Good Omen for gamer
Hewlett Packard’s Omen 17 packs a solid punch in terms of performance, even though it’s an eye sore. But is it the Holy Grail for gamers? We find out.
Windows-based laptops and desktops still rule the digital gaming world and as it’s a very niche segment, the prices of these devices start from a stratospheric level. But as there is a solid demand for these machines, HP has decided to join the party with the Omen 17-inch laptop. Those who believe in this age old line, “Size doesn’t matter”, clearly haven’t met the Omen 17. Not only does it have a huge 17-inch full HD display, but it also weighs 3.3kgs. I don’t know about you, but just by mentioning the weight, my back has started to hurt.
Leaving all the aches and pains aside, let’s talk about its hardware cause that’s the reason why you end up paying a fortune for the Omen 17. For starters, it is Virtual Reality (VR) ready and is paired with the power packed Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card and a seventh-gen Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor. If you though that 16GB RAM is mindboggling then the combined storage of 256GB solid state drive and 1TB hard drive just takes it to an insane level. The Nvidia graphics card and the Windows 10 OS complement each other and ensure that the colours are uniform, but they tend to saturate as the display is 1920X1080 pixels. Sadly, being such an expensive laptop, we would have liked a 4K display. Don’t get me wrong, the objects aren’t blurred in motion, but slightly dimmer than I would have liked.
With so much power, HP couldn’t have just given the Omen 17 a regular battery. This laptop comes with a massive 95.8WHr battery, which keeps the laptop running for just over 5 hours. To give everyone a heads up, the battery itself takes roughly 2 hours to be fully charged.
Unlike its rivals, the Omen doesn’t really stand out in terms of design as it looks like one chunky all black laptop with carbon fibre-like composition. The red voodoo badge on the centre sadly isn’t backlit. The keyboard is thankfully fully-backlit and is quite big and has a solid build. The keys, on the other hand, aren’t much to rave about as they don’t have any travel. Therefore, beware of typos when you’re typing.
The Omen boasts of four Bang & Olufsen speakers, which is one of its outstanding features. As expected the sound is crystal clear and if you increase the volume there is no jarring sound. It comes in three modes — Music, Voice and Movie, but Music mode is perfect for gaming.
Rs.1,39,990 is quite a steep price tag, but when you look at the competition’s prices, they either at the same level or a bit pricier, the Omen 17’s worth buying. Sure the build quality could have been much better, but then it more than makes up with its hardware, which actually matters.
