Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update: After living with the system a few days and checking the hardware specs a little more closely I went over the review and updated a few details. Also, everyone who has used it agrees, it is very "fast". When I first saw this system I got very excited because it looked like it was the perfect mix of OEM system with extreme upgrade-ability. The CPU is the I7 10700 which uses 65 watts, it is not the I7 10700k which is similar but is not locked and uses 125 watts so be careful when looking this system up on CPU charts. It has an NVMe M.2 drive with the OS installed on it which gives it blazing fast boot, and program startup times. The system boots faster then my cell phone. Dual channel memory that, while not the fastest memory on the market, gives it a big boost over single channel memory systems. Ample storage on a spare drive, a wicked cool DVD drive bay (see the picture). Plus it has the latest USB c connectors, great sound, and excellent network connectivity, both wireless and wired. Its only weak point is the GPU, which is an Intel UHD 630 graphics card. This is why the system only needs a 180 watt power supply, which is amazing given its features, but it also means the system can't play many of the latest generation video games, and will be held back on rendering performance. There is an internal 16x PCIe slot that would allow for a video card upgrade, but choices will be limited by the available power. And a power supply upgrade is limited to those which HP provides. With this hardware set, the HP Envy is perfect for homes that have a dedicated gaming box, won't be doing any serious rendering and want a headache free long lived system that has great OEM support and still has some potential for future upgrades. The rest of the story (TLDR): This system still deserves 5 stars, it checks almost every box you could hope for... The included software: This system isn't loaded down with a bunch of bloat ware. It also has some savvy additions like Drop Box. And the first power on experience made me feel like I was getting an OS that is just finishing up installation without a bunch of extra junk. A nice touch. The included hardware: The included mouse and keyboard both have a good quality feel to them. The keyboard is what I would call "minimalist". I found myself over reaching the keys a few times while I was typing. The volume buttons on the keyboard worked flawlessly even while gaming. Connection Ports: Ample is the best term I can think of. The speaker and microphone jacks had a solid feel to them when I inserted a plug. The USB-A connectors all connected well and held a good connection. Also, when connecting anything to this PC it registered with windows almost instantly, that would be that powerhouse CPU at work. My one gripe is that the USB-C connection on the front of the PC is somewhat restricted by the angled panel of the case. This was causing one of my USB-C devices to randomly connect/disconnect if it wasn't pushed in just right. And if I had lots of other devices connected though the USB-C, frustration could ensue. Network: It connected at 1 Gigabit almost instantly, then, when I started a 64 gigabyte download, it took over the internet connection and starved the rest of the house! This is a good thing!(and why we should all set download speed limits in our routers) The WiFi is outstanding, I had no connection issues. The DVD drive:I really like how the DVD is integrated into this system. It is virtually invisible so if you wanted to replace it with say, a large SSD no one would be the wiser. And it is very slick when it opens and closes. Upgrade path: This system has both a 1x and a 16x PCIe upgrade slot for addons, with the downside being a fairly limited selection of GPU's as discussed above. It would really be nice if this system could be upgraded to an ATX form factor PSU and discreet externally powered GPU but it doesn't look like this is possible. This is really the only combo that could keep pace with the I7 10700 CPU. Packaging: Almost all the packing for this PC is recycle friendly. Thank you HP. A torture test: I went ahead and loaded one of the most popular, and most demanding video games I could find on this system (TCTD) to see how it would perform. The game warned me that the video card wasn't up to snuff, and ugliness might result. (my wording not theirs). The game then loaded and ran, frame rates were low and I had to turn off almost every bell and whistle, then reduce the screen resolution a fair bit, but it did it, without crashing. (and those volume buttons still never hesitated a moment) The CPU didn't even break a sweat. But the game wasn't really playable. All in all an outstanding OEM PC.