There's a whole lot of choice out there when it comes to laptops and 2-in-1 devices, so the smallest of misjudged design decisions can be costly. Although we rather liked the look of the HP Pavilion x2 - and have been even more impressed by the company's Intel Core M-based Envy x2 devices on show at the Intel Developers Conference 2014 - it's got issues with an over-glossy screen.

Which is a shame, as the straightforward layout of the HP Pavilion x2 13-p110nr - to give it the full and unduly complex name - works just fine. The 13.3-inch screen is easily detached to operate as a standalone tablet from the keyboard dock via the press of a button, as has become standard for many 2-in-1 devices.

hands on hp pavilion x2 2 in 1 pushes screen gloss to excess image 3

Arguably a 13.3-inch panel is large for tablet use, while in this instance the 1366 x 768 pixel resolution is insignificant in a high-definion market. Saying that, it looked just fine in terms of colour and punch, but the glossy surface - and we can't really stress this enough - made seeing the screen incredibly difficult in normal indoor daylight conditions. That countered the IPS panel's otherwise wide angle of view to some degree.

It's rare to see a screen with such reflective qualities these days, and it made photographing the Pavilion that extra bit trickier than normal.

Under the hood the Pavilion x2 comes loaded with an Intel Core i3 processor, 3GB RAM and Intel HD Graphics 4200. Add a 128GB SSD drive, Windows 8.1 and a touch-sensitive screen and the spec of this device reads rather well.

hands on hp pavilion x2 2 in 1 pushes screen gloss to excess image 8

Dimensions and weight aren't ultra-thin or light but do the job. At 11.2mm thick as a tablet (and 25mm with the keyboard dock attached and closed) and with a 2.2kgs it's not an ultra-light device, but with good reason: there's a battery in both the slate and the keyboard dock to provide extended use. Not that we tinkered with the device for more than a couple of minutes in the context of its IDF show stand.

If it was available with a matte finish - and we can't see the option on HP's website - then we'd have far more positive things to say about the Pavilion x2. It gets plenty right, bar that excessive gloss screen.