivers. Currently there is a recurring annoying sound on the left speaker that seems to be physical. • While the build quality is great, and it look even better, excessive heat from intense loads of work bent and warped the screen and hinge. It isn’t a big deal, but it’s annoying considering the edge of the screen is what the computer rests on and it can wobble sometimes. • Screen is good enough for gaming, not sure how color accurate it is. CONS: • You can’t open it to upgrade anything, and I filled up the SSD quite quickly. • Can’t manage heat as good enough as expected for it to carry this much of a processor. • Trackpad isn’t great for my liking. • You shouldn’t even consider using the WebCam for anything but necessary Skype calls. • There’s only two USB-A ports and are so close together that bulky drives won’t fit at the same time, even more annoying when using mice. A great laptop overall, I kind of exceeded its intended use. It is practically a coffee shop machine, a worthy opponent to the MacBook Air.

I am about to start school in August for an Electrical Engineering degree and have a decent background with building my own PC's. When you buy a laptop it's very important to look at EVERY aspect of it's performance since you'll likely be unable or unwilling to upgrade the internal parts later without a lot of unnecessary hassle. That being said here are the things I love about this laptop, 256GB Storage space: Admittedly this isn't the BEST in the market, however considering how thin and attractive this PC is and the price point, i'm very happy with it. BONUS: ALL of the memory on this pc is SSD storage which means increased performance and cooler/quieter running. 8GB of RAM: I run Photoshop for my personal/professional life. so having the extra RAM to process all my brushstrokes and effects makes this a MUST. anything 4 and under just doesn't cut it if you have lengthy projects to work on. Intel Core i5-7200U: Again another category where you get the best of both worlds, this is both inexpensive and performs well on many benchmarks. It's no powerhouse for gaming mind you, but it'll do the job all the same and give you little trouble. I also get minimal stuttering from Heroes of the storm The keyboard feels soft but responsive and is quiet, plus the backlight is nice. I also like the trackpad, multitouch gestures, smooth surface that doesn't lend to gathering oily junk. The battery is O.K. it's not some megahouse but it's enough to get the job done if you're moving from point A- to point B (Besides who doesn't travel without their cable anyway) I made sure to wipe the OS with a fresh install immedietly after purchase and I notice both a performance and battery boost. Overall rating: I will need more time and will possibly update my review after about a month or two, however I really REALLY enjoy the laptop so far, it's light, responsive, quiet and sexy. Would recommend for price/performance B+