Information regarding HP 15-ab214tx and HP laptops in general

[skeletor]

It appears to be a good laptop. Has a Full HD screen and a 6th Generation i7 processor.

Just when I was about to pull the trigger, I realised it's a dual-core i7-6500U . Can I haz a quad-core with a Full HD screen in 70K? DVD Writer is a must so that I can chuck it off for a SSD.

One more thing, do HP laptops still set Windows as the default OS in UEFI? You change the order using efibootmgr in Linux, after reboot it is not reflected. Windows goes back to default. Any Linux user here?

*hpshopping.in/Material/PDF/HP Pavilion Notebook - 15-ab214tx_Laptop.pdf

 

[Saahib]

you already have i5 2410M but i7-6500U is something different, its super efficient CPU with best possible performance. So when you go for i7-6500U , you will have more battery life, higher RAM (upto 32GB I guess) and ofcourse of some of the latest CPU features not found on your old one. But in real life, I am not sure how much it will affect as is also depends upon type of usage.

 

[skeletor]

you already have i5 2410M but i7-6500U is something different, its super efficient CPU with best possible performance. So when you go for i7-6500U , you will have more battery life, higher RAM (upto 32GB I guess) and ofcourse of some of the latest CPU features not found on your old one. But in real life, I am not sure how much it will affect as is also depends upon type of usage.

I need to upgrade for the screen resolution's sake. 1366x768 doesn't cut it for work.

 

[Hrishi]

Is it HP only ?

Why not try other brands ? You can get i7 HQ with FHD and GPU in that budget.

For instance : Asus R510JX-DM230T 90NB08XJ-M03330 Core i7 (4th Gen) - (4 GB DDR3/1 TB HDD/Windows 10/2 GB Graphics) Notebook Rs.67900 Price in India - Buy Asus R510JX-DM230T 90NB08XJ-M03330 Core i7 (4th Gen) - (4 GB DDR3/1 TB HDD/Windows 10/2 GB Graphics) Notebook

Lenovo Z51-70 Notebook(Core i7 (5th Gen)/ 8GB/1TB/ 8GB SSD/ Win8.1/4GB Graph) (80K60002IN) Rs.67500 Price in India - Buy Lenovo Z51-70 Notebook(Core i7 (5th Gen)/ 8GB/1TB/ 8GB SSD/ Win8.1/4GB Graph) (80K60002IN) Black Online - Lenovo : Flipkart.com

 

[skeletor]

^ 4th and 5th gen respectively. 6th gen is available.

HP lasts long.

I am looking an answer for this:

One more thing, do HP laptops still set Windows as the default OS in UEFI? You change the order using efibootmgr in Linux, after reboot it is not reflected. Windows goes back to default. Any Linux user here?

 

[Siddhartht]

^ 4th and 5th gen respectively. 6th gen is available.

HP lasts long.

I am looking an answer for this:

HP is good and lasts long, that I can agree. But there recent decision on hardware components are rather...strange. No IPS panel on even 80K+ laptops...strange. ULV processors in non ultrabook 15 inch laptops...strange. No finger print reader in 15 inch but there is one in 14 inch, super strange. And lastly, no Thunderbolt or even USB 3.1 Gen 1....
I think you should wait for HP to refresh its laptop again. A good reason for this is that HP is now bifurcated into two different companies. The profit making HP enterprise division will go alone, thus the consumer division, which was leveraging on the profits made by enterprise division to cover its cost will have to work harder, hence better laptops. Who knows, HP might decide to take over Dell's consumer PC division in future(there were sure some rumors about it).

 

[skeletor]

No IPS panel on even 80K+ laptops...strange. ULV processors in non ultrabook 15 inch laptops...strange. No finger print reader in 15 inch but there is one in 14 inch, super strange. And lastly, no Thunderbolt or even USB 3.1 Gen 1....

Pretty much every company is using ULV processors throughout the lineup. I don't know why. This trend started when 4th generation came.

Thunderbolt will never come to normal laptops. It's an Apple thing. USB 3.1, Intel should get the blame for that. They are the ones who should getting it into the chipset asap for widespread adoption.

When is Apple refreshing their lineup btw?

 

[Siddhartht]

Pretty much every company is using ULV processors throughout the lineup. I don't know why. This trend started when 4th generation came.

