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The Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 is a decent performer with good features that lets you take advantage of Windows 8's touch capabilities, but it's also on the heavy side.

HP's first Windows 8 notebook offers an attractive design and a touch-screen display, but skimps on the battery life.

There just isn't enough good stuff inside the HP Envy Touchsmart 4 to justify its $1599 price tag. It's basically a stock-standard 14in Ultrabook with a touch panel, and it's quite heavy compared to other 14in Ultrabooks, too.

This is a sleek ultrabook with a quality chassis and great processing power for the asking price. But until HP decides to put some effort into the screen and audio—which, after all, are some of the things it's advertising—it will never catch up with Asus and Apple.

The addition of a touchscreen drives up the Envy Touchsmart's price, shortens the battery life, and makes the Ultrabook heavier. In the end, the gains don't balance the losses.