Sometimes when we are fans of some important saga, either in film or video games, sometimes we do everything possible to get special editions that are unique either because they are limited in number or because we imagine how such products and accessories would look in our room or office.
Introduction
This time our friends at HP Pavilion sent us a special edition of Star Wars notebook. Its presentation is spectacular, from the packaging to the sponges that protect the computer, everything is custom made, to the smallest detail. In fact, it looks so good that when out of the box the first thing you imagine is “this must be very powerful” – sure, as long as you have not read the technical specifications and you’ve given in to its looks.
And unfortunately this is not the gaming laptop of your dreams, at least not the model that was given to us. We have the model with the Core i5 processor and 6GB RAM. In stores, they sell more expensive models, with better technical specifications. Coming back to the presentation, we know that you could be disappointed with the “not the gaming computer of your dreams” thing, but although it is not, this device is focused on multimedia entertainment and its distinctive “I have Star Wars notebook” bragging right thing.
The housing is finished like a worn out ship, with details that make it look scratched and battered by the battles suffered. Star Wars customization includes Darth Vader picture as your desktop background and inside the notebook itself – on the keyboard- you can find two stormtroopers next to the touch pad, while the touch pad itself represents the control center of an X-Wing. Below the screen we can read “Galactic Empire” written with the Aurebesh typography.
The keyboard has red backlighting. Visually it is quite attractive, unfortunately you can not choose levels of lighting and it supports only options: on and off.
Once you boot up the device, we have our command center that is handled through the operating system, Windows 10 Home, where you can access multiple Star Wars goodies: icons, wallpapers, custom sounds of R2D2 or sounds of lightsabers being drawn or battling. Something that caught our attention was the recycle bin which is a Death Star. The exclusive content includes behind the scenes pictures, trailers, early Marvel comics, which you can read with dynamic animations.
Main Specifications
- Operating system: Windows 10 Home
- Processor: Sixth Generation Intel CoreTM i5-6200U
- Display: 15.6 ” diagonal Full HD BrightView with WLED backlight
- Memory: 6 GB DDR3L SDRAM (2 DIMM)
- Hard Drive: Hard Drive 1TB 5400 RPM
- Graphics: Intel HD 520 Graphics with up to 3119 MB total graphics memory
- Audio: B&O PLAY with two speakers
- Optical Drive: DVD SuperMulti Writer
- Product Weight: 2.30 kg
- Keyboard: Full-size island keyboard with backlight and keypad
As you can see, this device is focused on multimedia use, but that does not mean you can not enjoy some games even at medium quality, which is the most you can hope for. We tried games like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain at an average quality and ran up to a little over 20 FPS, playing in the native resolution at 1080p. Batman Arkham Knight fared worse: in a resolution of 640 × 360 it reached just shy over 20FPS. One of the games that worked better in our testing was Outlast, playing at its native resolution at medium quality, it reached almost 60 FPS.
Video editing was not so bad either. When rendering a clip of about 5 minutes with a considerable amount of effects and transitions using Movie Studio Premium 13, it took about 15 minutes. However, we wouldn’t call this a video editing laptop for those with serious work, unless your editing needs are not as demanding. On the other hand, in daily web browsing, Office document work and photo editing software, it has been running smooth.
So, you already know it has a flawless presentation, specifications focused on enjoying multimedia content, but how well does it run? The screen is quite good, with its Full HD IPS technology, which gives you an awesome picture under various conditions, something other notebooks probably wish they could say. The viewing angles are great, looking impeccable in almost every way. No complaints in this regard.
The keyboard is excellent, just as its touch panel. The design is good, although we could do without the keypad, since we didn’t used at all, except by accident. The touchpad is responsive and outside its nice design, there is nothing special worth noting. The chiclet keyboard is quite comfortable to type on. As mentioned in the presentation part, you will be pleased with the red hot backlight, like the sword of a true sith, unfortunately with no levels of intensity.
On the bundle that HP provided us, it included a Millennium Falcon speaker. This speaker transmits sound from your computer or mobile device via Bluetooth; also when in use the LED light is on at the rear of the ship. The sound that plays has a good quality, so you could enjoy a movie or play some music when hanging out with friends. It has a Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery included, as well as a plastic base for your desktop.
The battery has good performance. It lasted an average of 5 to 7 continuous hours, not making any significant noise. Sometimes you can hear the fans, but it’s not something you’d find annoying and only happens in short periods of time. The computer runs relatively calm and quiet.
In terms of heat, it gets noticeably warm on the right side where the main air vent is, but nothing not normal. Also, it does not feel warm at all around the processor or hard drive. Its battery offers a little less than 6 hours of battery life, the average for this type of device.
Conclusion
If you’re a gamer who likes Star Wars, probably this should not be your first choice and sincerely we do not recommend it. It has a nice presentation but this notebook is far from the Ultrabooks with better technical specifications. Not everything is bad though, there are reasons to get this notebook, if you’re a user who likes to spend time on the Internet, make use sofware that is not as picky about RAM or graphic cards, and you want a laptop that has a big screen, Bang & Olufsen speakers, a unique design, and a personalized OS, and of course if you’re a die-hard fan of Star Wars; this notebook can be ideal for you, and even more so at this time when everyone is talking about this great movie saga.
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