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People often ask me how much they should expect to pay for a decent laptop.

Obviously, no two users are the same so there's no right or wrong answer. I usually get them to qualify what they'll be doing most often... Browsing, answering emails and creating presentations? That's a very different set of requirements to someone who likes to edit a lot of video and plays games all night long.

Or maybe it's just another screen you're after? Albeit a portable one that connects to Wi-Fi so you can watch the latest episode of your favourite show.

Generally, if you have between $2.5K and $3,000.00 to spend, you should end up with a decent machine that'll be relatively future-proof too - as much as any piece of tech ever can be.

But right now there's an option in that price range worth considering that caters to almost every situation...

The HP OmniBook X Flip 14" is at least three devices in one. Primarily, it's a 14-inch Copilot+ laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD storage.

However, fold the very impressive touch display right over (or the keyboard right under) and you now have an extremely powerful - and quite large - tablet. Or that's the idea, anyway. I'd love to know how many X Flippers out there ever use the device in tablet mode. Technically, there's nothing but up sides - all that storage and processing power; you'd never get close to that kind of performance on a tablet-only device. In practice though, while 1.3kgs is light for a laptop, it's reasonably substantial for a tablet. Also, with the keyboard folded away, it's a pretty bulky tablet - feels weird to hold too, with all those keys underneath. I mean, I guess you could read your eBook this way but at 14-inches, that's a damn big book to take to bed.

No, the other configuration I prefer is "Tent Mode" - where you perch the partially unfolded device on its edges, effectively using it as a standalone smart screen. This is the position most suited to watching YouTube recipes on the kitchen bench or a bit of late-night Prime Video from the bedside table.

What they never tell you though, is there's a fourth way to use the OmniBook X Flip - very useful when standing at your desk or collaborating with others... Just lie it down flat. Or close to. For me, that's the true bonus of this form-factor; if you've ever wanted to open your laptop lid just that much further, with this one, you can.

But it's not all about the 360° folding lid - the OmniBook Flip X 14" has got a lot else going for it too.

Like all the HP laptops I've reviewed in the last year or so, the keyboard is excellent - nicely spaced out, clicky, decent travel and yes, it has a dedicated Copilot key so you can summon the ever-present AI from any window with a single click.

Also, like other HP devices, there's a fair amount of pre-installed software - although I wouldn't go so far as to write it all off as "bloatware" because some of the utilities are pretty useful. The pick of these might be  - a genuine video editing suite that can even connect to external cameras so you create multi-view content, right from the laptop.

Some things are less useful. A Windows search for "HP" under Apps brings up a choice of no fewer than nine different apps and tools, some of which do almost the same thing and one, mysteriously just called, "HP" doesn't seem to do anything at all, other than show you how much battery life you have left over the top of an animated background. Yes, I wasted about three minutes of my precious time logging into that one so you wouldn't have to.

The the IPS touchscreen is bright, clear and although it's quite shiny, I haven't found it overly reflective in most situations.

Battery life is sufficient without setting any records - although it's almost getting to the stage now where all-day battery life should just be a minimum expectation. I think I'm going to stop mentioning it unless it's exceptionally good or woefully disappointing.

I'm not sure the OmniBook X Flip 14" is exactly a gamer's go-to. Generally, I've found using it to be a real pleasure - it's reliable, Windows 11 does all the things it's supposed to, Copilot seems to work quietly and efficiently - but when I tried streaming games from Xbox Cloud Gaming, things took a long time to load and I experienced a few freezes that required restarts. Hard to say if that's a connectivity issue, a processor issue or a graphics issue - but it was an issue that happened more than once.

In fact, overall I've found many apps to be quite slow to launch - although most things seem to work fine once they're up and running - and changing aspects when using the screen in portrait as a tablet or even upside-down in tent-mode, all rotated into place slickly enough.

The deep "Atmospheric Blue" casing looks classy and feels premium. In fact, given its literal flexibility, the device seems super solid and durable.

I'm also impressed by the selection of ports; two USB-A slots, two USB-C and a full-sized HDMI connection which makes linking to an external display so easy. Unfortunately, the two USB-C ports are both on the left-hand side which can be a bit limiting when it comes to plugging in your power cable - but I'm quibbling here.

Another wee feature I wanted to highlight isn't really specific to the OmniBook X Flip as such, although its Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity certainly helps. Microsoft Phone Link has suddenly got really good. This is the pre-installed app that essentially mirrors your connected phone with your laptop. I haven't seriously attempted to use it for a while because it always used to be so limited and unreliable but I've given it another go while testing this device and whaddya know? It started sending me notifications from all my apps in a timely fashion and in a way I could deal with usefully. Productivity upgrade? Tick.

If the OmniBook X Flip 14" was just a "normal" laptop, I'd say its performance doesn't quite live up to its current NZ$2,848.00 asking price. But it isn't normal. It's so much more adaptable and although it may not be as lightning fast as some similarly-priced machines, those can't transform into a tablet or a free-standing smart screen. Besides which, I saw it on special much cheaper earlier in the week so keep your eyes peeled for a hot deal.