HP Envy Dv7-7227cl Review

I just got the Hp Envy Dv7-7227cl about three weeks ago, and I'm going to give you an honest review about this laptop. I haven't seen many reviews on the Internet about this computer, so here goes nothing. I just want to go over the specs first and foremost.

Specs:

AMD Quad-Core A10-4600m processor
750 GB Hard Drive
8192 MB DDR3 SDRAM
Windows 8
17.3" HD+ BrightView LED Display ( resolution 1600x900)
WLAN
HDMI Port
HD TrueVision Webcam
1 USB 2.0
3 USB 3.0
Video Graphics: HD Radeon 7660G 4084MB VRAM (512MB dedicated)

Pros:

The first thing I noticed out of the box is this laptop is huge. I have a 15.6" laptop and it's way bigger than that one. The screens resolution is 1600x900, which is a lot clearer for text, gaming, and streaming videos. The A10 processor is fast, and I would compare it to an Intel i5 Ivy Bridge or close to an Intel i7 Sandy Bridge.

I was definitely impressed with the speed. Every time I open an application there's not any lag. Watching video and rendering was seamless, and it took a little over two minutes to render a 1080p car drawing. I think the 8GBs of RAM helps this laptop perform faster.

The keyboard is very quiet and the keys are island style (chicklet). I feel that the best thing about this laptop is the gaming. I've tested a couple of games and they all performed well, except for one of the games.

Battlefield 3 was one of the games I tested, and this laptop can play it with most of the settings on high with a native 1600x900 resolution. The game looks amazing, and for a laptop that's not bad. The FPS on Battlefield 3 were well over 30+, making the game more than playable.

The next game I tested was Devil May Cry Reboot, and it can play it at native resolution with all the settings checked. The frames per second (FPS) was about 30+, and it would very rarely dip below 30. Tomb Raider was also on the list of games, and I was able to have everything turned on high, but TressFX was off and the Anti-Aliasing was turned to FXAA.

The game played well, but you can't turn on those two options because the game will lag. The only game that didn't run so well was Need for Speed Most Wanted. The frame rates were horrible at 20 ( FPS) or less. I lowed the resolution to 1280x720, but it doesn't help much. Maybe I can get about 25+ frames with these settings, but I think the game is poorly optimized.

The outer build on this computer is made of brushed aluminum. I really like the design it's sleek, and looks like it's very durable. The screen is also good, but it takes some calibration to make it look perfect. Right out of the box the screen looks washed out and dull. The Beats audio sounds crystal clear.

I can barely turn up the volume on my headphones because it's so loud. Some people say it's not loud, but I have to disagree. This laptop is great for YouTube and Netflix streaming because it rarely stops or buffers. This also depends on your Internet connection, but overall the performance was decent.

Cons:

One of the real downsides to the DV7-7227cl is the Wi-Fi. I'm not sure why, but every time I connect to the Internet it's not a full 5 bars. I can only get 4 bars at one given time. Other people have complained about this in their reviews.

I thought they were just being negative, but it in fact is a problem. The web cam isn't that great either, and the pictures are really grainy. I'm not much for video chatting, but I want the camera to look good if I decide to chat.

The pictures aren't very good with the web cam, but it's not a deal breaker for me. The weight of this laptop would have to be a negative also. It's almost 7 pounds, so it feels a little bit heavier than your standard laptop.

This laptop can get to be really hot, which is another con. I have a cooling pad underneath my laptop, so it's not a problem. The HP Coolsense technology is something to combat the heat, but it just doesn't do that well. I suggest you get your own cooling pad if you like to play games or render video. 

Overall Opinion:

The DV7 is an awesome laptop for the price. The 8GBs of RAM takes advantage of the dual-channel memory, making apps and Internet surfing lightning fast.

The gaming surprised me because my last computer struggled to play games at 1600x900 resolution. I have a Intel i3 second generation Sandy Bridge processor. It also had an HD Radeon 7450m graphics card, but it doesn't even compare to this computer.

The Wi-Fi is definitely annoying, but it's still good enough to get work done. I just would have liked to get all 5 bars, but you can't have everything. You can always buy a wireless USB adapter if you want a better connection.

Overall, I think this computer outperforms a lot of computers out there right now. I would recommend anyone who likes video editing, rendering, and gaming to buy this laptop.