MARCH 2020 PCWorld 85the same centered hinge as the Omen 17 (go.
pcworld.com/om17) we reviewed in
November, the same almost-rectangular
shape. But where the Omen opted for a
brushed-metal look inside and outside, the
Pavilion goes with a matte-black finish—and a
proper HP logo, instead of Omen’s
demon-face.
Honestly? I prefer the Pavilion Gaming
Laptop to the Omen cousin. It’s a
go-anywhere laptop, a day-to-day workhorse
that also plays games on the weekends. Even
the “Acid Green” variant we reviewed is fairly
inoffensive. The electric-green keyboard
backlighting invites Razer comparisons, but
HP went with a jewel-tone emerald accent for
the lid logo that’s eye-catching but not
eye-searing, a fine line to walk. I recommend
paying $10 for the white logo and
backlighting if you really want to blend in, but
I have no problem with the
Pavilion Gaming Laptop
aesthetically.
Unfortunately most of the
other differences between the
Pavilion and the Omen go in
the latter’s favor. First and
foremost, the 15.6-inch display.
This is an area where lower-cost
laptops often skimp, because
the display is one of the priciest
components.
The Pavilion Gaming
Laptop defaults to a standard
1080p IPS screen with a 60Hz refresh rate.
Not every laptop needs to be 144Hz or 4K
resolution—but it does need to be bright
enough to see. I’m frustrated because I just
applauded HP for equipping the Omen with a
bright 362-nit screen, a rarity for budget-
conscious manufacturers. The Pavilion
Gaming Laptop tops out at 250 nits plugged
in, our baseline for viewing comfort.
However, it dims to 200 nits unplugged, far
short of that baseline, which we use for
battery benchmarking.
What that means for you depends on your
use case. The Pavilion Gaming Laptop is
plenty bright with the lights out, so late-night
gaming sessions are fine. Even a single
overhead light is enough to wash out the
Pavilion Gaming Laptops’s display, though,
and window glare can be a real problem
during the day, especially unplugged. Picture: