HP Pavilion Gaming Notebook
The HP Omen delivers nearly everything that we seek out in a competent gaming machine: a standout design, a vibrant screen and specs that are beefy enough to run the latest games. Unfortunately, that trifecta, especially when packed into a portable design, comes at a high cost for gamers shackled to a budget.
Thankfully, HP has taken another crack at a gaming laptop. But this time, it took things back to the drawing board to focus on delivering an enjoyable experience, while making its price more accessible for budding PC gamers and enthusiasts alike.
The result is the 15.6-inch Pavilion Gaming Notebook, an admittedly less badass machine than the Omen, but one that nearly stacks up to its performance for the lower, more digestible, price of $999 (about £656, AU$1395) to start.
Design
Finding a gaming laptop that suits your particular taste is no easy task, but making that process easier seems to be one of key missions for the HP Pavilion Gaming Notebook. The plastic clamshell design looks and feels premium, despite having fewer of those shiny flourishes that tend to stack the bill.
The plainly named Pavilion Gaming Notebook isn't a far cry in looks compared to the company's other mainstream models carrying the same name. But, it packs plenty of subtleties that will help it stand out against the competition when it releases later this year.
The entire laptop is constructed with black, matte-textured plastic, made more appealing by its slightly pearlescent finish. On the lid and palmrest, HP planted a slick design to keep your eyes busy, transitioning into a green honeycomb-like formation that, in a way, reminds me of the nanosuit that Nomad wears in Crysis. It's a cool effect.
It's a bulky build if you're making the leap from an ultrabook, but even so, it definitely could be worse. It's 28.8mm thick and weighs in at 5.46 pounds. As our photos attempt to show off, the footprint of this machine is easily offset by its good looks.
Although 4K screens are beginning to become commonplace in gaming laptops, HP is opting instead for resolutions that the hardware can actually push a high framerate to. The machine comes standard with an HD screen running at 1280 x 720, but the optional upgrade to FHD will be available. No matter which option you choose, the screen and its seamless transition into the small bezel looks stunning for a sub-$1K laptop.
Rotate the laptop around and you'll discover that it has a pretty normal lineup of ports. No surprises here, but that's not such a bad thing. It comes with two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port and an SD card slot. If ping is your mortal enemy, you can plug in via the trusty RJ45 Ethernet jack. We'll dig more into what's inside in just a bit.
HP included a full-size keyboard offering, which includes number keys. These chiclet keys have a low travel distance and yield a satisfying, tactile experience while typing, even if the only keys you use are WASD. Each key is backlit, allowing the keyboard to emanate with a vibrant, green light that gives the Pavilion Gaming Notebook a cunning look.
The other two features you're bound to use a lot, the trackpad and speakers, have received some good treatment, too. Its rectangular, off-centered trackpad is large and responsive to Windows 10 gestures. The speakers, powered by Bang and Olufsen, don't stretch far beyond what's commonly achieved in this form factor, but my first impression was a good one. From what I could hear in the busy demo room, the highs were crisp without becoming distorted and tinny, which are the usual suspects found in integrated laptop audio.
Specs
Though my time with HP's budget-friendly laptop was slim, it was enough time to get a good sense as to the kind of experience that gamers can expect. The HP representative guiding us through the experience ran us through a series of game demos, all of which appeared to be running on medium to high settings with anti-aliasing enabled. At times, there was a little slowdown. But, with a little fine-tuning, I wouldn't be surprised if gamers could squeeze 60 frames per second (fps) out of this machine on optimized, multi-platform games like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Here are the full specs, which span all of the configurations available for the HP Pavilion Gaming Notebook. Note that the starting price for this machine is $999, but at the time of writing, we don't know how much it will set you back to bump up the specs. We've reached out to HP for clarification.
- CPU: Sixth generation (Skylake) Intel Core i5 or i7 processors
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M
- Display: 15.6-inch HD or FHD IPS display
- RAM: Up to 16GB
- Storage: Up to 2TB hard drive, or the option of a 1 or 2TB hybrid hard drive with 128GB of solid state flash built-in
- Battery: Up to 8 hours
- Optional: Intel RealSense Camera and a touch-sensitive screen
Early verdict
HP has made some modifications to its gaming laptop formula, swapping out the Omen's killer screen and some of its power with value in the Pavilion Gaming Notebook. Is the sacrifice worth it? We won't know until we get a review unit in for a comprehensive test.
But, as you've seen in the specs above, this rig won't tear the house down. Still, this machine gets good marks during our first impressions with its edgy design and capable specs. If you're used to gaming on a machine with integrated graphics, this could be your next laptop and a big boost, at that.
from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/1OkZmql
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