HP Envy 15-k020us 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop with Beats Audio Review

Review

The ultra-modern HP Envy 15-k020us 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop sits right in the middle of the HP Envy series, making it a wise choice for those in search of a mid-sized touch screen notebook with a good all-round spec. This model has enough practical features in its locker to make your computing experience easier than ever. Style-wise, this is a lovely looking notebook. The cases natural silver finish and black accents contrast beautifully to create a modern, elegant look. With its full-sized backlit keyboard, typing in dull conditions is never a problem.

This TouchSmart notebook features a large 15.6" WLED-backlit HD touchscreen with multi-touch gestures for easy and intuitive interaction with modern apps in Windows 8; this along with Beats Audio provides a fully fledged multimedia experience the whole family can enjoy. Graphics are provided by the onboard Intel HD graphics 4600 which shares system RAM to use up to 1792 MB total graphics memory. A built-in HP TrueVision HD Webcam is included, which is designed to produce good imagery in low lighting conditions.

A feature we love is the HP SimplePass fingerprint reader. This enables you to access your online account using your fingerprint thus eliminating the need to remember passwords. We think this is the future.

The core spec of this machine is a speedy 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4710HQ processor which with Turbo Boost can run up to 3.5GHz, plus 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM. A large capacity 1024 GB 5400 RPM hard drive provides plenty of storage for large files so you won’t need to lug around external storage whilst on the go. There is also a SuperMulti DVD burner so you can watch DVD movies at your leisure and backup files onto disc. With optical drives becoming less commonly found on laptops these days, this is pleasing to see.

Ports wise, the HP Envy 15-k020us has a pretty standard setup. The left side features an RJ-45 port to connect to a wired network, 1x HDMI port, two USB 3.0 ports and a media card reader. The right side has one USB ports and a headphone-out/mic-in combo jack. Wireless features include the standard 802.11ac WLAN and Bluetooth so you can connect up to wireless networks and Bluetooth devices out of the box.

Consumer Feedback: Read Amazon Consumer Reviews on the HP Envy 15-k020us 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop

Pros

- Stylish, elegant design.

- Great touch screen for seamless navigation.

- Nice backlit keyboard complete with numeric pad.

- Solid core spec.

- Includes optical drive.

Cons

- Not upgradable. You cannot install additional RAM modules in addition to the 1 DIMM pre-installed so have to make use of the base memory.

- Intel HD graphics limits its use as a gaming machine.

- Weighs a fair bit at 5.73 lbs. If portability is essential, we’d only recommend this laptop if you need the optical drive.

Weight / Dimensions

Weight: 5.74 lbs

Width: 15.14"

Depth: 10.24"

Height: 1.11"

Specifications

Processor: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4710HQ Processor (up to 3.5GHz /w Turbo Boost)

Memory: 8 GB DDR3L SDRAM

Hard Drive: 1024 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive

Display: 15.6" diagonal Full HD WLED-backlit touchscreen display (1920 x 1080)

Graphics: Intel HD graphics 4600 (up to 1792MB total graphics memory)

Optical Drive: SuperMulti DVD burner

Wireless: 802.11ac WLAN and Bluetooth

USB Ports: 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x USB 3.0 ports

Audio Ports: Headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack

Numeric keypad: 10-key

Battery: 4-cell 41WHr lithium-ion battery

Battery life: Up to 6 hrs, 15 mins

Operation System: Windows 8.1

Warranty / Support

1-year limited hardware warranty with toll-free support