HP - ENVY Touch-Screen Ultrabook 14" Laptop - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive - Midnight Black

I bought this computer within the first week it was advertised so probably paid more for it than computers that will arrive down the line. However, I'm quite happy with it and feel it's the nicest computer I've owned thus far. I do enjoy the touchscreen even though the screen can be pushed back only so far and not 360 degrees. The screen, the backlit keyboard, and the computer appearance are probably my 3 most favorite features. As an ultrabook, you have to expect that the DVD drive will be missing, but there are a sufficient number of USB 2 and 3 ports as well as an HDMI port. The sound quality is excellent and not muffled and hard to distinguish like other computers. Overall, I would recommend as a cost-effective touchscreen computer if you really want touch.

I ordered the ENVY Touch-Screen Ultra book the first day it was available and got it on the following Wednesday. It was on sale that weekend for $599.00 and I am very happy with my purchase. Being new to Windows 8, but well verse with Windows 7, I found the setup using Desktop mode in Windows 8, that there was little difference in configuring either system. Out of the box, I plugged in a Logitech Wireless Mouse and turned it on. If you have an E-mail address that is linked to a Microsoft Live ID Account, The name on your account will be your Name when you log in with your password to Windows 8. Windows 8 has pre-installed Security Software, unlike Windows 7, where you have to download it. What they have done is change the name back to Defender, but it’s the same Security Essentials. Now getting back to the setup, it will ask if you want to install Norton Internet Security. Because Norton is free for only two months and the conflict with Defender, do not install Norton. With Defender, you will need to turn it on and Update the latest Definitions. This will give you your Firewall and Anti-virus protection that you need. When the Start Screen pops up you will see that you new computer has a beautiful screen with many apps and programs that are pre-loaded. Going to the Store, there are many additional free apps. Tapping the Desktop box on the Start Screen will bring up a Windows 7 like Desktop. I added addition Desktop Icons and continued to customize my new system as if it was Windows 7. As you should know, this system does not include a DVD drive, so to load additional software; I used an external Pioneer Blu-Ray drive that required the use of the other two USB Ports that were available. The drive worked fine, but you will need to purchase third-party software if you want to watch a movie. Overall as I get used to using Windows 8, the ENVY Touch-Screen Ultra book with the I3 Core processor is giving me a good experience in learning to use Windows 8. I look at my purchase as two Systems in one. The Touch Screen mode, giving me the feel of using a Microsoft Tablet, and the Desktop as a place to run all the programs I would be running on Windows 7. With great features, I feel that for the money it was a great buy.

It’s difficult to review a new laptop that comes with a new operating system and not let one taint the other. First, this was purchased during the after Thanksgiving Cyber week sales so the value was excellent, especially because this laptop has a touch screen and backlit keyboard. HP has been doing touch screens for ages so I consider them one of the leaders in that area. I’ve had the opportunity to use Windows 8 on this touch screen laptop and a standard laptop and I can tell you that it is so much easier on a touch screen. Certain things that could have been designed into Win8 for mouse use don’t exist, but then Microsoft does not have a reputation for doing things right the first time. I do feel HP and ALL the laptop manufacturers are stretching the limit of the term “Ultrabook”. While this laptop is lighter and thinner than my previous laptop, it’s not by much. I’ve seen some ads for “Ultrabook” but in the description, the name changes to “Sleekbook”. You might be surprised by how much you use the back lit keyboard. I don’t recommend using it all the time if you are on battery. It’s just another thing that will drain it faster. That’s the other disappointment. Battery life is not what I hoped it would be for something called Ultrabook. With the standard SATA hard drive rather than Solid State, the hard drive sucks up the juice too. Added software is adequate. Not much bloatware installed, but a number of HP centric apps and links to HP websites are installed. One of my criticisms on the Win8 side is that Window Media Player does not play MPG movies. Sound is there but no video. I’m sure it’s a codec thing but so far I have not been able to find the solution. The included CyberLink Media viewer will work but is very poor. Black and white movies have a purple hue that goes on and off, and color movies have a lot of color shift. These problems are not apparent on a 3rd party viewer I downloaded and now use so it’s not a laptop video issue. Sound is mediocre. Definitely not worth a trademark. In fact I would make no comment about it at all if HP hadn’t made a big deal out of branding it. It’s sound. I can hear it. Big deal. If I want to hear it well, I still have to wear headsets. You’re not going to be able to have a party and expect this laptop to provide the tunes without hooking it up to something everyone can hear. Although the branding is to sell the laptop, not provide good sound. The battery is not user changeable (if changeable at all), so who knows what will happen in a year or so when batteries usually start losing their life. Value of this device based on 12 – 16 months of life suddenly diminishes (but it's too early to tell now).

