My previous laptop was an HP Envy, and I loved it! My husband and I bought it in 2015. It had a titanium keyboard and spoiled me with touchscreen capabilities. It was just an awesome laptop! Two years of weekly traveling took a toll, though. The screws holding the bottom plastic cover came loose and I ended up losing one. This resulted in a gap between the keyboard and the base, not allowing the laptop to open and close easily. I solved that problem by simply not closing it. A year later, the keypad mouse starting acting wonky. Again, I had a solution: a wired mouse. A few months after that, some of the keys on the keyboard decided they didn’t want to be a part of the team anymore. In order to type, I had to use the online keyboard. While tedious and inconvenient most of the time, I made it work. Last year, the hard drive started failing. My husband explained that it was time for us to start looking for a new laptop. I didn’t want to spend the money, so he worked his magic to keep it going for me. Our compromise was that we would at least start researching different laptops and comparing prices. This past summer, he was working on getting all the computers ready for the upcoming school year. While going through mine, he explained that it was time to buy a new one. With our son in online school, I need a reliable laptop to go through his lessons with him. In addition to that, my laptop serves as an extra computer for everyone in the house. I use it for writing and social media, my son likes to use it to edit and upload videos to YouTube, and my husband uses it for gaming. When we travel, my laptop is the one that goes with us. With the hard drive continuing to fail, the worry was that it would crash in the middle of the school year and then we’d have a large, unexpected expense. We needed to take care of this before the problem happened. Because we had spent the past year doing our research, we had a good idea of which laptops would be the best options for us. After comparing prices and specs, we ended up purchasing the HP Envy x 360.
Specs
AMD Ryzen 7 4700U with Radeon Graphics 2.00 GHz 512GB Solid State Drive 8.00GB DDR4 15.6" FDH LED Touchscreen Pen capability
First Thoughts and My Experience
As soon as we got home and pulled it out of the box, we were impressed. Matte black and sleek, this is a striking laptop. The keyboard includes convenient kill switches for the webcam and mic, as well as a fingerprint reader for optional biosecurity. On the right hand side, there is a USB port and an SD reader. The left side has a headphone/mic combo jack, an HDMI and USB port, and a USB-C port. The screen itself is large, with a minimal border. At the top, of course, is the camera with two internal microphones on either side. Set up was easy and simple. In no time at all, my husband had it up and running, ready for me to put it through the paces. The first thing I noticed was how vibrant the colors looked. The second thing I noticed was the speed: no lag whatsoever, click and instantly I’m at my destination. Switching to tablet mode is a breeze, just flip the screen back. I have the computer set up to ask me if I want to enter and exit tablet mode for better convenience. The hinges are durable, which was important detail for me. Both modes work great! I love using tablet mode for editing photos and reading. It’s also convenient in the kitchen. When I need a recipe, I can easily set the computer up in tablet mode, standing it in an inverted V, with the screen facing me. Audio quality is top notch. The laptop is equipped with Bang & Olufsen, perfect for listening to music or watching videos. Battery life is amazing. I can use it all day without having to plug it in to the wall. While it has pen capabilities, this one didn’t come with one. However, I am able to use my phone’s S Pen and my son’s Samsung tablet stylus with it. One of my favorite things is the Bluetooth capability. Not only is it easy to send photos from my phone to my laptop, but it’s incredibly fast!
Is It Worth The Money?
There are so many things this laptop can do. Even after owning it for three months, I’m still learning and discovering its capabilities. I use it every day to help my son with his schooling, catch up on social media, conduct research for my articles, and everything in between. I even hooked this up to my old HP Deskjet printer without any issues. That’s a big deal considering that printer is at least ten years old. My son has used the laptop for school, completing his work and attending his live lesson sessions for school. He also uses it to edit and upload his gaming videos to YouTube. My husband likes using it to play his computer games. This laptop was expensive, but considering everyone in my family is able to use it, I think it was worth it. It’s a great computer! If you’re in the market for a new laptop, I highly recommend this one. It’s a multi-purpose laptop your entire family can enjoy! © 2020 Alyssa
Comments
Alyssa (author) from Ohio on November 05, 2020: That’s awesome! HP is my favorite brand. I’ve always had great luck with their stuff. Honestly, if your computer works for you, there’s no need to spend more for features you don’t need. Alyssa (author) from Ohio on November 05, 2020: I’m glad this was helpful, Pamela! HP is a really good brand.. it’s always my first choice. Hopefully with the holidays, prices will be more competitive. I think this one has already gone down in price. But when it comes to computers, the biggest thing to think about is what will you be using it for? That’s what my husband always asks me when it’s time for us to start looking. He’s the computer guy in our house and I leave it to him when it comes to technology. For me, it’s all about how long can I make this pricey investment last? haha! Good luck laptop shopping! Let me know if you have any questions. We’d be happy to help. :) Bill Holland from Olympia, WA on November 05, 2020: Thanks for the review. I have an HP too, but not such an expensive one. I probably should have spent a bit more but really, 90% of the time I just write on mine, so how good do I really need? Anyway, have a wonderful Thursday! Pamela Oglesby from Sunny Florida on November 05, 2020: Thank you Alyssa for this review. This laptop sounds like it meets all your needs and then some. I have to get a new lapto soon and I will consider this one.
