Opinions on Best Config for HP Envy x360

[wojoxx98]

I'm currently in the market for a new laptop, and I think I've narrowed my choice down to the HP Envy x360. I've never actually purchased a laptop before; I've always had them as hand-me-downs, so I'm kind of torn as how to spec it. I'll mainly use it for content consumption and light gaming such as Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Thrillville Off The Rails, and various other games from my childhood; these two probably being the most demanding. 

 

 

The base config comes as follows, and is priced at $565 (I get a discount from my union):

Ryzen 3 4300U

8 GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM (2x4 GB)

1080p Touchscreen, 250 nits

256 GB M.2 NVMe SSD

 

There are a few upgrades available; here is what they are and how much they cost:

Ryzen 5 4500U, $70

Ryzen 7 4700U, $210

16 GB DDR4-3200 SDRAM (2x8 GB), $90

1080p Touchscreen, 400 nits, $100

512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, $70 

 

The only upgrade I'm sure I'd like to get is to the 4500U, which brings my total to $635. I don't think the 4700U is worth the price, but I may be wrong. Feel free to correct me if I am.

 

I am torn on whether or not to upgrade the RAM. $90 seems like a steep price to pay for an extra 8 GB, but the RAM is soldered, so there's no upgrading once I buy it. My current laptop with an i3-5005u and 8 GB of RAM, and it plays the aforementioned games fine at medium settings and 720-900p resolution, only being limited by the lousy HD 5500 graphics. Will getting the upgrade make this laptop more likely to run better years down the line? Or is the extra RAM just overkill for the 4500U and no discreet GPU? 

 

I don't think I'll opt for the 400 nit display. I don't see the need for it considering I rarely have the brightness set above half. I'm also assuming that the brighter screen will also reduce battery life, and I prefer to have as much as possible.

 

Finally there is the matter of storage. I currently have a 500 GB SSD in my laptop that has 465 GB of usable space. With my Spotify library of nearly 3000 songs and a few games from my steam library that my laptop can actually play, I've only used about 55 GB of space. There are a few more games I may add totaling an extra 20 or so GB, but that's still much less than the 220-240 GB of usable space the 256 GB drive would have. Should I just stick with that, or just spend the extra money for the 512 GB drive? Or would it be more cost effective to stick with the 256 GB and upgrade it myself if need be? 

 

I'm sorry if these questions seem stupid, it's just that I've only ever dealt with building my own PC, and with that I can upgrade to my heart's content. I just don't want to waste $600 or more on a laptop and it not be what I want. Thanks in advance for any input y'all can give me!

 

 

[Pixel5]

i actually bought the new x360 two weeks ago, i got the 15.6" model with the 4700U 8GB of ram and 512GB SSD.

The difference between the 4500 and 4700 is mainly the two extra CPU cores as well as s lightly higher GPU clock but either should be fine for what you want to do with it.

 

generally the bigger question then the internal specs is if you want the 13" or 15.6" model 

the bigger one has an HDMI port and a normal SD card slot the smaller one only has a micro SD slot.

Also as far as i have heard the 13" has soldered ram while the big one has SO DIMM modules so you could upgrade it later.

 

if i had the option when i bought mine i would have gone for a brighter screen but thats because i also use the laptop outside where its a little hard to use when the sun is shining.