Comparison HP OMEN 17-an000 [17-AN010NW 2BS12EA] vs HP OMEN 15-ce000 [15-CE004NW 1WB21EA]

Diagonal size of laptop display.

The larger the screen, the more convenient the laptop for watching high-definition movies, modern games, working with large-format graphic materials, etc. Large screens are especially important for multimedia and gaming models. On the other hand, the diagonal of the display directly affects the size and cost of the entire device. So if portability is key, it makes sense to pay attention to relatively small solutions; especially since most modern laptops have video outputs like HDMI or DisplayPort and allow connection of large-format external monitors.

In light of all this, the actual maximum for laptops these days is 17"(17.3"); however larger devices (18") reappeared at the beginning of 2023. The standard option for general purpose laptops is 15"(15.6"), less often 16", a diagonal of 13"(13.3") or 14" is considered small by the standards of such And smaller screens can be found mainly in specific compact varieties of laptops — ultrabooks, 2 in 1, transformers, netbooks; among such devices there are solutions for 12 ", 11" and even 10" or less.

The maximum brightness that a laptop screen can provide.

The brighter the ambient light, the brighter the laptop screen should be, otherwise the image on it may be difficult to read. And vice versa: in dim ambient light, high brightness is unnecessary — it greatly burdens the eyes (however, in this case, modern laptops provide brightness control). Thus, the higher this indicator, the more versatile the screen is, the wider the range of conditions in which it can be effectively used. The downside of these benefits is an increase in price and energy consumption.

As for specific values, many modern laptops have a brightness of 250 – 300 cd / m2 and even lower. This is quite enough for working under artificial lighting of medium intensity, but in bright natural light, visibility may already be a problem. For use in sunny weather (especially outdoors), it is desirable to have a brightness margin of at least 300 – 350 cd / m2. And in the most advanced models, this parameter can be 350 – 400 cd / m2 and even more.

The contrast of the screen installed in the laptop.

Contrast is the largest difference in brightness between the lightest white and darkest black that can be achieved on a single screen. It is written as a fraction, for example, 560:1; while the larger the first number, the higher the contrast, the more advanced the screen is and the better the image quality can be achieved on it. This is especially noticeable with large differences in brightness within a single frame: with low contrast, individual details located in the darkest or brightest parts of the picture may be lost, increasing the contrast allows you to eliminate this phenomenon to a certain extent. The flip side of these benefits is an increase in cost.

Separately, we emphasize that in this case only static contrast is indicated — the difference provided within one frame in normal operation, at constant brightness and without the use of special technologies. For advertising purposes, some manufacturers may also provide data on the so-called dynamic contrast — it can be measured in very impressive numbers (seven-digit or more). However, you should focus primarily on static contrast — this is the basic characteristic of any display.

As for specific values, even in the most advanced screens, this indicator does not exceed 2000: 1. But in general, modern laptops have a rather low contrast ratio — it is assumed that for tasks that require more advanced image characteristics, it is more...reasonable to use an external screen (monitor or TV).

Laptop support for NVIDIA G-Sync technology.

This feature is only found on models equipped with discrete NVIDIA graphics cards. It is used to match the frame rate of the screen and the frame rate of the signal arriving at it — so that these frequencies match. This avoids flickering, twitching, and other image artifacts that can occur due to out-of-sync. This feature is especially useful for games where the frame rate of the video signal can "float" depending on the load on the graphics core; in fact, most laptops with G-Sync are specifically for gaming.

A similar solution for AMD video cards is called FreeSync.

The result shown by the laptop processor in the Passmark CPU Mark test.

Passmark CPU Mark is a comprehensive test that is more detailed and reliable than the popular 3DMark06 (see above). It checks not only the gaming capabilities of the CPU, but also its performance in other modes, based on which it displays the overall score; this score can be used to fairly reliably evaluate the processor as a whole (the more points, the higher the performance).

The result shown by the laptop processor in the SuperPI 1M test.

The essence of this test is to calculate the number "pi" to the millionth decimal place. The time spent on this calculation is the final result. Accordingly, the more powerful the processor, the smaller the result will be (this SuperPI 1M is fundamentally different from many other tests).

