I'm not gonna talk about the tech specs here, but still, the highlights of the hardware are: top quality build, ddr4 HDD, clear and crisp hd cameras and the slim battery.
Keyboard has no separately laid out num pad hence num lock button is missing, power button has no light indicator, however a power on dot light is present on right side margin adjacent to DVD drive.
Caps lock has a nice white dot light on the let's upper left corner. Layout of Keyboard is compact but comfortable for the 14 inch sizing. An all plastic build, but doesn't look cheap, sturdy panel with ribbed silver lid.( But since the time I decided to order I vehemently prayed for it to be available in Black, alas, turbo silver is the only color option)
The software is windows 10 home as claimed, genuine, with key OEM installed.( a load of updates were released on 14 Aug 16 and few on 16 Aug 16 too, all amounting to about 14.5 G's after the latest update)
No recovery CD/DVD is provided, but there is a recovery partition created automatically in my pc/my computer which you can copy to an external HDD ( that's what I did and you are good to go about restoring from it if need be) .
Keypad is island type and the keys feel ~ 75% of the Premium feel, ( OK with majority of consumers not going for the premium stuff) right and left click buttons are retained unlike the newer uni-body track pads/force pads ( which I have checked out on Dell and Asus last week and in comparison, I liked the buttoned configuration on this HP 14 am081tu) , but both the designs on laptops at this range are bound to feel light and tacky in comparison with laptops costlier by 15-20 grand because of the plastics-but the good part is the track-pad supports multi-point gestures ( up-to 4point) - pretty responsive and spot on, though there is no margin for clearly demarcating the playable area, you will love the way it merges into the rest of the palm area sideways and away towards keyboard.
Microsoft office 365 free trial for 01month and McAfee antivirus for 30 days are provided, I uninstalled Dropbox and other useless apps as I have Google Drive. The edge browser was bit unpleasant, so promptly switched to old loyalties with Mozilla for 64bit win 10, butter smooth experience.
I feel the Store App is just a way of bullying us into patronizing windows apps- seriously ( a lot of non-Store items which we are used to in older windows are still available and updated to run on win 10, so I'm not a fan of the Store or its Apps either)
The screen resolution is hd quality, again depending on the quality of video played, the stock audio and video players are good but we know of trusted a-v players ourselves. Still, the bundled software is good enough to be retained.CD/DVD tray could have been sturdier but it's on par with the ones in its league.
No heating issues if you allow room for it to breathe; No, I don't meant using a cooling pad, the right margin of the laptop has air vents extending to the bottom and take care while using it on surfaces like bed where heat exchange may be hampered, also I personally feel extra care has to be taken to avoid dust entry through the vent area.
No connectivity issues noted with Bluetooth or WiFi.
Boot up time after full update of drivers is about 40seconds.
Registration on HP website is easy, they have a feature to Identify your laptop and themselves provide the product and serial number. Warranty for my laptop( ordered on 14th and delivered on 16th Aug 16) showed as from 28 Jul 16 to 25 Sep 17.not a deal breaker for me.
The charger adapter has no indicator light but, the pin is right angle at the laptop end, which is a relief.
No carry case/bag provided.
No other goodies/discounts are provided.
For a price of almost 40grand, it's a capable and worthwhile machine and I feel satisfied albeit with the limitations which come at this budget. Recommended.
I sincerely hope I have provided you guys with good info as myself was also feeling lost without much user data to bank on.
