Hp pavilion gaming laptop – 15z-ec200 Review and price
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Hp pavilion gaming laptop – 15z-ec200 Review and price
When we tested the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 in December 2019, we found it to be on the low end of the $ 1000 price range for cheap laptops at $1,249.99. The HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15z-ec200, the successor to the same chassis, is on the right side of $ 789.99, even with a faster AMD Ryzen 5 CPU and 144Hz refresh rate display for esports gamers (a 60Hz variant is even cheaper at $ 699.99). Unfortunately, it has a somewhat slower GPU and limited storage space, so while the 15z-ec200 is worth considering for gamers on a tight budget, it does not outperform the slightly cheaper Acer Nitro 5 or the slightly more costly (and Editors’ Choice award-winning) MSI Bravo 15.
Reorganized gates, unchanged style
Both the 60Hz and 144Hz monitors have 15.6-inch full-touch panels with full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) resolution and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. Pavilion comes standard with a 6-core, 3.3 GHz (4.2 GHz turbo) Ryzen 5 5600H processor and 8 GB of memory; upgrades to 12 GB or 16 GB cost $ 40 or $ 80, respectively, and an eight-core Ryzen 7 5800H costs $ 120. The laptop’s 256 GB NVMe solid state drive is insufficient for many modern games. You can replace it with a 512 GB or 1 TB SSD for $ 70 or $ 140, respectively, or upgrade it with a $ 1 TB hard drive for $ 90.
When the laptop is open, diagonal perforations below the screen add a little of aesthetic flare. Although the upper and below margins are bigger, the frames on each side of the screen are narrow. The 15z-ec200 is a pavilion that utilizes HP’s circular consumer logo rather than the stylised four slashes of exclusive business and Specter variants. Prospective Windows Hello users may be unhappy to discover neither fingerprint reader or camera for facial recognition; the keyboard is illuminated, but only in green, rather than numerous zones or millions of RGB colors found on current gaming systems;
The black plastic pavilion measures 0.93 x 14.2 x 10.1 inches, which is similar to the dimensions of the Bravo 15 (0.85 x 14.1 x 10 inches) and Dell G3 15 (0.85 x 14.4 x 10 inches). It weights 4.4 pounds, which is a few grams higher than MSI (4.1 pounds) but less than Dell (4.4 pounds) (5.2 pounds). If you grip the screen edges or push the keyboard cover, you have a variety of options.
As an AMD system, HP lacks a Thunderbolt connector but otherwise provides a good connection. On the left side, the only connectors are a vintage USB 2.0 port and the power connection. There are USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C connectors on the right, as well as an HDMI video output, an Ethernet port, an audio connector, and an SD card slot.
Although it has a 144Hz refresh rate rather than the standard 60Hz, the Pavilion screen still appears to be a cheap panel – it’s not particularly bright and the colors are drab, seeming muted or faded out rather than brilliant or popping. White backgrounds are a little dingy, and contrast is average, but fine details and letter edges are quite clear instead of pixels, and viewing angles are broad.
Budget Gaming vs. Performance Testing
For our reference charts, I compared the Pavilion 15z-ec200 to four other gaming laptops under $1,000, including the aforementioned Dell G3 15, MSI Bravo 15, and Acer Nitro 5 (our test unit in 2020; we have not yet seen the updated 2021 Nitro 5 models), as well as the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i. The table below shows their fundamental parameters.
PCMark 10 and 8 are comprehensive performance suites created by UL’s PC reference specialists (formerly Futuremark). The PCMark 10 test that we conduct replicates many real-world processes and content production scenarios. It is used to assess overall system performance for office-related operations including word processing, spreadsheets, browsing, and video conferencing. Meanwhile, PCMark 8 includes a stock test that we utilize to evaluate the system startup time. Both provide a proprietary numerical score, with larger numbers being preferable. (Learn more about how we evaluate laptops here.)
Battery countdown evaluation
After completely charging the laptop, we switch to power saving mode (rather than balanced or high performance mode) and make a few more battery-saving modifications in preparation for our offline video test. (We also disable Wi-Fi and switch the laptop to airplane mode.) We leave out a movie in this test – a locally saved 720p version of the Blender Foundation short film. Steely Tears Tears of Steel – keep the screen brightness at 50% and the loudness at 100% until the system goes down.
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