The result shown by the laptop's graphics card in 3DMark06.

This test primarily determines how well a graphics card handles intensive workloads, in particular, with detailed 3D graphics. The test result is indicated in points; the more points, the higher the performance of the video adapter. Good 3DMark06 scores are especially important for gaming laptops and advanced workstations. However, it is difficult to call them reliable, since measurements are made on video cards with different TDPs and an overall average score is given. Thus, your laptop can have either more or less than the specified result - it all depends on the TDP of the installed video card.

The type of drive that is installed in the laptop.

Classic hard drives (HDD) in modern laptops are quite rare in their pure form. Instead, solid-state SSD modules are becoming more common, including in HDD+SSD and SSHD+SSD combinations. Also note that among such modules, M.2 SSDs are very common, which can also support NVMe and/or belong to the advanced Intel Optane series. Here are the main features of these options in various combinations (as well as other drive options that can be found in modern laptops):

— HDD. Traditional hard disk, not complemented by any other type of storage. HDDs are notable for their low cost per gigabyte of capacity, which allows you to create very capacious and at the same time quite inexpensive media. On the other hand, such storages are considered less perfect than SSDs: in particular, they are rather slow, and they also do not withstand shocks and shocks (the latter is especially true in light of the fact that laptops are originally portable devices). Therefore, this option is quite rare nowadays, mainly among low-cost configurations.

— SSD. Solid-state memory based on flash technology. In general, drives of this type are noticeably more expensive than HDDs of a similar volume, but they have a number of advan...tages over them — first of all, this is a high speed of operation, as well as the ability to endure quite strong shocks and vibrations without any problems. However, we emphasize that in this case we are talking about SSDs of the original format that do not use the M.2 interface, do not belong to the Optane series and are not eMMC or UFS modules (see below for all these features). This is the simplest and most affordable type of flash memory — in particular, it usually uses a SATA interface connection, which does not allow you to realize the full potential of such memory. On the other hand, even “regular” SSD modules still work noticeably faster than HDDs, and they are noticeably cheaper than more advanced solutions.

— SSD M.2. SSD module using M.2 connector. For SSDs in general, see above; and the M.2 connector was specifically designed for advanced yet tiny internal components, including solid state drives. One of the features of such a connection is that it is most often carried out according to the PCI-E standard — this provides a high data transfer rate (up to 8 GB / s, potentially more) and allows you to use all the features of SSD drives. At the same time, there are M.2 modules that work on the older SATA interface — its speed does not exceed 600 MB / s, but such equipment is cheaper than modules with M.2 PCI-E. For details, see "M.2 drive interface" — it is this item that allows you to evaluate the specific capabilities of SSD M.2.

— SSD M.2 Optane. An M.2 SSD (see above) belonging to the Intel Optane series. The main feature of such modules is the use of 3D Xpoint technology — it differs significantly from NAND, on which most conventional SSD modules are built. In particular, 3D Xpoint allows you to access data at the level of individual cells and do without some additional operations, which speeds up work and reduces delays. In addition, such memory is much more durable. Its main drawback is a somewhat high cost. It is also worth noting that the superiority of Optane over more traditional SSD modules is most noticeable at the so-called low queue depth — that is, with a small load on the drive, when a small number of requests are received at the same time. However, most everyday tasks (working with documents, surfing the web, relatively undemanding games) are implemented in this mode, so this moment can be considered an advantage — especially since the superiority of Optane, although it decreases, does not disappear with increasing load.

— HDD+SSD. The presence in the laptop of two separate drives — HDD and a regular SSD (not M.2, not Optane). The advantages and disadvantages of these types of drives are described in detail above; and their combination in one system allows you to combine the advantages and partially compensate for the shortcomings. SSD in such cases usually has a noticeably smaller volume than HDD, and is used to store data for which high access speed is critical: the operating system, work programs, etc. In turn, it is convenient to store information on a hard disk that takes up a significant volume and at the same time does not require a special access speed; a classic example is multimedia files and documents. In addition, the solid state module can be used as a high-speed cache for a hard drive — similar to the SSHD described below. However, this usually requires special software settings, while the "two separate drives" mode is usually available by default.
It is also worth noting that modern laptops are increasingly using HDD bundles not with conventional SSDs, but with more advanced M.2 modules (including M.2 Optane). However, this option also continues to be used — mainly among relatively inexpensive configurations.

