HP Pavilion 15.6", Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSB+32GB Optane, Lunar Gold

The HP Pavilion 15 Laptop PC is super thin and light but still feels sturdy. Out of the box setup is super simple. You only have to answer a few questions and it's ready to use in only a few minutes. It boots up pretty quick thanks to the speedy half terabyte SSD drive. The full HD screen is really bright and is plenty big enough. The keyboard has a nice feel. The 8gb memory is more than enough for normal day to day tasks. The mouse pad does not have separate buttons for right and left click and that took a little getting used to, but once you get used to it, it's second nature. Of course, it has WIFI that was really easy to get connected on my home router and the addition of Bluetooth is a plus. The computer itself seems pretty responsive, most likely due to the combination of the SSD drive, 32gb optane memory and the i5 cpu. The built-in speakers are pretty decent for a laptop. Battery life seems great so far. I've never used it more than a few hours at a time away from an AC plug, so I've never drained the battery. Overall, it's a really nice mid-level laptop that I would recommend to anyone.

I spec'd the exact same build (except the color) at the HP Store for $899. This is a great value. Unfortunately the keyboard is not backlit, but that is easily overlooked at this price. There have been many reviews that complain that the fan runs too often, but this is due to what is known as the HP interrupt Storm (where the core clocks and temps rise - even when the system is idle - causing the fan to start). This is easily solved by updating all of the drivers - especially the graphics and chipset drivers. 8GB of RAM is more than sufficient for work and home use, but maybe not for heavy photo/video editing and definitely not for gaming (this isn't a gaming laptop anyway - Iris Plus graphics cannot rival even an entry-level discreet GPU and the board lacks sufficient cooling for gaming). As configured at this price, this laptop is a bargain.