Recently I was ridiculed by a few of my geeky friends for still owning a desktop computer. Living in a time where most of the work gets done out of your 5 or 7-inch portable devices like smart-phones or tablets, even a laptop is considered old school. If one looks at the market numbers, PC sales in the last few years have hit a new low. So, does that mean it’s ‘game over’ for personal computing systems?
As they say, ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ and for PCs that can be seen in the gaming segment. India has become the hotspot for this market with more and more game developers bringing their titles here and trying to engage enthusiastic youngsters towards online gaming. Even a few years ago, gaming was more of a pass time and never considered a serious affair; now this perception seems to have changed. According to the market analysts, online gaming in India is set to grow 14 per cent year on year in the next five years.
The difference between a regular and a gaming PC is not trivial — it starts with the cost which goes into a faster CPU to an additional graphics processors and a generous quota of RAM. But hardcore gamers have deep pockets and this is the opportunity PC manufacturers are looking to tap in India. This segment is already filled with well-known brands such as ASUS, Lenovo, etc. Another biggie and a late entrant this year, is HP.
The gaming portfolio called Omen by HP has two notebook models, OMEN 15 and 17. With virtual reality being the current trend in the gaming industry, HP doesn’t want to fall behind on that either.
The Omen 17 is a VR-ready model that also offers support for HTC Vive VR gear, even though HP hasn’t mentioned any partnership with HTC to bundle it with the system. The laptop has a 17.3-inch screen with WLED UWVA IPS display and 1,920x1,080 resolution. The chipset includes an 8GB NVIDIA 1070 GeForce GTX graphic card and 7th gen Intel quad-core i7 processor. The storage configurations includes a 1TB hard disk and 256GB SSD. The Omen 15 has a 15.6-inch screen with WLED-backlit IPS display and 1,920x1,080 resolution. It has 4GB NVIDIA 1050 GeForce GTX graphic card and 7th gen Intel quad-core i7 processor. The storage capacity is 1TB hard disk and 128GB SSD.
Both the models offer top class Audio systems. The Omen desktop sports a 3GB Nvidia 1060 GeForce GTX graphics card and a 7th generation Intel quad-core i7-7700HP processor. It offers 2TB hard disk and 128GB SSD storage. It features liquid cooling with advanced head management, useful as gamers often over clock the CPU to get more bang for their buck.
The Omen 15 is priced at Rs 79,990. Both, the Omen 17 and the desktop are priced at Rs 1,39,990. The keyboard, mouse, headset set etc., if bought from HP cost between Rs 5,500 and Rs 10,000. Even a mouse pad costs Rs 2,000 and change but then gamers are demons for detail and a faster pad can shave off, a tenth of second and turn defeat into victory !
— IndiaTechOnline