Bought it during Cyber Monday. Can't beat the price. Super value. It is everything you expect for a modern laptop. Thin, not too heavy, good look, decent performance for light duty tasks such as web browsing, MS office, Quicken, etc. It starts up quickly, usually in less than 15 seconds or so. The touch screen is great. You almost mistaken it as am iPad. Love Windows8 with touch screen. Now I use both Win8 screen and desktop. I navigate using touch screen, touch pad, and mouse, whichever way I feel like it. That's what I call a total freedom. Win8 with touch screen is a must, and this laptop delivers it with an incredible price. The biggest complain I have with this laptop is the highly reflective display. There is almost no way to not to see yourself in the display. After a while you kind of ignore it. But it's a shame that manufacturers somehow decided a while ago that consumers want a reflective screen. Another issue I have is the touch pad and the select buttons hidden under it. The touch pad is not that great but acceptable. The select buttons are way too stiff. A wireless mouse solves the problem. But it is hard to imagine that HP cannot get this little thing right. If not for the reflective display and the stiff select buttons, I would rate this laptop a 5 starts. Anyhow I would recommend this PC to my friends and family.

I really like the start up it is super fast which is very convenient during school. Also the features are really great I love playing around with this lap top and seeing what else it can do. The battery life is also very great it is far better than my old hp and that is really a great feature for me as a student also.

I researched all the new Windows 8 laptops coming out as well as already out and this by far is the best deal out there. Windows 8 can only be truly appreciated with a touchscreen. Today I tried out a co-workers new 15.6" non touchscreen version and really didn't like it. He used mine with the touchscreen and is willing to give up the optical drive and the larger screen for the touch screen. It stacks up against any touchscreen laptop under $1,000 - The new Ivy i3 processor is plenty quick and 4 GB of RAM is more than any day to day user will ever need. I Photoshop 200-400 pics a day and upload them with ease from the SD reader and edit several websites with no problem. I bought this so I didn't have to lug around my $3k Dell 1747 - There is no noticeable difference in power running multiply programs; playing movies or anything else I can throw at it. The only other laptop I considered was the Lenovo Yoga IdeaPad and it was only because the screen rotation of 360 degrees is brilliant - however to me it wasn't worth the extra money. Bottom line, you will be pleasantly surprised how incredible this laptop is for the money -

Overall, very satisfied with the laptop -- touchscreen is really cool. Disappointed, though, with the cable that plugs into the laptop from the power supply -- connector is already falling apart because it sticks out far and is prone to being banged about. An annoyance in an otherwise good product.

Overall I am satisfied with this product. I upgraded from a 15.6" laptop with a battery that lasted 2 hours if I was lucky - the battery on this lasts a good 4-5 hours, which is decent. I do a lot of programming, web design, and things of that nature and it is nice to be able to get away from an utlet for a while.The touch screen is really great, although it's not really needed except when navigating/using windows 8. The laptop is pretty thin, but I expected it to be a bit thinner for an ultrabook. The audio is good, but I think there was a problem with the Beats audio drivers when I first purcahsed this laptop back in December 2012. Since then I believe it has been fixed (or I fixed it myself?). The touchpad has been a bit finicky but you can customize a lot of its features which is nice (I disabled the windows 8 swiping features because I kept accidentally using them). I've had a few strange problems with the wfif adapter but I fixed it by reinstalling some wifi drivers. Also, the ethernet port is really convenient and clever, in my opinion. Backlit keyboard is really a plus and I won't buy a laptop without it anymore. I wish the battery would last around 7 hours instead of 4-5 and the battery is built in (not replaceable), but that is the case with most ultrabooks now anyways. Overall this is a good buy, especially for the price. I would not recommend this for gaming or anything that requires a lot from the CPU because it's running on the little 1.8GHz i3 processor so it can't handle anything crazy - but it works great for most tasks and software.