HP Pavilion vs MSI Prestige

[Faizalhhh]

Hi,
I want to buy a budget gaming laptop. I'll use the laptop for multimedia use and moderate gaming. I have come up with 2 models. Please help me to choose the best one. I am planing to use it for at-least 3-4 years.
01. HP Pavilion 15 (i7-6700, 16GB DDR4, Gtx960m 4GB, UHD IPS display, 2 speakers, intel real sense camera, no optical drive) = $1150
02. MSI PE60 6QE (i7-6700, 8GB DDR4, Gtx960m 2GB, FHD TN display, 4 speakers + 1 sub-woofer, DVD drive) = $1000
Which is better for the price? Which brand is better? Which features are more useful?
Please help me. (Please discuss only about above 2 models, I don't want any other model/brand suggestions).
Thanks.

 

[GreyCatz]

Greetings, Faizal:

If we're talking about "multimedia use and moderate gaming" and in that order, I vote in favour of 01.

The 4GB 960M card is rather a luxury (and so is 16GBs of RAM), but the IPS display will make the laptop far more useable and pleasant to use. The 02 option seems narrowly aimed at dedicated gamers, who often prefer TN panels because of better response times, and the audio setup also points to that user segment. Although 2GBs of VRAM does seem a bit cheap on a 'gaming laptop'.

The overall setup of the 01 option is a bit odd, and usually laptops with a clear gaming focus tend to be the more expensive options. Here, it's the other way around. But I still believe the IPS panel alone will be worth the extra $150.

Cheers,
GreyCatz.

 

[Akanbee]

Sometimes when I boot it, it lasts for around 30 mins or so. But what baffles me the most is that even when it is being plugged inside the electric socket, sometimes it doesn't even stay for up to 10 mins before going off. If I turn it on again, it stays on for a few minutes still. I seriously doubt if the battery is the problem.

 

[Faizalhhh]

Thank you for the response.

I heard some heating issues with HP Pavilion. Do u have any idea regarding it?

 

[GreyCatz]

Well, YES and NO. If you've bought a 'regular' Pavilion and use it for office/productivity work, there won't be any heating issues. But if you jam a powerful 4GB GPU into it and start playing games like Arkham Knight or The Witcher, it will overheat.

That's not because the HP is bad. It's because the Pavilion is fundamentally a capable and attractive value-for-money multi-tasker, not an all-out gamer like the MSI. If overheating is a concern of yours, look for dedicated gaming brands like MSI or ASUS ROG. HP and Lenovo and Dell all have sporty, powerful models in the their Pavilion, Ideapad and Inspiron lines, and they all overheat because they were not originally designed to cope with this much GPU power. When gaming you will feel the heat. But for regular multimedia use overheating isn't going to be problem.

This doesn't disqualify these brands as gaming platforms by any means. I happen to own a Lenovo Y50 (early Ideapad) with a 4GB GTX card. It works great and has never let me down, but when playing games it overheats so much I can't use it as an actual laptop. That's OK, because I prefer an external monitor anyway.

I hope I haven't scared you off the HP - I still think it's the better option for you. But now you know.

Cheers,
GreyCatz.

 

[Faizalhhh]

I'll go for the option 1. Bcz It seems best. Thank you very much for the clarification.

Yes, You are correct. MSI's teardown shows 4 heat pipes, where as HP Pavilion got only 2.
HP: http/www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/HP/Pavilion_15_UHD_T9Y85AV/internal.png
MSI: http/www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_MG_8303_266f1c72e9.jpg

HP Pavilion is listed as a gaming laptop. Then isn't it a gaming laptop?
HP's gaming model is Omen isn't it?
I just compared it with HP Omen, both spec sheet is almost same (including the internals, same fan & heat pipe arrangement).
Differences are only graphic card (Gtx 960m vs Gtx965) and HDD (1TB vs 2TB). However, Omen costs around 150$ more.
Datasheet of Pavilion: http/h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c05166522&doctype=data%20sheet&doclang=EN_GB&searchquery=&cc=sa&lc=en
Datasheet of Omen: http/h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c05195858&doctype=data%20sheet&doclang=EN_GB&searchquery=&cc=sa&lc=en
Therefore, I don't think spending 150$ more for Omen is useless. What you say?

One last question, Will playing games will reduce the lifetime of the laptop or the internals? (I mean in HP Pavilion).

Thanks.

 

[GreyCatz]

Thanks for the links; the tear-down pictures are very illustrative. Yes, Omen is HP's 'gaming brand', and if you could find a similar tear-down of an Omen we might see some difference in heat pipe design. At least I hope so, because the data sheets are virtually identical, as you pointed out.

