A Guide to Choosing the HP Laptop That’s Best Suited to Your Needs

If you’re looking to upgrade your laptop because your current one’s battery barely holds a charge and takes a solid 10 minutes to boot up, then it’s time to start the new year refreshed.

Sometimes you want a laptop for specific purposes, like gaming or creative pursuits, and sometimes you just want something portable that you can bash out notes on in class or carry room to room while binging Netflix.

Depending on what you’re looking for in a laptop, be it general use or something more specific, here’s a look at what HP’s current line-up has to offer. As an added bonus, HP is running a clearance sale with up to 40 per cent off select laptops, desktop PCs and monitors.

A 2-in-1 laptop: HP Spectre x360 2-in-1

Not sure if you should grab a tablet or a laptop? Why not get both in a single package? Two-in-one laptops have become all the rage over the past couple of years, with more and more computer brands branching out into this space, with devices that exceed as the best of both worlds.

HP’s Spectre has a slick, lightweight design with plenty of performance power under its hood to make it a good all-rounder option if you’re specifically after a two-in-one laptop. While its display isn’t detachable, you can fold it back 360-degrees, transforming this HP laptop into a tablet, complete with a touch screen.

Specs:

• Processor: Intel Core i5-1235U
• Graphics card: Intel Iris Xᵉ Graphics
• Display: 13.5-inch WUXGA+ touch display
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266 MHz RAM
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe TLC M.2 SSD

Shop the HP Spectre laptop here ($1,749, down from $2,499)

A laptop for creators: HP Envy x360 2-in-1

HP’s Envy is a two-in-one laptop with a little more going on under its hood, with a design geared towards creatives looking to work on the go. This lightweight laptop runs on a solid AMD Ryzen CPU with a vivid colour display. The HP Envy can also double as a tablet, allowing you to fold the 15.6-inch touch screen back 360 degrees – or just position it back far enough so it’ll sit solidly on your desk (you’ll need to bring your own HP pen though).

Specs:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5825U
• Graphics card: AMD Radeon Graphics
• Display: 15.6-inch FHD touch display
• Memory: 16GB DDR4-3200 MHz RAM
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe TLC M.2 SSD

Shop the HP Envy laptop here ($2,499)

A laptop for gaming: HP Victus

Gaming laptops have come a long way over the past couple of years. What were originally bulky units that stretched the definition of “portable”, have become much more streamlined without losing performance ability in the process. The Victus is a decent budget option when it comes to gaming laptops. It’ll let you play all your favourite games without having to mess around with their respective settings and comes in around $2,000 (depending on what specs you go with).

With a Ryzen 7 processor and Radeon RX 6500M GPU, its display boasts refresh rates of 144Hz, so you can expect a smooth experience when playing fast-paced games like Call of Duty. The Victus also has an “advanced thermal design”, with dual internal fans and a venting system to lower the laptop’s temperature.

If you want a bit more oomph and have the money to spare, then you’ll want to check out HP’s OMEN range.

Specs:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
• Graphics card: AMD Radeon RX 6500M
• Display: 15.6-inch FHD display
• Memory: 16GB DDR4-3200 MHz RAM
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe TLC M.2 SSD

Shop the HP Victus laptop here ($1,494, down from $2,299)

An all-rounder laptop: HP Pavilion

If you’re someone who only occasionally plays video games or does creative work as a casual hobby, the Pavillion is a solid all-rounder option. It’ll give you what you need for basic use – although you might need to scale back the specs on newer AAA video games to get a smoother performance. At the end of the day, if you’re after a laptop that’ll let you bash out study notes, stream your favourite shows and play a few rounds of Fortnite, then this will serve you well.

Specs:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5625U
• Graphics card: AMD Radeon Graphics
• Display: 15.6-inch FHD display
• Memory: 16GB DDR4-3200 MHz RAM
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD

Shop the HP Pavilion laptop here ($1,109, down from $1,499)

Editor’s note: Descriptions and features are as taken from manufacturer/seller claims and user reviews.

Image: HP