HP - ENVY Desktop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive - Nightfall Black

Ordered on line picked up in 1 HR and drove off that simple.

The equipment itself is up to specs. However, when I opened the box I was missing the wireless mouse and when I turned it on it had another person login. Before I could use it, I had to go into the recovery boot and do a system reset. It seems that what was sold to me as new was a return or an open box and it failed to have been reset or even cleaned. With the coronavirus outbreaks having a piece of equipment not prepared for resell, is bad. Had I not needed the equipment for work and had the time to return it, I would have. Shame on you Best Buy. It even had a dongle from the other persons devices.

I buy this PC for my online classes. This is excellent service. I love HP

I bought this computer on 3/13/2020 and left it running overnight. On morning of 3/14/2020 - it was stuck in an endless loop of automatic repair. On my way to Best Buy to return it ...

Mind you I've had this for about 24 hours, but this machine is amazing. There are no delays in response to any of my peripherals, and there's not the tiniest bit of heat produced by spinning disks. I'm completely confident that this machine will last a long time to come. Also the size is perfect - not too big that I need to put it on the floor and large enough for modifications and additions down the road.

I waited (on purpose) before submitting this review because I wanted to post a review after using the product for a little while. Let me start with this, I am a teacher and when we were switched to distance learning, I figured out real fast that my old home computer could not handle the volume of computer applications that I needed to use in a regular day. This ENVY Desktop has been able to handle it all. I have multiple windows open at any given time. I have been able to have "virtual" real time meetings with both my students and my colleagues while having the online platforms open and working, along with any other documents I also needed at the time. There has been no lagging or freezing with this model. This was an upgrade from my previous HP desktop. I did pay more for this model, then my previous model, but it was well worth it. I have had other brand towers, but in the end, I usually come back to HP. So far, so good!

My 10-year-old PC decided to die at the same time everyone was buying new PCs because of the Coronavirus, so the pickings were slim. Although this PC did not have all the specs I wanted, it seemed close enough and the price was good. If you use Microsoft Office programs, do light gaming and photo or video editing it will do well. It also has plenty of ports. There are four USB 2.0 ports in the rear, and in the front, there are four USB 3.1 ports, a USB Type C port, and a 3-in-1 media card reader. It is incredibly quiet, fast, and boots up in less than 20 seconds. But if you want a faster graphics card or additional RAM, it can be a challenge. RAM & SSD speed are very fast but the “weakest link” in this PC is the embedded Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics card. As one benchmark I ran said, “This GPU can only handle very basic 3D games but it's fine for general computing tasks.” The PC has available slots to add a GPU but it only has a 180 watt power supply, so the upgrade choices for graphics cards is limited unless you want to change the power supply, and that’s an issue unto itself. The power supply in this PC is non-standard. I was told by two BB employees that a certain PS would work so I bought it. Unfortunately, it was physically too large to fit in the case and even if it could, it had incompatible cables. The ONLY power supply I could find that is compatible with this model is one that can only be purchased directly from HP. It’s a 500-watt PS, part number L05757-800 and costs around $140 delivered. The good news is that (unlike the PS included) it has all the connectors you need to power an add-on graphics card. This information isn’t available on the HP site but it actually does include the 8 pin, 6 pin and 2 pin connectors so that almost any add-on GPU will work. One caution though. The PC case restricts the size of the GPU to about 10” long and about 3½“ high. Installing the 500w PS was simple and it fits better than the original. The motherboard provides power to the components so there’s only three cables from the PS to the motherboard that have to be connected, and they are clearly marked. The one addition that should be simple is adding RAM. Good luck. There is one available slot to add an additional 16 GB stick but it’s impossible to find the memory to insert there. Again, it seems like the only source is directly from HP, but they are out of stock. The part number for the additional 16 GB module, according to an HP chat tech is 934255-800. You could, of course replace the one module with two matching 16 GB modules. The 500 GB SSD looks like a memory module and attaches directly to the motherboard, so there’s no “cage” to add an additional SSD or HD. So adding another drive to this PC requires the purchase of a drive enclosure. I purchased a SanDisk 2 TB SSD, Best Buy part number 5969504 and a Corsair SATA drive enclosure, part number 6033200. Installation was quite easy and straightforward. Overall, I am very pleased with this PC. There were some challenges in getting the information needed to add some components but hopefully this will make it easier if you wish to make it even better.

Originally purchased an HP Envy AMD Ryzen 3 with 8GB memory, but upon setup, found less than 6GB was available. I called HP support asking if the memory was expandable and was told that it wouldn't be simply "plug and play". I immediately chatted with Best Buy support and they not only recommended this PC, but even sent a link for compatible memory modules for future consideration. I might never need the extra memory. After setup, I found my 16GB has 15.8GB available - a huge improvement over the AMD model. Testing the capabilities, I was able to cut and paste a huge Excel spreadsheet into memory without having to break it into sections. I'm finding this to be perfect for the family who has both home and office requirements.