HP Envy TouchSmart 15.6” Touch Screen Laptop @BestBuy #AMDFX

Disclosure:  The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.  Affiliate links are included in this post.

As you can imagine, I would check the box “heavy”, when asked to characterize the usage of my laptop.  It’s on sixteen hours a day and used at least six of those (my daughter would unhappily say even more).  I know by it’s age that I’ll be replacing it this year, so I’m starting to pay attention to the features that I love, what I like, and those I can live without.  One of the laptops I’m considering is the HP Envy TouchSmart.  What do I like about it?

• Touch-screen.  The laptop I have now came with a touch-screen and at the time, I was *yawn* well, okay.  Now that I’ve lived with a touch-screen, I won’t buy a laptop without one.  There are so many times that it truly enhances the usage experience.  I’ve found myself relying on this feature and when I’m borrowing a laptop that doesn’t have it, frustrated.  A touch screen is not a  luxury anymore, it’s a necessity.
• Great audio.  More and more, I am watching tv shows, movies, and YouTube videos on my laptop.  I don’t have the patience to connect to external speakers and want to rely on the speakers of my laptop for great sound.  The HP Envy TouchSmart comes with Beats Audio, so you know it’s going to be outstanding quality.
• Speed.  Have you tried a computer in a public access location or perhaps a friend or relative’s that is soooooooo slooooooooow that you can almost take a nap between screen refreshes?  Aaarrrgh!  It can drive you crazy!  The Quick AMD FX series processor is great for daily tasks such as managing your personal life or streaming movies or videos and provides great video quality for gaming or catching up on your favorite youtube videos.The AMD FX Special Edition APU introduces mobile systems with AMD’s highest performing APUs, exclusive at Best Buy. When you are looking for a notebook, the AMD FX Special Edition APU will provide you with unbelievable performance, gaming and productivity. Plus, with the new FX APU powered notebook, be unbeatable and experience the processing power of 10 compute cores (4 CPU + 6 GPU)**!  Okay, I did a “copy-and-paste” for that last section, because honestly I don’t know that much about processor powering technology, but it sounds fast and fast is what I want.

Those are the features that I can’t live without, now the ones that I like, but aren’t deal-breakers:

• Backlit keyboard.  Looks cool all the time, very handy for those last minute tasks you find yourself doing before sleep.
• HDMI output.  Connect to an HDTV or high-def monitor to set up two screens side by side or just see more of the big picture.
• Dragon voice assistant capability.  Easily control your applications through simple voice commands. Search the Web, update your social media sites, check e-mail and more.