Is this a good deal? Should I trust HP, having doubts.

[Claymoresama]

Well to begin I have been an avid Hp fan for a while, but now I'm starting to have my doubts. I think that maybe, just maybe their computers aren't as good as they used to be. I am very familiar with their desktop computers, but now I'm in the market for a laptop. Now my budget limit is $650 and I am purchasing from Costco. Now there is a laptop that is about to go on sale in my area at Costco for $650 bucks (original price: $800). It's an Hp Envy 15z Touchsmart laptop and it's supplying an i5-4200u processor, 12gb of ram, 1tb hdd, touchscreen. It seems like an amazing deal, and to make matters better the warranty is extended to two years for free. My question is should I trust Hp laptops? I have heard some horror stories, but not too many. Mostly I have heard horror stories from an avid Dell fan. Now I am not against Dell, but I am trying to see if Hp is still the brand I have trusted for so long. My Hp pavilion Slimline s5-1204 desktop, which I am using to write this thread on is running well after almost 2 years. So what do you think? The computer I figured I'd settle for is either:
http/www.costco.com/Dell-XPS-14-Ultrabook-%7c-Intel-Core-i5-%7c-Backlit-Keyboard-%7c-Machined-aluminum.product.100101193.html

or

http/www.costco.com/Dell-Inspiron-15R-Laptop-%7c-AMD-A8-%7c-Indigo-Blue.product.100106202.html


BTW: I am a student, and I want to use this for some rather medium-heavy programs as well as moderate gaming (I know they're not gaming pcs, but come on)

So go for it Tom's Hardware. You have never steered my wrong before and you guys give great advice. Thank you for your time.

 

[Jake Lloyd]

While I own a Asus and love it, being the local nerd at work I have spent a lot of time picking computers for people to buy for productivity. Out of the 5 last season, two were touchscreen HPs and both have worked out pretty good so far. On one of them as soon as it showed up I did a clean OEM install of Win8 to get rid of all the bloat, although it's actually not that bad as laptops go (Acer is worse and I don't reccomend).

The biggest thing I look for in laptops is what's it going to be used for and then what's the best deal I can get for a GOOD machine that will fit those needs. Also time can be a factor. You can find the perfect deal if you wait long enough. I never really go below 8gigs of RAM and usually shoot for a i5 or higher, best bang for your buck I feel. I have found myself sticking to Asus, Samsung, HP, and Lenovo. Actually not a fan of Dell, Acers seem to break a lot, and Sony is overpriced but nice.

I think the one you're looking for is a pretty good machine and at a pretty good price. If you know your way around a computer and can remove the software you don't want/need then it'll work out even better. Gaming can work but don't expect to play multiplayer FPS games and have it work out for you. Games where frame rates don't matter can work ok, I spend a lot of time on the road for work and have played lots of games (hotel WiFi sucks btw).

So in conclusion, I like the machine and if it fits your needs and if you need one soon, then go for it.