PC World - USA (2020-03)

90 PCWorld MARCH 2020

REVIEWS HP PAVILION GAMING L APTOP

actually very respectable.

Remember that the numbers don’t tell the

whole story. We typically do our battery

testing at 250 nits, but as I said earlier the

Pavilion Gaming Laptop dims to 200 nits

when unplugged. Thus our result here comes

with an enormous asterisk, because the

screen might be too dark for you to actually

use the Pavilion Gaming Laptop, no matter

how long it lasts. That said, the Omen 17 we

tested had a better screen but terrible battery

life. It’s a compromise either way.

BOTTOM LINE

I came into this thinking I’d find a pitched

battle between HP’s Pavilion and Omen lines.

Really, they’re just two sides of a coin. The

Pavilion’s your entry-level Omen, whether

HP’s willing to call it that or not.

As such, I think the Pavilion Gaming Laptop

that we reviewed is a

hard sell. It’s close in

price to a similarly

configured Omen, but

with a dismal display and

no mouse buttons.

You’d be better off

spending more for the

Omen, I promise.

The Pavilion

Gaming Laptop

nevertheless punches

well above its weight in

the entry-level range. If

you’re looking for a sub-$1,000 gaming

laptop, HP’s built one every bit as sturdy and

refined as its high-end counterparts—because

at the core, they’re the same laptop. Branding

is funny sometimes, eh?

HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop

15-dk0045cl

PROS

• Understated design.


• Solid deal on entry-level hardware.


• Long battery life.
  CONS


• Lacks dedicated left and right mouse buttons.


• Dim screen.


• Intel’s Core i7-9750H underperforms in HP’s
  implementation.
  BOTTOM LINE
  HP’s Pavilion Gaming Laptop (15-dk0045cl) is just a
  low-end Omen without the Omen branding—and
  more importantly, without the Omen’s better-looking
  screen.
  $1,250

Acer Nitro 5 15(Core i5-9300H)

M(Core i7-9750H)SI GS65 Stealth 9SD

HP Pavilion 15 Gam(Core i7-9750H) ing Laptop

Acer Nitro 7

(Core i7-9750H)

Dell G7

(Core i7-9750H)

HP Omen 17

(Core i7-9750H)

4K Video Playback Battery Life

(Minutes)

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

435

223

342

374

122

316