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00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here. So this is a review on the mid-2017 HP Omen.
00:11So this thing has been redesigned for this year. The old model, the 2016 model, that kind of carried over to early 2017,
00:18that was a very generic looking laptop. This one, it looks less generic, but I feel like a lot of the design language has been inspired
00:25from companies like Acer or Lenovo. This doesn't look super HP to me, but it's a well-built laptop.
00:31The paneling is solid. Most of it is plastic. The hinge also seems really good, despite the location.
00:36I mean, I normally don't like seeing hinges close together like this. They tend to wear out a little bit faster,
00:41but this one feels good, and you can open it with one hand.
00:44There's a lot of red on this laptop. It's your classic black and red gaming laptop.
00:48The color scheme's not my jam, but for some people that do like this color scheme, I think it looks alright.
00:53The port selection is pretty solid here. There's an SD card slot, USB 3s, and you also have two display outputs,
00:59Ethernet, and a USB-C, but despite this Thunderbolt 3 looking symbol, there's no Thunderbolt 3 action to be had,
01:05unless you pay for that $20 upgrade.
01:10The keyboard is pretty good. The keys are a little softer than I'd like, but layout is good.
01:14Backlighting is red for most of the keyboard, but just a handful of white LEDs under the WASD keys.
01:20The trackpad uses synaptic drivers. I really wish they'd gone with Windows Precision drivers here.
01:25The tracking's okay, like there's the occasional hiccup, but I didn't have issues with gestures or tapping.
01:30It also has dedicated buttons for clicking, so you might or might not like that.
01:34Okay, let's talk about the display. If you're actually interested in purchasing this thing, you should probably pay attention here.
01:39So the base model is dim. It has poor color accuracy, and quite frankly, it sucks.
01:44It's one of the worst screens I've seen on a 15-inch gaming laptop.
01:48The 4K panel is good, but unless you're using this laptop exclusively for content creation, I'd skip the screen.
01:53It's also not cheap. The only display that I really like is the 120Hz 1080p panel.
01:59It's a $60 upgrade, but it's just so much better than the base panel,
02:02and games look a lot better when they're being played in 120Hz.
02:05The default webcam looks okay. You can upgrade it for $20, but even the base model supports Windows Hello for speedy logins.
02:12The internals of the laptop are pretty easy to access. There's a handful of screws.
02:16This configuration has a 2.5-inch SATA drive and an M.2 SSD.
02:21The SSD is a PM961, so it'll have pretty quick speeds, and this configuration has 8GB of RAM.
02:27You can install up to 32GB.
02:29The battery down here is 70Wh, which is a relatively large battery for a gaming laptop,
02:34but battery life isn't great. I'm getting around 5 hours of use with my regular tests,
02:38which is kind of weird because this is a bigger battery than the previous generation,
02:41but I'm getting very similar numbers.
02:43In terms of performance, this thing's running a GTX 1050 Ti, and it's getting great performance as expected.
02:48The 1050 Ti is basically the sweet spot for price to performance on gaming laptops.
02:53You can play most AAA titles at 60 frames per second with great image quality.
02:57It's only the heavier titles that struggle a little bit.
03:00Now, if you want to see more benchmarks for this GPU, there's a link in the video description.
03:14There's another configuration of the Omen with the GTX 1060 Max-Q,
03:18and I guess it would be their top-of-the-line model.
03:20I've mentioned this in previous videos, but if you're going to do Max-Q, you've got to do it right.
03:24You've got to build the entire laptop from the ground up with Max-Q design in mind.
03:28If you take a pre-existing chassis and you just stick a Max-Q chip in there,
03:32you're not getting the benefits of what Max-Q can do.
03:34You're still getting a thick laptop. You're still getting a pretty loud laptop.
03:38There's no point.
03:39Now, in terms of fan noise on the Ti version, it's actually pretty good.
03:42On load, it doesn't get too loud, but for whatever reason, when it's idling,
03:46the fans kick in more often than I'd expect, even with CoolSense off.
03:49There's also no fan control in their software, but thermal performance is otherwise really good.
03:54It handles stress tests well, and overall, the thermal design on the new Omen
03:58is quite a bit better than the previous generation.
04:00The speakers fire from underneath the laptop, and they actually sound pretty good.
04:04They also get really loud.
04:05Obviously, sound quality goes to hell when you crank it,
04:07but if you need that volume, this thing can do it.
04:10So, with the new mid-2017 HP Omen, we're looking at a laptop with a metal keyboard deck,
04:14but plastic everywhere else.
04:16It has good detailing and build quality.
04:18It has several screen options, but I highly recommend getting the 120Hz panel.
04:22The backlit keyboard is also well laid out, and it's comfortable to type on.
04:26The trackpad has dedicated buttons and synaptic drivers, which are just okay.
04:30There's a cage-type keyboard, which is great.
04:33There's occasional tracking lag.
04:36Inside, the i7 and the GTX 1050 Ti have strong gaming performance.
04:40Temperatures are good, but the fan control is a little aggressive and comes on more than I'd like.
04:45The two RAM slots and the two drive bays are easy to access for upgrades,
04:49and the 70Wh battery, although big, doesn't give the best battery life.
04:53Now, if I only focus on the merits of the HP Omen,
04:56I would say that this is a good laptop, right?
04:58It's got good performance, really good build quality,
05:00and if you choose the right screen, games look good on it.
05:03The thing is, the pricing is not very good.
05:06The base model with the GTX 1050, I mean, that's, to me, the minimum card that you should get on this,
05:11it's $1,100 with a pretty poor screen.
05:14The model with the 1050 Ti and the 120Hz panel, you're gonna break $1,200.
05:18So, in general, this is not a good value for a laptop.
05:21I would consider this kind of in the middle of the bunch.
05:24The thing is, HP laptops have usually been really well-priced,
05:27but not right now. The competition is too fierce.
05:30If you're looking to get this, definitely get the 120Hz panel.
05:33I think you're still getting okay value at that point,
05:35but any of the other options, I wouldn't do it.
05:37Okay, thumbs if you liked this video, subs if you loved it.
05:40See you guys next time.