Thunderbolt will never come to normal laptops. It's an Apple thing. USB 3.1, Intel should get the blame for that. They are the ones who should getting it into the chipset asap for widespread adoption.

When is Apple refreshing their lineup btw?

They should be refreshing the whole lineup somewhere during Jan-March period. But Apple is kind of super unpredictable right now. I mean they had three different iterations on just 4th generation processors(Initial Launch, 16GB default RAM increase, Switch to AMD GPU) for their 15 inch retina line. 13 inch should be updated at the same time as 15 inch, although the difference in performance should not be that significant(5th gen processors in 13" vs 6th gen ULV processors; roughly 5% increase); I guess most emphasis will be on port upgrade (USB 3-> USB 3.1; Thunderbolt 2-> Thunderbolt 3) and maybe some new gimmick.
I'm not sure if thunderbolt is Apple thing as of now. Even my new laptop(Dell Precision 5510, on order) contains a thunderbolt+USB 3.1 gen combo, a really good screen and some serious battery life with Quad Core processor. Only if Dell launched the consumer version of the laptop in India(i.e. Dell XPS 15, one with infinity display).
And more and more gaming systems are now incorporating thunderbolt. Asus is doing it for a while and MSI is lanching nearly all 6th generation gaming laptops with Thunderbolt. What I like about Thunderbolt 3 is the possibility(still, there is no 100% confirmation from Intel though) to add desktop grade GPUs as an addon to Laptop, via enclosures like Alienware Graphic Amplifier.

 

[napsterv]

Pretty much every company is using ULV processors throughout the lineup. I don't know why. This trend started when 4th generation came.

If they use the actual quad core processor the selling price skyrockets and nobody buys that product.

 

[Siddhartht]

If they use the actual quad core processor the selling price skyrockets and nobody buys that product.

Not quite true.
i7-6700HQ: Tray price: $378.00
i7-6500U: Tray price: $393.00

ULV processors are expensive than their quad core counterparts, which is actually quite paradoxical.
It's just that companies don't want to invest in good thermal management and better batteries. Space is not that much of a concern(see Razer Blade 14).

 

[Hrishi]

Modern laptops are being sold for their battery life and slim profiles. Nobody wants to carry a brick with them , and the high performance modern high-end tablets are giving cut throat competition to laptops.
Manufactures have gone to ULV chips as an option now . These offers more battery lifespan and slim profiles.

 

[napsterv]

Not quite true.
i7-6700HQ: Tray price: $378.00
i7-6500U: Tray price: $393.00

ULV processors are expensive than their quad core counterparts, which is actually quite paradoxical.
It's just that companies don't want to invest in good thermal management and better batteries. Space is not that much of a concern(see Razer Blade 14).

Yep. That's what I wanted to say. The investment of 15$ more is profitable than investing in good thermal management and bigger,better and long lasting batteries.


- - - Updated - - -

Modern laptops are being sold for their battery life and slim profiles. Nobody wants to carry a brick with them , and the high performance modern high-end tablets are giving cut throat competition to laptops.
Manufactures have gone to ULV chips as an option now . These offers more battery lifespan and slim profiles.

Well, this is a not good for the guys who wants to run resource intensive software as one person said it in another post.

 

[animes_d]

Wanna-buy-HP-Laptop-for-regular-use.
Got-this-one-from-Flipkart.
Is-it-good-for-its-price?
Price-around-27k.
Specifications of HP 15-af114AU Notebook
(AMD Quad Core A8/ 4GB/ 1TB/ Win10) (P3C92PA#ACJ) (15.6 inch, Turbo SIlver Color With Diamond & Cross Brush Pattern)

 

[omega44-xt]

Wanna-buy-HP-Laptop-for-regular-use.
Got-this-one-from-Flipkart.
Is-it-good-for-its-price?
Price-around-27k.
Specifications of HP 15-af114AU Notebook
(AMD Quad Core A8/ 4GB/ 1TB/ Win10) (P3C92PA#ACJ) (15.6 inch, Turbo SIlver Color With Diamond & Cross Brush Pattern)

It would suffice

 

[animes_d]

It would suffice

But-I-heard-that-HP-Laptops-get-heated-faster-than-Dell/Acer.

 

[omega44-xt]

But-I-heard-that-HP-Laptops-get-heated-faster-than-Dell/Acer.

That's not true

Intel processors tend to remain cooler than AMD ones though. Still its nowhere near even 80C