HP Crafts Omen as Powerful Notebook for Gaming and Enterprise Apps

By Don Reisinger

Since the Omen is a gaming notebook at heart, it’s no surprise that the computer comes with serious power. The device’s processor is arguably one of its most important features, coming in at 2.5GHz and up to 3.5GHz on turbo. The fourth-generation Intel Core i7 comes with four cores, 6MB of cache and hyper-threading. In other words, it’s a very fast notebook processor.

OK, so things might have been a bit nicer in the Omen if it didn’t come standard with Windows 8.1. The operating system works fine for gamers, but it’s not necessarily an appealing option for doing much else. The operating system has been panned by critics, has been taken off retail shelves and will soon be replaced by Windows 10. Even Windows 7 would be better than Windows 8.1 right now.

For gamers, graphics cards can mean the difference between success and failure in the middle of a gunfight. While the internal graphics chip of the Intel HD 4600 chipset isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, customers can choose to upgrade to the 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX860M or the same chip with 4GB of memory. Either of those options would be ideal for gaming on-the-go.

A solid-state drive is an important component in any high-powered and fast notebook. When customers choose their new computer, they’ll have to pick between a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB solid-state drive. The benefit of SSDs is that they perform better than traditional hard drives, are less prone to failure and quickly access information. They’re ideal for most use.

With all of the power available in the Omen, it’s surprising that the device is so thin and mobile. The Omen is just 19.9mm in height when the clamshell is closed and has a depth of 247.5mm. With a width of 382.9mm, it’s easily packed into a bag and brought along on a flight or car ride. There is one issue, though: The notebook weights 4.7 pounds, which is somewhat heavy.

The Omen notebook comes with a backlit keyboard that illuminates in red at night. In addition, there are “P” keys at the left that are used by gamers to assign gaming profiles. Best of all, the A, S, D and W keys, which are often used in games, are illuminated in white to make it easier to play titles. It’s a neat idea that more companies should copy from HP.

The HD display built into the Omen is impressive. The screen is a full HD capacitive touch display that measures 15.6 inches corner to corner. In addition, it’s an IPS full-HD display with a 1,920-by-1,080 resolution. That should be more than capable of handling high-end visuals in the latest and greatest games.

HP smartly put all of the ports in the Omen on the back, so gamers wouldn’t need to worry about cords getting in their way as they’re playing titles. But the sheer amount of ports built into the device is impressive. There are four USB 3.0 ports, one mini Display port, an HDMI port and headphone output. There’s also an AC Smart Pin adapter plug, which can always come in handy.

While the main focus of the Omen is gaming, it’s not much different from any other notebook PC and will work quite well in an enterprise setting running business applications. The device is extremely powerful, and while HP’s core market is gamers, one can easily look past some of the gaming marketing and realize that the power, the components, the ports and device’s design make it a powerful choice for enterprise users as well.

Given the sheer amount of power and features built into the Omen, it should be no surprise that it’s a little on the pricey side. Customers can expect to pay $1,500 for the base model, but that quickly jumps to $1,600 and $1,700 for those who want more memory and a better graphics card. Further customization options will push that price up even further. Still, it’s a nice notebook and customers interested in it can order it now.