OMEN is a state of mind, a will to win, and a pride in having one of the more powerful HP gaming laptops on the planet.
When HP asked me to review the OMEN 17 Notebook, its gaming brand, I simply replied I don’t have the gaming expertise. They replied, “No we want to get your take on it as a commercial laptop for those that need raw power.”
And so begins a review of a huge, 2.75kg, 17.3” HD, Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce 960M graphics, SSD/HDD/DVD that has an ominous “dragon red” glow and a throaty growl from its B&O tuned speakers.
When you get right down to it why should gamers have all the fun – this is a power users dream with big bold, imposing style that says, “Don’t mess with me.”
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Out of the very big box
It has been some time since I reviewed a 17.3” notebook and you forget how big they really are - 41.6 x 27.9 x 2.99 cm x 2.75kg. As a guide that is equal to an A3 sheet of paper stacked about 300 sheets high. So, it is not one to slip into the carry bag.
It has a very attractive charcoal black, faux carbon fibre finish – called shadow mesh - and the red OMEN logo on the back of the LCD lid - not too out there in an office environment and seems well made for knocks.
In fact, everything else is big too – the 62 Whr battery and a 120W AC adapter are not exactly small either.
Specifications – Model XP571PA#ABG (Also referred to as 17-W007tx [last digits denote options]
- Screen: 17.3”, HD 1920 x 1080, IPS, WLED-backlit, non-touch
- Processor: Intel 6th generation Core i7-6700HQ, 2.6/3.5GHz, 6MB cache, four cores
- RAM/Storage: 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133; Samsung PCIe 128GB SSD; Seagate 2TB, 5400RPM SATA; SuperMulti DVD Burner; SD card slot
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated) – options take this to 1070M
- Audio: B&O tuned, stereo speakers
- Webcam: HP Wide vision HD front facing camera and dual digital array mics
- Keyboard: Menacing red backlit, full-size island-style chiclet keys with 1.28mm travel and oversized HP Imagepad touchpad
- Comms: Wi-Fi AC, 2 x 2 MIMO; Wi-Di; Bluetooth 4.2, Gigabit Ethernet port
- Ports: HDMI; USB 2.0; 2 x USB 3.0, 3.5mm headphone/mic
- Security: TPM compliant, Kensington lock slot, power on password (no biometrics or Windows Hello but can be added via Logitech 4K Pro Webcam)
- Warranty: 1 year (can be upgraded to 3 years at extra cost)
- Windows 10 Home
- Base price as above: $1999
Limited as I am in gaming experience I suspect that a true gamer will want at least a GeForce 1070M, probably 32/64GB RAM, NVMe m.2 SSD drive, maybe a 4K screen so the typical price will be a lot more – apparently around $3699 for the lot. It also lacks the flashing bling LED lights and other gamers toys – it is more sedate.
If it is not a gamers machine who does it appeal to?
It has grunt – one of the fastest “office” Intel Core i7 laptops I have tested. The 128GB SSD makes boot and program load instant.
It has the graphics credentials, both on-chip Intel 530 and NVIDIA 960M for video rendering and supports a 4K external screen. It has plenty of speed for CAD, video and 3D-renders. It supports H.264, VC1, and MPEG2 1080p video decoders. It is the same processor found in ASUS Zenbook, Lenovo IdeaPad, Acer V7N and Dell Inspiron 7559/XPS 9550/60. All good but bland notebooks – why not spice it up a little?
Think of it in an office productivity sense – it will be one of the fastest notebooks off the block and frankly one of the better-looking ones. The base unit is more suited to heavy duty commercial use than gaming.
Processor
The Intel Core i7-6500HQ is a Skylake 6th generation (KabyLake is just coming out and only has a slight power efficiency over Skylake). It is aimed at the mobile market using a larger 6MB cache and 45W thermal design power to keep it within a notebook format without the need for garish heat sink fins etc. It supports dual channel ram so I expect the notebook can handle up to two 32GB DDR4-2133 sticks.
Where this chip excels is that under long-lasting, full load (using its four cores and two threads each for 8 hyper-threads) it will perform better than other processors and needs less throttling. It has full 64-bit support and hardware virtualisation.
Keyboard and trackpad
In office environs, the red glow is actually very good. It has only two steps – on and off - and no fancy gamer’s lighting effects. The addition of a full-sized numeric keypad and lack of dedicated programmable gaming keys is confusing – that is for office workers – not gamers.
The 1.28mm throw is among the best you will get on a chiclet keyboard and it allowed me to reach maximum touch typist's speed.
I particularly liked the oversize trackpad that allows you to use a single swipe to diagonally cross the large screen – should be mandatory but few other than HP get this right.
Speakers/webcam/mic
The absence of Windows Hello login is more about the heritage of this chassis that goes back to late 2015. The more I use Hello the more I like it and my solution is the excellent Logitech 4K Brio webcam but at $379.95 it may be overkill on a $1999 notebook.
The B&O tuned stereo speakers are upwards firing on the chassis above the keyboard. Output power is not given so expect a few watts RMS but it was loud enough for personal viewing of a movie and plenty loud for Skype calls.
The B&O app allows you to customize the audio output from presets for music, movies, and voice, or go in and manually adjust bass, treble and dialog clarity yourself. You can also play with an equalizer to fine-tune your sound, as well as switch between microphone, presets, whether you want noise cancellation for a single person or a wider sound for capturing groups.
The dual array mic was particularly good and allowed me to walk around the largish home office and still be heard by callers.
Screen
The IPS screen is very good – even colours and good viewing angles – once you get rid of the ominous, brooding, dark OMEN theme. It is more matte to reduce reflection off overhead office lights.
Benchmark Valley by Unigine showed 60fps in its highest definition.
Battery
At full charge and full-screen brightness, the gauge suggests about eight hours use. In my tests, it played an HD video loop for just on six hours so in an office environment a days' use is possible. But I venture that a 17” notebook will never be far from a desk so that is not an issue. I liked the replaceable battery – nice to know you can get a spare if you need it.
A full charge was about two hours.
Serviceability (not tested)
The base can be removed via unscrewing several small Phillips head screws. Given that the RAM and other major components appear stock standard there is no reason larger capacity drives could not be fitted.
Summary
Pros – as a commercial powerful laptop
- Plenty of power – great for full-load and multi-tasking
- Well built, carbon fibre design that is not as garish as many gamers devices
- Reasonably compact for a 17”
- User replaceable battery
- B&O tuned speakers are fine for personal listening and movies
- 128GB SSD really makes boot and program load times fly
Cons
- No USB-C/USB 3.1 Thunderbolt so maximum transfer rate is about 5Gbps
- The GeForce 960M graphics will not support VR
- No Windows Hello
Conclusion
A powerhouse notebook at under $2000 is good value and as a bonus, it looks mean too. From a commercial standpoint, it may pay to look at gamers notebooks for power users. For anyone needing a 17.3” screen and a full featured notebook, this is a very good choice.
iTWire does reviews on the basis that the model reviewed is currently available for 90 days from review receipt. Currently, HP’s online store shows it is out of all new stock/models and only has a refurbished model for $1699.