— SSHD. A combination drive that combines a hard disk drive (HDD) and a solid state drive (SSD). It differs from the HDD + SSD bundle described above in two ways. Firstly, both carriers are in the same case and are perceived by the system as a single unit. Secondly, the hard drive is mainly used directly for data storage, and SSD memory usually performs an auxiliary function — it works as a high-speed cache for the HDD. In fact, it looks like this: the data from the hard drive, which the user most often accesses, is copied to the SSD and, at the next access, is loaded from the solid state media, and not from the HDD. This allows you to significantly speed up the work compared to conventional hard drives. However in terms of speed, such “hybrids” are still inferior even to conventional SSDs, not to mention M.2 and Optane solutions — but they are much cheaper.

— HDD+SSD M.2. Combination of a classic hard drive with an M.2 solid-state SSD module. For more information about this combination, see "HDD + SSD": almost everything stated there is also relevant for this case, adjusted for the fact that M.2 SSDs are able to provide higher speeds (see also above — in p. " SSD M.2").

— HDD + Optane M.2. Combining a classic hard drive with an Intel Optane M.2 solid-state SSD module. This combination is generally similar to the “HDD + SSD” combination (see above), adjusted for the advanced capabilities of Optane drives (see also “SSD M.2 Optane” above).

— SSHD+SSD M.2. Combining an SSHD with an M.2 SSD. In general, it is similar to the “HDD + SSD M.2” combination (see above), adjusted for the fact that instead of a regular hard drive, a more advanced and high-speed hybrid drive is used (see also above about it). This further increases the cost, but improves performance.

— eMMC. A type of solid-state drive, originally used as built-in permanent memory for smartphones and tablets, but has recently been installed in laptops. It differs from SSD (see above), on the one hand, by lower cost and good energy efficiency, on the other hand, by lower speed and reliability. Thus, eMMC is now found mainly among transformers and laptop-tablets (see "Type") — for them, low power consumption is more important than maximum performance. Also note that such drives are usually made built-in and do not require replacement.

— HDD + eMMC. Combining a classic hard drive with an eMMC solid state module. The features of each type of drive are described in detail above, and their combination is used mainly in laptop-tablet devices (see "Type"). At the same time, the eMMC drive is installed at the top of the device and is designed to store the operating system and the most important data that needs constant access; and the HDD, located in the lower half, is used as additional storage for large amounts of information (for example, movie collections).

— SSD M.2 + eMMC. The combination of two solid-state modules in one laptop — SSD M.2 and eMMC. See above for details on the features of both types of memory, and their combination is a rather exotic option. It is mainly used to increase the total amount of solid-state memory without a significant increase in cost (remember, eMMC is cheaper than an M.2 SSD of the same volume). In addition, while the eMMC module is usually made built-in, the M.2 SSD is removable by definition, and can be replaced with another drive if necessary.

— UFS. Another type of solid-state memory, originally designed for smartphones and tablets — along with the eMMC described above. It differs from the latter both in high efficiency and increased cost. Thus, such drives are extremely rare among laptops: where eMMC capabilities are not enough, manufacturers usually use full-fledged SSDs.

The volume of the second (additional) drive installed in the laptop.

Two drives used simultaneously in a laptop are most often of different types — for example, HDD and SSD of one kind or another (for more details, see "Drive Type"); however, there are also configurations for two media of the same type (for example, hard drives). Anyway, if separate storages have different volumes, then storage of a smaller capacity is usually considered additional. This is due to the fact that such a drive often performs an auxiliary function and is intended not so much to store data as such, but to speed up the system. A typical example is the HDD + SSD bundle, where it is the SSD that is considered the second carrier. But if there are two hard drives, they usually have the same volume, and in such cases the division into the first and second drives is purely conditional.

In light of all this, the volume of the 2nd drive is generally noticeably lower than that of the main one. In many devices, this parameter does not exceed 128 GB ; the average can be called 250 GB(more precisely, 240 – 256 GB); and a capacity of around 500 GB or more is considered pretty solid in this case.