46 PCWorld DECEMBER 2019REVIEWS HP OMEN 17-CB0040NR
Pop open our review model and you’re
treated to a 144Hz, 1080p display. Color
accuracy skews a bit warm, but it’s a
surprisingly good screen for a budget-friendly
laptop. Brightness often suffers on these
midrange laptops, but HP’s opted for a
radiant 362-nit display. The other display
options are a 60Hz 1080p, a 4K IPS, and the
240Hz 1080p mentioned above.
An upgrade for 2019, the keyboard now
has zone RGB backlighting instead of the flat
red found on previous Omen models. Say
what you will about RGB, I’m always on board
when it means getting away from a forced
red-and-black color scheme. The new Omen
17 has four zones: left,
right, center, and then
the WASD keys.
HP fits a full-size
keyboard onto the
Omen 17, with room to
spare—and even a
column of macro keys to
the left. It’s a bit
cluttered, but there’s a
lot of functionality at your
fingertips if you want it.
The switches surprised
me as well, with a hearty
thonk to each keystroke
that I’ve really come to
love over the last few
weeks of testing. The
resistance is a bit stiff,which can be exhausting after a while, but I
think next to Alienware this is one of the best
laptop typing experiences I’ve had.
Kudos to HP for including actual buttons
underneath the trackpad. That’s increasingly
rare these days. Alienware, for instance,
abstained. Sure, you’re probably going to
plug in a mouse for any serious gaming, but
sometimes you simply can’t, and it’s always
best to have the button option. I find it nearly
impossible to use a clickpad for on-the-go
gaming, but with buttons? I can make do.
Accolades as well for putting all the ports on
the side. Rear-facing ports are common on these
oversized laptops, in part because it reducesAlienw(Core i9-9900K)are Area-51m R1Cinebench RT15.038
(Single/multi threads)LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE2,030207Single MultiMSI GE 65 Raider-51
(Core i9-9880H) 1,623191Alienw(Core i7-9750H)are M15 R2
1,238
Lenovo Legion Y740(Core i7-8750H)
1,216Dell G7
(Core i7-9750H) 1,204HP Om(Core i7-9750H)en 17
1,153175176171168