In addition to specialized design, dedicated gaming machines also feature factory-installed software designed specifically to enhance, tweak and protect the hardware, beginning with the UEFI. This includes overclocking, voltage adjustment and overheating measures. These features are generally not available in Pavilions or Ideapads or Inspirons. Even if you download such apps, the fundamental architecture of a Pavilion, say, may not be able to cope with adjustments to e.g. voltage settings.

If you were to play AAA titles on the 01 HP for a prolonged period of time (3-4 hours every day), I strongly suspect that it will affect the internals adversely in a matter of months. Again, despite its powerful GPU, you're not really supposed to do that with this Pavilion. To sustain this level of gaming, you'll need a dedicated gaming laptop. But if you want a good multi-tasker that will also play AAA titles every now and then, the 01 HP will do just that.

GreyCatz.

 

[Faizalhhh]

I checked the internal of Omen in youtube, https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ox7YPGRr8 (5:20). It's identical to that of Pavilion. I don't understand what's the difference in Pavilion and Omen now.

Yeah, there may be dedicated software. But I think Pavilion is the ideal choice for me. Thank you very much for your time and support.

 

[GreyCatz]

I can only agree that the 01 HP will suit your needs better (primarily because of the the IPS screen) and the GPU power, well, you never know when it'll come in handy.

As for the HP Omen: WARNING! You're headed for a hornet's nest of passionate debate and flamewars. But here's the gist of it:

Manufacturers are free to call their products pretty much whatever they like, and HP, Lenovo and Dell like to gain a foothold in the gaming community and compete with MSI and ASUS ROG. But they use different approaches:

Dell has bought a separate company, Alienware, and tries to increase sales that way. Yet, they also market some of their 'regular' Inspirons as gaming machines, but they are really just business machines with a powerful GPU slapped on. For some reason, every time someone mentions Alienware on this forum, everybody else just laughs or blasts the poster.

HP has created a sub-division called Omen, and apparently thinks that's enough. As you noticed yourself, there's really no internal difference between the Pavilion and the Omen, except the price. Mention Omen, and you'll get almost the same treatment as an Alienware poster.

And Lenovo simply tries to pass off their Ideapads as gaming machines without even bothering to tart them up. And the result is predictable enough: Nobody ever mentions Lenovo in the same sentence as MSI or ASUS ROG.

Best regards,
GreyCatz.

 

[Faizalhhh]

Great... U seems to be a fan of IPS. What's the reason behind it?

So, you mean for extreme gaming, Asus ROG and MSI are the best brands? MSI always boast that they are #1 for gaming. What's your opinion in it? What about Predator? Alienware? I've heard of Sager, but unfortunately it's not available in my region. Which brand you think that's best for gaming? (I am not gonna buy an extreme gaming laptop, just for my GK)

 

[GreyCatz]

The reason I'm going on about IPS is that on a mobile device (laptop or smartphone), viewing angles are crucial. Imagine you could only look at your smartphone from 1 angle and that you couldn't move your hand or your head while doing so. That's a TN panel. Fortunately, all smartphones have IPS panels, otherwise nobody would buy them.

IPS is a complex and expensive technology and it only gets more expensive the larger the screen. This is why on laptops you can still find TN panels - to keep the retail price down.

TN panels offer a very limited viewing range, but they are also much cheaper to produce. Because the TN technology is fundamentally simpler, it's also easier to produce sharper screens with faster response times (1 - 2 ms) using fewer viewing angles. On a monitor sitting on a table, the TN limitation is therefore less relevant, because you don't typically move the monitor or yourself that much. This is why gamers like TN panels - for the sharpness/crispness and the low response times.


GigaByte, ASUS's ROG line (Republic of Gamers) and MSI enjoy widespread respect in the gaming community. In contrast, Dell's Alienware brand is widely vilified for reasons I can't explain. Acer's Predator line tries hard to win favour through generous specs and affordable prices.

Then there are niche brands like Sager/Clevo from Taiwan and boutique brands like CyberPower from USA, XMG from Germany and DreamMachine from Poland. I can't offer any useful opinion on these brands. If I had to buy a gaming machine today, I'd probably go for an XMG.

Pheew... Over and out for now.
GreyCatz.

 

[Akanbee]

Thank you for the response.

I heard some heating issues with HP Pavilion. Do u have any idea regarding it?

 

[Akanbee]

About heating issues with HP Pavilion? Never heard of it, really. But what exactly can be done to avert this? Thanks.

 

[Faizalhhh]

Thank you very much for your kind responses.
I'll be buying the HP Pavilion this week.