HP 17.3’’ HD Premium laptop Review
Looking for a laptop for college use? No need to look any further than the HP 17.3” HD premium laptop. The device offers a huge 17.3” IPS display, along with the amazing AMD Ryzen 5 4500U, 12Gb’s of pre-installed RAM along with a 256GB SSD.
Given the situation nowadays HP has also added the HP true vision camera with installed mice for online meetings and classes, above average battery life and a variety of ports all under the $700 price tag.
PROS AND CONS
 Large screen size CD ROM SD card reader Long battery life Heavy weight Not recommended for outdoor use |  |
DESIGN
Given the weight and massive size of the laptop, portability does receive a blow. The machine weighs 6.21 pounds (2.81kgs) and measures at 16.33 x 10.72 x 0.96 inches, so fitting it in a school or office bag may be a difficult task.
The design overall is up to date and pretty decent. The laptop is available in a fantastic black color, which in itself boosts up the appeal of the device, but dark colors usually require more frequent cleaning than light colors.
HP uses plastic as the primary body material for this device. Most laptop manufacturers use plastic for laptops because it is cheaper and helps to lower the weight of the device, along with being just as durable as aluminium (possibly even more).
CONNECTIVITY
The HP 17.3’’ HD offers a couple of very nifty ports that include, 1x HDMI port, 2x USB 3.2 ports and an Ethernet port, which helps to provide a consistent connection to the internet and it is more secure and faster than WIFI, on the left side.
The right side contains a 1x USB 3.1 port, a SD card reader (which can help tremendously when it comes to boosting the storage of the device) and a CD-ROM, which is becoming increasingly rare to find in newer laptops these days.
Furthermore the laptop can connect to the internet through 802.11ac WiFi, which can reach a speed of 1300 Mbps and Bluetooth capability (Bluetooth v4.2).
Kensington locks are vital in the security of laptops, so HP has installed a Kensington lock (present on the right side of the device) which helps to keep the laptop safe from thieves.
SPEAKERS
The speakers installed in this model are top firing and provide a great sound experience whether you are using it for gaming or movie watching. Although the speaker volume can be a bit low, so if you prefer high sound volumes then you will have to buy external speakers or headphones.
WEBCAM
It comes as no surprise that the webcam in this model is the HP true vision webcam (along with an integrated mic). Performance wise the webcam will get you through online classes for professional meetings, it is highly recommended to use at least a 1080p or FHD webcam.
KEYBOARD/MOUSEPAD
The keyboard and mouse pad may be the strongest suit of this model. The keyboard is well spaced, the keys produce a great click sound when pressed and is most importantly comfortable. Given the massive size of the laptop, HP has also installed a numeric keyboard, which makes entering large amounts of numeric data quick and easy, furthermore you can also use it as cursor control.
Unfortunately, the keyboard is not backlit, which isn’t that big of a deal at this price range. Backlit helps to ease the laptop’s use in the dark but because backlight drains the battery of the device very quickly, it is usually excluded as a feature.
The mousepad is fortunately near the center and is comfortable to use. The mouse pad uses buttons for right or left clicks.
DISPLAY
The HP 17.3’’ HD premium laptop has a 17.3” 1600x900p IPS display. IPS panels provide better viewing angles and color gamuts than both TN and VA panels. Furthermore the brightness levels of this model are above average as well
Talking about the bezels, HP didn’t exactly use the thinnest possible bezels in this model (they had to cut some corners) however the bezels won’t prove distracting and don’t ruin your watching experience in any way, shape or form.
A semi-gloss screen is paired with the 17.3” display panel. Semi-gloss screens provide a better protection against reflections but sadly fail in strong surrounding light, so working in a well lit room or out in the sunlight can be problematic.
Given the fact that it’s not a 2 in 1 laptop, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the display lid can only be pushed back 180degrees.
Storage
HDD/SSD
For the internal storage HP chose a 256 GB SSD. 256GB space is enough to get you through your day to day work and can seriously boost your laptop boot up speed along with keeping the device cool as well. If you feel 256GB is not enough for your intended purposes then you can upgrade the SSD up to 8TB’s, which will cost you some serious money because SSD’s are not cheap.
RAM
HP 17.3’’ HD comes with surprisingly 12GB RAM, instead of the usual 8GB (common in laptops at this price range). 12GB is enough for almost all of the softwares out there and is more than enough for day to day tasks that may include documentation browsing the internet, light multitasking or gaming etc.
There is one extra slot for RAM chip, so if you feel that you need more than 12GB’s of RAM, then you can easily upgrade it up to potentially 64GB (two 32GB RAM chips).
PERFORMANCE
The engine inside this machine is the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor. The processor overall is great for light multi-tasking, using word editing softwares, web browsing, basically perfect for day to day use or for a college student.
The HP 17.3” uses integrated AMD Radeon graphics , which is capable of running light games like Minecraft, half life 2 and old counter strikes .
The processor does heat up when pressure starts building up on it. HP have countered this by making use of a cooling fan, which is thankfully quiet and doesn’t get irritating.
BATTERY LIFE
If we talk about battery, the laptop makes use of a Lithium Polymer ion battery, which is capable of lasting up to 8-9 hours. The battery life is enough to get you through your work day but if you plan on taking this device along you on long trips, it is strongly advised you pack the charger as well.
BUY IT IF
You want a laptop for day to day tasks that involve using text editing softwares, internet surfing, light gaming etc. Given the RAM slots and the processor you can potentially run softwares like Bluestacks or android studios but they would slow your device down tremendously.
DON’T BUY IT IF
Don’t buy it if you want a device to accompany you on long trips, because the battery would give up on you and given the weight and the size of the laptop, portability isn’t really a strong suit for this device. I believe it goes without saying that this isn’t a gaming laptop, so processor intensive games are not on the table.