HP Omen 15t (Kaby Lake, Pascal)

I found the new HP Omen at HP's store and I have a few questions about it. First, the machine has three GPU options:
2GB GTX 1050 (+$0)
4GB GTX 1050 (+$90)
4GB GTX 1050 Ti (+$190)
The first two are more or less the same card, but the third one is both more powerful and more power hungry. Can the machine handle the extra heat or is the card going to throttle? Also, how noisy is it when gaming with the 1050 Ti? The upgrade cost is kind of steep and it would be really annoying if the GPU could not perform or resulted in a lot of noise.

The second and third questions are about the possibilities of upgrades. HP always charges way more for memory than it costs: the difference between 1x8GB DDR4-2400 and 2x8GB DDR4-2400 is $140. A quick search of Newegg reveals that an extra stick of 8GB DDR4-2400 costs $50-60 depending on the brand. How easy is it to add it to the laptop? My current laptop is a 2011 Pavilion and it was pretty simple to add more memory, but I don't know what the deal is with the Omen machines.

Finally, HP's best storage configuration is quite strange to me: it's a 1 TB 7200 rpm SATA + 512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. I would hope that they were smart enough to make the SSD the OS drive, but in any case, I would eventually like to upgrade both of these components. Does anyone know how easy it is to do this? Is the PCIe SSD easily accessible? Also, could I buy the laptop without the 7200 RPM hard drive and insert my own SATA SSD later or would I be missing some cable?

And of course, if anyone has any comments on this laptop that are not obvious from the specifications -- something you really like or really dislike about the machine -- please feel free to post them here.

 

no gtx1060, no USB -C / thunderbolt 3, max 16gb memory...
as expected, hp fails with the omen once again.

why do other brands manage to include both with a 15.6'' notebook (there are even gtx1080s in 15.6'' notebooks) and even keep the price lower (about equal in relation to the just configured one with 1050ti and 1tb-512gb ssd - but with better specs than these)?
also, a - bad - 4k display in a "gaming" notebook with a mid-end gpu that doesnt even match last gen high-end gpus which barely managed gaming in 4k...

 

UHD display is pentile again

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05357609

"Ultra-High Deƭnition (UHD) Pentile WLED AntiGlare (3840x2160) ultra slim-flat (2.6 mm) UWVA, eDP, typical brightness 300 nits" (kudos to HP's tech guys for specifying this, at least)

For those who don't know what this means, it means not true UHD:

 

I wonder what happened to the Omens they was selling with a gtx 1060 and the gtx1070? Tbh its a rip off and once again HP is cutting corners by not offering the gtx 1060 and the gtx1070 with the kaby lake versions like they did with skylake..............

Anyways this is just incase if you gonna get it

1. The laptop should handle it just fine since it didnt have any problems with the GTX 1060

2. Always go with cheapest RAM option since manufacturers like to overcharge you. You can easily upgrade the ram later on by removing the back cover of the laptop as shown here

[youtube]

3. Im sure they'll put your OS on the SSD otherwise whats the point of having a SSD. By the looks of the inside from that video it looks like you dont need a sata cable to put in your SSD drive in the laptop.

 

Thanks. It looks like one possibility would be to buy it with the 1080p screen and upgrade the RAM on one's own. Regarding the cable: what I meant was, does one need one for the SATA SSD? I realize that for the PCIe SSD, no cable is necessary (although it is nice to know that it is user-upgradable, at least in the previous model).

I'm going to wait until February and see what other models come out. This Omen 15 is a possibility, but I'm hoping that there's something better out there.

 

these were omen 17; they still offer them with gtx 1060/1070, and they even upgraded them with kaby lake.
but omen 15 only has gtx 1050ti as the highest gpu now after 960m/965m, which is a shame

 

I see them on the site now. Idk why i couldnt see them yesterday.....

