HP OMEN "gaming" notebook...

wondering that nobody has posted a thread about that, yet...
theres even a NBR article on it: HP Enters the Gaming World with the Omen

well, i was susprised to hear about HP making a gaming machine, but then looking at the specs, it's just another wannabe, but cannot, from the HP consumer line.

OMEN 15 Laptops | HP® Official Store


Processor
4th generation Intel® Core™ i7-4710HQ Quad Core Processor(2.5GHz, turbo up to 3.5GHz) with 6MB Cache and Hyper Threading

OS
Windows 8.1

Graphics options
Internal Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 4600
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M (N15P-GX) with 2048MB of dedicated video memory (256Mx16, GDDR5 x 8 PCs)4
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M (N15P-GX) with 4096MB of dedicated video memory (256Mx16, GDDR5 x 8 PCs)4

Memory
8GB 1600 MHz DDR3 memory standard,
16GB Available

Storage options
128GB SATA SSD1
256GB PCIe SSD1
512GB PCIe SSD1

Audio
BeatsAudio™, Dual Front Facing Speakers

Input/output
4 USB 3.0 Ports, One mini Display Port v1.2, HDMI v1.4b, Headphone output & Microphone input combo jack (stereo), AC Smart Pin adapter plug

Keyboard/touchpad
Customizable RGB Backlit Keyboard with Key Strokes Designed Specifically for Gaming. Extra Wide Touchpad.

Screen
15.6" IPS FHD 1920x1080p. Capacitive Touch Screen5

Webcam
HP TrueVision Full HD: Full HD camera - Fixed (no tilt) + activity LED, 1PC, USB 2.0, M-JPEG, 1920x1080 by 30 frames per second4

Microphone
Dual array Digital Microphones w/ beam forming, echo cancellation, noise suppression, Support for Voice Recognition4

Weight
4.68 lbs

Dimensions
Width: 382.9 mm
Depth: 247.5 mm
Height: 19.9 mm

these specs rather suggest another post-envy-3200-like enternatinment notebook, probably mainly aiming to counter the razer blade.

my personal pros (barely any) and cons:

cpu: only 1 option and there the lowest possible i7 quad is just wrong; a gaming notebook should at least have the option of 3+ cpus, and if not the i7mx, at least 1-2 higher ones than the most basic i7 mobile quad

os: no win 7... no comment

gpu: true gaming notebooks - even 15,6'' ones - are already out with nvidias maxwell-based 970m & 980m; HP makes it fresh with kepler-based 860m, at least it's one tier higher than envy's 850m yeah!
even here, a second gpu option would just win compared to this..

memory: ok let's hope they refresh it with ddr4-capable intel chipsets as soon as they're out

storage: ssd only is "ok", but an optionable mechanical hdd would be better

input/output: THUNDERBOLT, please!

keyboard: no numpad... ok, personal preference, but id like to have it, even on a 15,6''

screen: with nvidia's 970m/980m a 3-4k display would already be no pioneer in the business.. but ok, for gaming, maybe its not a must-have, still optionable, especially with the 2 gpus mentioned, which are suitable for these resolutions;
touchscreen on a gaming notebook? well, HP's product development team must have some brand new gaming habits..

dimensions: if portability and thickness is again favored over heat dissipation, FAIL, HP.

so my only personal pro-omen comment is good job HP that at least they're trying. now make a real gaming notebook with up-to-date hardware and some more hardware options, and copy some of the features and build quality from the HP business zbooks/elitebooks, and things'll look far better.

 

There was a small discussion about this here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq/762889-hp-omen-15-5xxx-series-gaming-notebook.html

But you are right in saying that the laptop has a bit of an identity crisis.

 

Gonna close this, please continue here --->> http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq/762889-hp-omen-15-5xxx-series-gaming-notebook.html