HP Pavilion 14-b110us 14-Inch Sleekbook (Silver)

I bought this laptop as mainly something to carry around with me and do my writing on. For that, it works fantastically. Because it's Windows 8, I can separate the windows and write while I'm looking at reference material. But I'm also a gamer, and while I will need to buy a mouse to play more free-moving games like MMO's and FPS's that I tend to play, it plays RTS's and the KOTOR series just fine with the mousepad, despite it's overall lack of sensitivity.

Windows 8 is by far the hardest thing to get used to, especially with the special swipes you can use with the mousepad.

This is a fantastic system, and I recommend it to anyone needing something ultra-portable and that will handle what they want.

Bought this machine because the price was right and I needed upgrade from my ancient Dell desktop that I've nursed along since 2002 (bought it for college).

Out of the box, two things immediately jumped out: this thing doesn't weigh much more than a hardcover book, and good lord, is HP's "helper" application ever going to let me just use the computer?

First, the good stuff. The display is great, doesn't wash out from the sides or above/below nearly as badly as some machines on the market. The case feels sturdy enough, and the brushed aluminum looks sharp. Everything for your peripherals is easily accessible, and even without a latch, the clamshell action of the lid opening and closing seems to stay where you want it. Your various keys for screen brightness, volume for both external speakers as well as headphones, and wireless connectivity are all easily reachable and clearly defined on the keyboard, making it easy to adjust these settings to your preference right out of the box.

The cons? Not too many, Windows 8 notwithstanding, though that's not an HP problem but rather a discussion about the fundamental merits/detriments about the newest Windows platform, which HP has no control over. The BIOS setup is about like you'd expect, and for those interested in that stuff, easy to access as long as you're paying attention. The AMD dual core processor keeps things cooking along nicely, even with Windows 8 being slightly more resource heavy than Windows 7. I thought of investing in more memory, since Win8 takes 2 gigs to run, and this only has 4, but I plan to dual boot at a later date anyway. However, you're looking to be resource heavy, it might be worth it to evaluate your memory needs.

HP's updater is irritating beyond belief. Unlike Windows, where I can simply shut off notifications because I'm not a tech infant, these things insist on me updating completely ancillary programs that I don't use, such as CyberLink Media Suite. I realize that this may be aimed at people who are new to computing and/or haven't worked in tech as I have, but making the settings to shut down notification/automatic updates more visible and accessible should be a priority.

The integrated webcam is just like any other webcam that is immobilized in the clamshell...to have a good display while you video chat, you have to angle the camera in such a way that you'll have a lot of headspace over your outgoing picture. Can't be helped. The picture is clear, and the integrated microphone seems to pick things up reasonably well. I don't do much video chatting, so this really is beyond my scope of experience.

External speakers are tinny and underpowered, but that's par for the course with external speakers. Buy yourself a decent set of headphones and make sure your media player has some parametric EQ.

Not a bad little machine for the price. I'll say this, though, I'm trying to dual boot Ubuntu, and the UEFI crap is making it remarkably difficult. Without going into tech nerd specifics, just know that if your'e interested in dual booting a secondary OS, Windows 8 is a bratty, petulant, and jealous only child who does NOT want you to play with others. Do your homework before you go in, and you'll save yourself some headaches.

I would definitely recommend this laptop to anyone who is looking for a laptop rather than a tablet/netbook platform. My complaints are either about equipment I don't utilize (webcam, external speakers) or about the fact that the machine isn't catering to my demands which generally exceed the average user's desires from a computer (dual booting, worrying about system resources, BIOS setup). I've been thoroughly satisfied with it when looking at it objectively from a non-tech nerd perspective, and pleased with my venture away from Dell, which had been my desktop/notebook experience for a number of years.

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The description of this product is totally misleading.

I purchased this laptop through the Amazon.

The processor is 1.9 Ghz not 2.4 Ghz.

Be ware.

The misleading of the description of the product.

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When I received this product I found out I had to buy the external cd drive to upload the programs. Second, I was not happy that the Norton Internet was only for a 60 day trail period, so my niece who I ordered this for has to purchase the product August 5th. This computer didn't include other programs such as Microsoft Word For Students. This would have been easier for me is I had ordered a laptop similar to the one I purchased last year which included a internal cd/dvd/blue ray player which made it easier to upload all my programs. Since my niece is inexperienced in this matter, she'll have to go to one of the computer stores(Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, etc) to purchase and upload the programs including one for her HP 3510 printer.

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Yet another product that appears in my list when I specifically checked off "touch screen." No other reason for the 1 rating...

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