This puts the HP Omen in a very enviable position, as it can be considered as a gaming-capable premium ultrabook of sorts.
#GEFORCE GTX 860M 4GB REVIEW PRO#
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro (the base model) for example, is the same price as the HP Omen at S$2,299. At the very least, the HP Omen gives premium ultrabooks a run for their money where design and aesthetics are concerned. It's safe to say that the HP Is a decent alternative to the MSI GS60 2PE Ghost Pro, if you're willing to trade a bit on performance. Looking at it from the MSI GS60 2PE Ghost Pro's perspective, the HP Omen isn't outmatched as you'd expect, especially the cheaper model (the one we're reviewing). Considering that the MSI GS60 2PE costs S$3,199, the S$2,299 asking price of the HP Omen isn't that bad. True, it may not run today's intensive games on the highest settings, but it can still deliver reasonable gaming performance in most games as long as you don't set the graphical quality too high. Despite that, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M in the HP Omen still has some teeth. It's an outgoing discrete graphics chip and its inclusion in the HP Omen is a rather puzzling decision, especially since even the higher specced model uses it. However the main concern with the HP Omen is that it uses the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M GPU. That's not much of an issue if you often have access to a power outlet, or you don't intend to game outside of your home, friend's place or a LAN gaming center. The battery life is rather lacklustre, lasting around 98 minutes in our benchmarks. The HP Omen does get a lot of things right, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its share of faults. We've listed both models and their specifications below. Speaking of choice, HP also gives its customers a choice on which version of the HP Omen they'd like to have based on their usage needs. Even the sides and power button lights can be customized to any color you want and that's impressive. HP's got a ton of customization options, with the keyboard alone having three separate sections for coloration. Speaking of the keyboard, we also love the backlight options that HP has given its users. Still, at least it's there as an option for gamers who want to customize their experience and we have to give HP props for that. While it's a generic chiclet keyboard, the presence of shortcut keys is a welcome addition (though we really didn't use them). We'd also like to highlight the keyboard.
#GEFORCE GTX 860M 4GB REVIEW WINDOWS 8#
In fact, you only stand to gain in notebook functionality with Windows 8 and its apps in mind. Its always great having input choices since Windows 8 is built from the ground up to take advantage of touchscreens, there's really no downside to having one on the HP Omen. We concede that there aren't a lot of great touchscreen games, but having a touchscreen for other uses far outweighs its limited functionality in the gaming scene. There hasn't been a gaming notebook with a touchscreen in recent memory and HP's decision to pack one in with the HP Omen is a good choice. In fact, the machine's excellent build quality even extends to the touchscreen. What we're basically saying is that HP's nailed the design, quality and all the physical characteristics of the HP Omen. While the display has a slight wobble to it, the base is very solid and firmly grounded. The fact that the HP Omen is so thin belies the fact that the machine is very sturdy and oozes of quality. While the MSI GS60 2PE Ghost Pro is lighter, it doesn't look as good as the HP Omen. The fact that HP went one step further and made the HP Omen out of quality materials is a testament to how focused the company is on aesthetics and build to differentiate itself from everything else in the market. We expected a cheap plastic bulky chassis, not the sleek and svelte build the HP Omen turned up in. Only the Gigabyte Aorus X7 Pro could somewhat compete aesthetically, but it doesn't better HP Omen's level of design details and it costs a whole lot more at S$3,999. We really didn't think a S$2,299 notebook could feel and look so good. Apart from its middling performance expected from its hardware choices, the design and effort gone into constructing the HP Omen was something that really took us by surprise. While we'd like to come right out and say we're not thrilled by the HP Omen, that would be an outright lie.