After looking it up, the 1050ti is on par with the 970m and its 30% faster than the 965m and the regular gtx 1050 (965m successor) which is very good for a 15inch notebook but still they should of offer the 15inch versions with at least a gtx 1060 with the kaby lake versions. Personally i wouldnt buy the Omen 2016 as i dont like the build quality compared to the old one as these look and feel the same as the Pavilions and I see why the price is low

 

ive been waiting for a satisfying hp notebook since 2 years now, and now i need to get a new one from the consumer line, although my perfect notebook would be a zbook 15 with a gtx/radeon gpu. so i have to go for the new omen now, but im really not happy with it.
no gtx 1060, lack of usb-c / thunderbolt 3, bad 4k display... why not make a thicker omen 15 that has the gtx 1060 (and of course thunderbolt 3, and a good 4k display) if only heat is the reason for it not having a better gpu? the only thing i really like with the omen is its look, "gaming" notebook without looking like one.

and because ive been using hp notebooks for more than 10 years now, their business line (elitebooks, zbooks) is absolutely amazing (best build quality ever, has thunderbolt 3, great support - pity the consumer line is like from another world compared, so much worse), and have business contracts with them, i want to stay with them, else id go for another brand immediately since theres plenty of alternatives that get everything right with each gaming notebook they release.

 

You are right! If you compare the Omen 15t ( link) to the Pavilion 15t ( link), the dimensions and ports are almost exactly the same:

Omen:
External I/O Ports: 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Data transfer only); 1 USB 2.0; 1 HDMI; 1 RJ-45; 1 headphone/microphone combo
Power supply: 150 W AC power adapter
Dimensions (W X D X H): 15.06 x 9.94 x 0.96 in
Weight: 4.85 lb

Pavilion:
External I/O Ports: 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Data transfer only); 1 USB 2.0; 1 HDMI; 1 RJ-45; 1 headphone/microphone combo
Power supply: 150 W AC power adapter
Dimensions (W X D X H):15.06 x 9.94 x 0.96 in
Weight: 4.84 lb

In fact, the only differences between the two machines is that the Omen offers the option of a 1050 Ti and a few extra options for the storage and RAM. It appears to be the same machine, but with a different color scheme and some extra options.

 

since the transition to a lower price level, the omens in fact are just plain pavillions with a different color design, slightly better gpu and a bit more ram (yet still capped @16gb, which is standard on gaming systems today; cap should be at 32-64gb), thats it. everything else is same, so no wonder there are no usb 3.1 gen 2 / thunderbolt 3 jacks, same bad 4k displays etc.

they are crippling the omens the same way as they did with the envy, except that even the first omen never was as great as the first envy (17) 1000-3200 series.
im still using my old envy 17 1195ea - great sturdy metal chassis and lid, protective screen covering the display, high-end hardware for that time (i7-720qm & mobility radeon 5850).

and one more major flaw with the omen - power jack AND ethernet on the right side > blocking every right-handed gamer. since surely the majority will play while plugged in power, as well as with an ethernet cable, especially when gaming online.

hp just manages to fail constantly in almost every aspect since years with their crappy gaming resp. "premium" consumer notebooks, which is really sad for me personally since i love their design more than any other brand's, and would really love to have an omen with satisfying hardware and premium build quality, or a zbook 15/studio with a gaming gpu (gtx 1060)

 

Yeah i hear you, i always like the designs of HP laptops but looks are deceiving as i had 3 HP laptops that started breaking down on me within the first year back then so i gave up on them and went to Toshiba and then came back to HP with my current laptop which been like a tank ever since i sent it in almost 2 years ago, its not as good as the older ENVY laptops but its been reliable and has a much better build quality than these current Omens. Gonna finally install an SSD on it eventually and use the HDD as a data drive because its starting to show its age. I was going to buy the Omen as HP is finally selling high end GPUs like the 1060 and 1070 but the build quality sucks for the price...............

 

i cannot wait anymore, so im getting this unsatisfying pavillion called omen.
if anybody already owning either the 2016 or the 2017 omen 15 can answer me the questions i asked in the thread linked below, id be very greatful since it is critical for my model choice, thanks!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...gaming-notebook.762889/page-140#post-10446309

 

Anyone know if the new Omen 15 with the GTX1050 comes with a touchscreen? I want to take advantage of Dell's price matching and get an XPS 15 price matched to an Omen 15...

