Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsBeautiful, Functional, Powerful. Best Looking Laptop in Years
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2015
So, before purchasing this laptop I was mostly a desktop junkie. As a hardcore gamer, desktops were simply the best bang for the buck. But getting older, I find myself rarely playing games, and the clutter of a desktop somewhat irritating. So I started doing some serious research into a machine that I could bring to professional settings without embarrassment, while simultaneously being able to handle some moderate gaming. And that led me to this HP Omen, and I couldn't be happier with my purchase.
Pros
1) Design - By far the sexiest laptop I have ever seen. The build quality is incredible, and I've gotten numerous positive comments about it. The best part is that this is technically a "gaming" laptop. But you can still bring it to a business meeting! If you brought an Alienware, or any other gaudy gaming laptop with flashing lights and ridiculous power ranger logos to one of my meetings you'd be laughed out of the room. But this bad boy is sleek and industrial. By far one of its best selling points.
2) Screen - Amazing screen. Full 1080P IPS panel with fantastic color reproduction. Everything looks great, and the Windows 8 Metro interface is absolutely butter on this thing.
3) Performance - Blisteringly fast. While the 860M is simply not up to par for high-end gaming, it will easily handle any game currently on the market at medium settings. High to ultra is definitely pushing it, you'll want a machine with at least a 970M for that. But for general productivity this laptop is an absolute beast. It's my first machine with the OS on a SSD, and restarting the machine literally takes less than 10 seconds. Incredible.
4) Sound - Now this is one that surprised me. From all the reviews about the HP Omen, one of the few cons was the audio. I couldn't disagree more. Now certainly, expect ZERO bass from this. But for god's sake it's a laptop thinner than a quarter! Otherwise, the audio fidelity is excellent! I was afraid of hearing tinny sounds like my previous work laptops, but this laptop actually sounds like it has external speakers! Unless you're a real audiophile, or you like bass heavy songs, the sound is superb.
Cons
1) Now really, I only have a single con for this laptop. Unfortunately, it's a HUGE con. By itself it almost brought it down to a 4/5. The idiotic "gaming" macro keys NEED TO GO. As I said previously, I used to be a hardcore gamer and I NEVER needed to use dedicated macro keys. Use your brain, no gaming developer is going to design a game with these in mind because most people don't have them! Not to mention that most serious gamers willing to use "macro" keys would never use a laptop keyboard to begin with.
But you may ask, "Okay understood, but why don't you just ignore them?" Well....you CANT! To fit them onto the keyboard, HP decided to shift the entire keyboard to the right by an inch. What does that mean? It means you're constantly mistyping because you expect all the keys to be centered like a normal laptop...but they aren't! As a touch typist who can consistently type over 150 WPM, I have never had more typos in my life! I constantly have to remind myself to move my hands as I get constant "incorrect password" notifications.
This is by far the biggest design flaw on this laptop! HP compromised the typing experience to make room for a feature that is completely useless to 99% of non-gamers, and also to 99% of gamers who won't use a laptop keyboard for gaming!
Conclusion
Overall, despite my utter hatred of the keyboard positioning, this is an incredible laptop. The screen, audio, and performance are fantastic. But by far, the design is what sets this one apart. I've gotten comments from everyone who's even remotely interested in technology on how fantastic it looks. So unless you have borderline OCD with me with minor rage issues regarding the keyboard, I can almost guarantee that you'll be pleased with this purchase.
