The HP Pavilion Plus comes packed with all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a top-notch contraption.
Its processor, lightning quick like a bolt of lightning striking the prairie, can handle even the most demanding tasks without breaking a sweat.
I reckon you could open a whole herd of apps at once, and it’d just keep on truckin’.
Now, y’all know how I appreciate a good view, and this beauty’s got it in spades! The display is as crisp as a freshly laundered shirt hanging out to dry on a sunny day.
Colors pop like wildflowers in full bloom, and the contrast is as striking as a midnight sky studded with stars.
But that ain’t all, partner.
HP Pavilion Plus Display
The keyboard is smooth as butter melting on a hot biscuit, making typing a pure pleasure. And let me tell ya, it’s got a touchpad that’s as sensitive as a skittish colt. You just brush your finger across it, and that cursor dances like a jitterbug at a barn dance.
Now, here’s where the HP Pavilion Plus shows off its true colors, and that’s in the gaming department. The graphics card is a real powerhouse, delivering visuals so sharp, it’s like being in the middle of a wild shootout in the Wild West. You can run the latest games without breaking a sweat, and the frame rates are smoother than a cowboy’s drawl.
And don’t you worry ’bout storage, pardner. The Pavilion Plus comes equipped with a spacious corral to stash all your digital loot. Whether it’s movies, music, or documents, this machine’s got the room to spare.
Now, I ain’t one to sugarcoat things, so let me rustle up some cons. As with any bronco, this laptop ain’t perfect. The battery life could use a bit more stamina, as it tends to run out of juice faster than a horse at full gallop. But, if you’re not venturing too far from a power source, you’ll be just fine.
HP Pavilion Plus Plenty of Configurations to Choose From
Alrighty then! Let me put on my storytelling hat and spin you a yarn about the Pavilion Plus 14, a laptop that’s got the American buyers a tad envious of the overseas shoppers and their rainbow of colors. But fear not, for even with its limitation to Natural Silver, this laptop is a dream for all the detail-diggers out there.
Picture this: You’ve got a choice to make, Intel integrated or Nvidia discrete graphics, and not to mention, a smorgasbord of 12th Generation processors to pick from – Intel’s 15-watt U, 28-watt P, or 45-watt H series. Oh, the flexibility is simply extraordinary! Now, the question that’ll be dancing in your head is, “What’s my cup of tea – performance or battery life?” Decisions, decisions!
All Specifications
Now, if you’re eager to snag a deal, the cheapest model might just be the one for you, priced at $729.99 on HP.com. It comes with a Core i5-1235U processor, a generous 16GB of RAM, a swift 256GB NVMe solid-state drive, and a 14-inch display boasting a 16:10 aspect ratio and 2,240-by-1,400-pixel resolution, with a nifty GeForce MX550 GPU backing it up. But hey, hold your horses, prices can dip lower, and you might just stumble upon a sweet $549.99 deal at Staples (if you’re lucky enough).
Now, for those who want to kick it up a notch, the $999.99 model is your ticket to ride. With a Core i7-12700H, sporting six Performance cores, eight Efficient cores, and a whopping 20 threads, not to mention Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics and a dazzling 2,880-by-1,800-pixel OLED panel, this one is sure to impress. Our review unit, priced at $1,279.99, is just a step away from that with its 1TB SSD and Windows 11 Pro. And for the gamers out there, a Core i7-1255U with the rarely-seen GeForce RTX 2050 graphics is a tantalizing option. Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, or Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth will keep you connected, depending on the model you choose.
Size-wise, the Pavilion Plus 14 is no behemoth, measuring 0.72 by 12.3 by 8.8 inches, just a tad bulkier than its competitors like the Slim 7 Carbon and the Acer Swift 3. It may be the heaviest of the bunch, tipping the scales at 3.09 pounds, but don’t fret – it’s still a smooth operator in your trusty briefcase.
HP Pavilion Plus Ports
Now, let’s talk ports, my friend. Thunderbolt 4 is a feature we love to see in the higher-end laptops, but the Pavilion Plus doesn’t sport one. However, considering it starts below the $1,000 mark, we can’t grumble too much. You’ll find two 10Gbps USB 3.2 Type-C ports on the right side, ready to accommodate the AC adapter for juicing up the battery, and there’s a 5Gbps USB Type-A port and an HDMI video output for all your connecting needs. On the left, there’s another trusty USB-A port, a microSD card slot, and an audio jack for those rockin’ tunes.
A Few Luxury Features
Now, when it comes to signing into Windows Hello with your fingerprint, it’s all good, no worries there! Sure, the webcam might lack face recognition tech, and that’s a bit of a bummer, ain’t it? But hey, let’s look on the bright side: it leaves the usual 720p junk in the dust, sportin’ that sharp 5-megapixel resolution! We’re talkin’ 2,592-by-1,944-pixel 4:3 images or 2,560-by-1,440 16:9 shots or videos, snappin’ away with no noise or static. Picture-perfect, you might say!
Now, the backlit keyboard scores some points with its real deal Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys. None of that fiddlin’ around with Fn keys and cursor arrows for those functions, no sir! But alas, it loses some points with HP’s trademark arrangement of those cursor keys. They’re all lined up in an inept row instead of the proper inverted T, with them half-sized, hard-to-hit up and down arrows squeezed between the full-sized left and right ones. A bit of a head-scratcher, if you ask me.
But hey, let’s give credit where credit’s due! The Pavilion Plus 14 earns some major kudos for givin’ us that vivid OLED display without breakin’ the bank. It ain’t a touch screen, mind you, but HP calls it a 2.8K display, and boy, it’s sharp as a tack and colorful as a rainbow! The hues are just gorgeous, and the contrast is off the charts, makin’ those white backgrounds look pristine and them blacks as dark as India ink. Oh, and get this: you can choose between the usual 60Hz refresh rate or kick it up a notch to 90Hz for slightly smoother scrollin’ and videos. Now that’s what I call a visual treat!
Battery and Display Tests
Tech-hubKenya tests laptops’ battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel (Opens in a new window)) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.
We also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen’s color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).