 

Bookmarked......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

So I have a new Omen 15 with i7 and 1050Ti since Friday, but I don't really like it. It's noisy, it's unstable and the FHD screen is too dim.

It crashed once already, needing a hard power-down. It's constantly locks up for a second when opening things or just in general use. I think it has something to do with the hard disk spinning up or something like that? With a lock up I mean: the cursor doesn't move for one second, system is unresponsive.

The screen has visible backlight bleed in the lower left corner and it is way too dim (200 nits). If the sun comes up in my apartment, I can't see a thing anymore in games.

It's noisy, most of the time the fan is on at a pretty high rate. I suspect the bloated default installation of Windows though. Already disabled Fan always on, but the fan is still always on.

There is also coil whine when moving a USB mouse...

I do like the performance, the 1050Ti is a very nice graphics card, handles everything just fine at 1080p.

This is going to be returned, it was a nice cheap deal with some discounts and cashbacks, but still this is not worth my money. Save yourself the trouble...

 

thanks for sharing your sadly bad experience! though i think these are not unfixable issues...
the display being bad is well-known, this is why im curious whether one can replace it with another - better - 1080p display that is not initially meant for the omen 15, but eg. the zbook 15, which has great displays.
the other issues you are mentioning definitely are software issues, i always freshly install the OS when getting a new notebook. have you checked whether HP has maybe set a custom power profile in windows power options or there is something in the omen control software which may cause these issues? there is no reason for the fans to be loud while not gaming or doing some heavier stuff.. maybe a repaste would fix it if an OS fresh install doesnt. this is what i am doing soon after purchase of a notebook as well.

 

I'm sure a lot is fixable, but I decided to spend a little bit more on a better overall laptop. In the end, the screen brightness can't be fixed and I am not willing to open it up and fit a better panel. The days of tinkering and modding are over for me unfortunately.

 

Damn... not good. However the freezes and bluescreens were also mentioned in a recent video review. The solution there was to make a clean Windows 10 install. Still... it shouldn't be the case with a brand new device.
Regarding the fan noise, most video reviews say the fan noise is pretty quiet. However all of these reviews only had the 7300HQ and not the 7700HQ... I hope this can be solved by a proper paste job...

 

If you buy a higher end laptop (no matter if for gaming, video editing or 3d modelling), there always comes a time where you need to open up the laptop and replace the cooling paste (every 6-12 months). This is not about modding or tinkering, but about keeping your workstation intact. What are you gonna do when a new laptop heats up more than usual? Buy a new one because you don't want to "tinker around"?

Anyways, just a rhetoric question... any idea which model you buy instead?

 

Sure, if needed a repaste is not a problem. Just as I need to upgrade the RAM down the road. But I don't want to open things up on day one.

Not sure what I should buy, there are not many 1050Ti laptops available in my country, so I have to decide wether I want to downgrade to a 1050 or upgrade to a 1060 based laptop.

 

Yeah makes sense... not a good "omen" having to open it up on day 1
(especially with the other issues as well)

 

Idk if the newer HP laptops have this but theres a recovery option called "Minimized Image Recovery" which only installs the drivers and some HP software, its basically like a clean install without doing the work of installing all of the drivers. (BTW this recovery option only works on the recovery partition). Even with the bloatware a new laptop shouldnt be overheating at all thats unexcuseable.

 

I am pretty sure the stuttering issue in Windows has something to do with Optimus and switching. It's an issue on more Optimus laptops I believe.

More info:


(not my video)

 

Recently I have been in a shop and I quickly browsed through the laptops section. A black HP caught my eye but when I tried it out it seemed to be completely made out of plastic. The logo on the laptop was that of the Omen. Truth be told I was quite shocked. Am currently on an older Envy 17 2xxx 120Hz and whilst the quality of this laptop is not bad it still beats the exterior of the Omen.

Hopefully HP will up the quality in the future.