Customers find value in the OMEN by HP laptop for its gaming capabilities, performance, and speed. They appreciate the quality of the keyboard and sound system. However, some users have expressed concerns about the short battery life.
This machine looks like it is going fast sitting on the desktop. The exhaust system vents on the back edges of the laptop brings to mind the tailpipes a supercar might be sporting. When it is cranking through benchmarking the cooling system and exhaust ports are doing a job, pushing volumes of hot air away from the machine. The HP Omen is the most bang for the buck that I have ever seen in a laptop, this box is loaded with edgy technology. Not going through a list of specs, those are easy enough to find, what is impressive is that all techs are up to date, not last year’s stuff. Too many times have seen corners cut to save a dollar. Not here. Not one USB 2.0 in sight, which is surprising seeing that we just built beast of a desktop a month ago with the latest Z270 Kaby Lake i7 7700K, USB 2.0 ports still in use on an advanced motherboard. Kudos to HP. Take a close look at the specs, you will find 802.11ac with a solid 866.7 Mbps connection. “Dual Force functionality splits traffic across two data streams, sending gaming traffic over the fastest connection available (typically wired), and all other traffic over WiFi.” Other ports of interest (not a complete listing check the spec sheet): 1 USB 3.1 Type C 3 USB 3.1 Mini DisplayPort What I love is the fact you can purchase a HDD Omen model and then add your M.2 NVMe drive of choice, that is cool. If you are not yet familiar with M.2 NVMe you should take a look. In a word (or more) they are fast, about seven times that of a standard SSD. What is interesting is that with the HDD the system boots up in 9 seconds, that is fully populated with my programs/anti-virus and all my files. Impressive. Being spoiled by SSD’s I must tip my hat to HP; this machine runs tremendously smooth with the 7200 RPM Hitachi HDD. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated memory) discrete GPU ran through the Unigine Heaven Benchmark smoothly turning good numbers while the cooling system kept the GPU at a respectable 68 degrees. Notable, that with all the heavy iron under the hood the system manages the temp easily. Ran my favorite game, Civilization VI through its paces today set on the highest graphic settings and it ran like a champ. Looks, it has the looks, brushed aluminum case with an excellent finish. Nice touches all-around. Know it is a way cool machine as my kid, the gamer in the house is explaining all the great and subtle reasons why it would be better for him to hang onto the machine. Yeah right! What I am getting use to is the keyboard offset, a bit to the left to make room for the full size numeric pad, which is a nice touch. Keyboard is fine and well suited for heavy accurate work, or gaming for that matter. Want a blistering rig in your hands at an excellent price point, one that can kick it at games and can be easily expanded, check out The Omen.
Posted by vrs99
First off, i’m not a gamer but i do appreciate fast computers with good graphics and speed. Straight out of the box; it’s wide and long. slightly too large for my lap. i prefer to use this laptop on a desk or flat leveled surface. The dimensions are spot on, which makes for a large laptop and not the easiest to travel with. that being said, to me, its a thin desktop. moving on…..it looks cool. gamers will love the look. its mean and sleek, almost as if it will transform into an autobot. after i looked it over a few times, i noticed my hands lift many many prints on the black surface. i got quickly annoyed. minor to some. the keyboard has this deep radiant red undertone. in the dark this keyboard looks awesome and it serves a purpose, bravo. after i turned it on, start up took well over 6 minutes and 10+ min for a complete set up. i logged in and presto, the windows interface is up and running. i’m not a windows fan, so i had a hard time finding things. however, this laptop and its applications seemed well organized. i’m sure after multiple uses, i will feel more comfortable. time is on my side. the sound on this laptop matches it size. it big and sharp. i appreciate that since its built for sight and sound. i have a car that has the same sound system in it. bang and olufsen. high end, equivalent to bose. Sound is 5 stars. after using it a few more times, i got annoyed with the mouse pad buttons. the mouse pad itself has large surface, granted its for a large laptop but the 2 buttons are super long and skinny. each click took me 2/3 attempts. i understand, my hands are used to something else but i guess my hands aren’t big enough to cover the real estate in this area. hey, small hand people, reconsider. is there such a thing as too thin of a gaming laptop??? because this one is thin, which makes me worry about its future, i’ll leave it at that. it gets hot quick but not an overheating hot. i mean heck, it has dual fans, heat pipes and exhausts…..move that air. The screen is big but there is a glare at all times, beyond annoyed. after set up, disable Cortana, she talks too much. out the box it has a 65% charge, thank you HP. nothing worse than opening up a great laptop and having to wait for it to charge before you can enjoy it. charge time is decent, nothing spectacular. don’t be alarmed but this is a gaming computer, runs at high specs so your batter will be drained in no time. keep you charging cable close by. the update check is kind of slow. if need be, time these during your downtime or slow use time, otherwise you are limited in functionally and speed. the tips sections was a big help, just in case you are starting to venture into gaming computers are switching to a windows product. loved the notification corner. there is also the ability to get a wi-fi plan installed. makes great for traveling, if you have a big lap. lol micosoft edge is fast. HP coolsense is a smart add for this laptop. comes with a 25 gig dropbox. you can pair this big guy with ya phone. the apps are cool, xbox, word and stuff (trial only), one drive, groove music (trial) hp sprint, messaging, solitaire (old school), mixed reality portal, movies and tv, netflix, etc. this computer is super versatile. my last frustration was the front facing camera. with a 1280x720P30fps…………you get a grainy, fake looking, cartoon picture and video. Booooooooo overall, this is a great computer, its a keeper. i can’t compare it to others but it can stand alone on its own 2 feet. its an affordable price, has 4k and g-synce display, its powerful, sound is great, and has VR. cons, plastic y build, large physical size, mouse pad keys, battery life, front facing camera graphics. THE END
Posted by Maclemoor
Are you looking for a laptop that looks like the design is 8 years old, but can play modern PC games? Are you 15 or do you want people to think you still live with your parents? Well you just found your new gaming laptop! In all seriousness, the HP Omen delivers on performance, but falls short on appearance. Don’t get me wrong, some may enjoy the appearance, but I think they could of refined it and still provided a sharp sharp design to stand out. Good: -i7-7700HQ, 8GB DDR4 RAM, GTX 1050 -3 USB 3.1 ports, 1USB C, 1 Display Port, SD card slot, 1 HDMI, 1 gb ethernet ( No Dongles!) -15.6” 1080P IPS, matte screen, games look great! -Fair battery life (I managed 6 hours of web/video only and almost 3 hours of gaming) -Great Keyboard, typing is smooth and keys are quiet. -Geekbench OpenCL 72395, Multicore 12532. -Can play recent PC games on high settings (Battlefront, Fallout 4 on ultra). -Stays cool and fan is relatively quiet (after gaming for hours, only warm to the touch). -Speakers sound great and provide plenty of sound. Not so Good: -The display has larger borders, would have been nice to see a more modern design. -Plastic. Despite having faux metal and carbon appearance on lid, it is plastic. -Display only 1080P, not capacitive. -Key backlighting is red, color can’t be changed (you can toggle just WASD to on). Bad: -Design is over the top, would of preferred something understated. -Feels bulky. -Key backlight doesn’t dim. If you are a hardcore gamer and are looking for a portable gaming rig, this is a great choice. I would recommend swapping in an SSD to improve load times, but otherwise it runs all the games I play flawlessly. If you are looking for a laptop that you can also bring to work or to a coffee shop without people judging your employment status, look elsewhere.
Posted by PeboQuattro
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