Skip to main content

HP introduces new 15-inch AMD Sleekbooks with touchscreens

HP, like most PC companies, debuted most of its new and cool computers in October when Windows 8 launched. So it’s no surprise that the company’s CES offerings are few. This week in Las Vegas HP’s showing off two laptops: The HP Pavilion Sleekbook and the Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook. These notebooks start at $480 and will be available within weeks (instead of months from now).

The first to come to market will be the 15.6-inch HP Pavilion Sleekbook. Sleekbook is HP’s moniker for machines that have many Ultrabook-like qualities – such as a thin design, light weight, island-style keyboard, and clickpad – but the specs don’t quite fit into the Ultrabook category. In this case, the Sleekbook comes with an AMD processor (technically, Ultrabooks are Intel-only) and a traditional hard drive instead of an solid-state drive.

You can get up to 1TB of storage in the Pavilion Sleekbook, which would be ultra expensive if it had an SSD inside. The AMD A Series processor also shaves a few pennies off the price. Other specs include USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, a memory card slot, HDMI, and optional AMD Radeon discrete graphics. Another difference between this laptop and an Ultrabook is that the Sleekbook’s battery is removable.

If this laptop looks familiar, it’s because it uses the same design as existing 15-inch Sleekbooks, just with different options for internal hardware. With AMD in the mix, it’s possible to get the slim and light design at a slightly lower price.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The new HP Pavilion Sleekbook will be available January 13 starting at $480. This includes an AMD A4 CPU, 500GB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, and three color choices: sparkling black, ruby red, and winter blue. It will come with Windows 8, naturally.

For those of you who just can’t deal with Windows 8 if there’s no touch capability, you’ll only have to wait a few extra weeks for the HP Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook, which will be out on February 3. Though the specs are about the same here, the starting configuration includes a more powerful AMD A6 CPU, 6GB of RAM, and a 750GB hard drive. Plus, the 15.6-inch display will respond to touch, making it even easier to navigate Windows 8.

The starting price for the TouchSmart model is $650, which is still within the budget realm. For those of you looking for an inexpensive, yet powerful machine, HP is doing its best to deliver.

We’ve only had a little bit of hands-on time with these Sleekbooks, but, so far, we’re impressed by their lightness and sturdy build quality. We’re looking forward to getting them in for review after CES.

K. T. Bradford
Former Digital Trends Contributor
K. T Bradford is a lover of gadgets and all things geek. Prior to writing for Digital Trends she cut her teeth on tech…
This 17-inch HP Envy laptop is $380 off today
The opened HP Envy 17t-da000 with an abstract background.

Sometimes, all you need is a classic laptop with a tried and true reputation. Combining power and performance, HP is a brand that delivers consistently good laptops, which is why we’re glad to shine a light on this offer: For a limited time when you order the HP Envy 17t Laptop through the manufacturer, you’ll save $380. At full price, this model sells for $1,150.

Why you should buy the HP Envy 17t Laptop
There’s nothing like a solid Windows PC to get you through a work or school day (we also have a list of great student laptop deals!). The HP Envy 17t is also a great laptop to chill out with at the end of a long shift. Under the hood, this Envy 17t configuration runs an Intel Core Ultra 5 with Intel Arc Graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. You’ll also get a 17.3-inch IPS screen that brings 1920 x 1080 resolution and 300-nit peak brightness levels to the table.

Read more
Best HP laptop deals: Get a 17-inch workhorse for $167 and more
An open HP Spectre x360 16 sits on a table, angled so that the screen and keyboard can be seen.

HP is possibly one of the best laptop brands on the market, and, as such, has a pretty massive collection of configurations and options to pick from.  In fact, HP makes some of the best gaming laptops to the best 2-in-1 laptops, so there's almost certainly something in there that can cater to your needs and budget.. That said, it can be a bit hard to find and pick the best deals, which is why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite HP laptop deals and put them down for you below, and we've even included a couple of HP Envy deals, too.

Alternatively, if you can't find quite what you're looking for below, be sure to check out these other great laptop deals and gaming laptop deals as well.
HP Pavilion 14 2-in-1 laptop -- $167 $580 71% off

Read more
Snag this massive 51% discount on HP’s 16-inch Pavilion laptop
The HP Pavilion 16t laptop with a colorful screen.

Even though 15.6-inch laptops tend to be the most common size, there's been a big push recently on 16-inch laptops, which makes sense given that they come with a larger and more convenient screen. One great example is the HP Pavilion Laptop 16t, and if you've been wanting to buy a 16-inch laptop, then this one might be a good option for you. Even more so considering the whopping $569 discount you get from HP directly, bringing the price down to $450 from the original $1,019.

Why you should buy the HP Pavilion Laptop 16t
Even at base specs, the HP Pavilion Laptop 16t is pretty solid, as is the Intel Core 5 120U, which is a mid-range CPU that can handle day-to-day and productivity tasks with relative ease. If you know you need a bit more processing power, you can bump it up to an Intel Core 7 150U, but that means that you will also need to bump up the screen to a 2K OLED model, which adds $340 to the price. While the base specification comes with an FHD resolution panel that can hit 300 nits, if you plan to watch a lot of content, it's probably worth the upgrade, and you still get a discount off the full price, which is nice.

Read more