Audio sounds okay, but it isn't what I was expecting. HP touts the dv7's “premium Beats audio with quad speakers and triple bass subwoofer,” but although the speakers produce loud, acceptable sound, the audio is still a little thin, and I can barely hear evidence of the subwoofer.

HP bundles a lot of software, including three CyberLink suites, a bunch of HP-branded programs, and random items such as "Online Services." Also present is HP SimplePass 2011, which allows you to use the fingerprint scanner to the max: Through SimplePass 2011 you can scan each of your fingers and assign passwords or shortcuts to various Web apps, such as Flickr or Twitter. While this is a cool, futuristic feature, I'm not entirely sure how useful it will be.

The HP Pavilion dv7 QE is a sleek, sexy, and relatively lightweight desktop replacement. The only problem: It's a desktop replacement. And for desktop replacements, prettiness and portability aren't exactly the most important features--performance is. That said, the dv7 QE performs pretty well and has lots of upgrades (a Blu-ray player, USB 3.0 ports, 8GB of RAM), so if you're in the very small percentage of people who are looking for an attractive, portable desktop replacement, look no further.