HP Pavilion 17-e113dx Review

Hey all. today i am going to write a review on my new laptop. my old one broke, so instead of fixing it, i got a new one since the one i had was from 2012 and i figured i needed a new one.


The laptop i got is the HP Pavilion 17. more specifically the e113dx model.
Here are the specs for this computer:
Processor: AMD Quad-Core A8-4500M APU 1.9GHz

RAM: 8GB DDR3 (I upgraded it from 4.)

HDD: 750GB 5400 RPM

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7640G

Display: 17.3" 1600x900 LED-Backlit display

So.. this laptop is like 400$ in most places, but i got it on sale for 350$. quite the biggest bargain ive ever done! this laptop is cheap enough to consider budget, but has enough features to call it a multi-media laptop.
Design
this laptop looks pretty good. it has little gray dots all over the thing, which looks nice on the lid (which is anodized silver) and Very nice on the black. the thing is 1.3" thick, so nit that thin. its not overly big though. but at 6 pounds its a little on the heavy side. the keyboard is great. at first (and almost still) it is hard to get used to. the travel distance between pressing the key and when it stops is very short. which is great! the keys are big, and its a full-size keyboard. like, every key is in the right place and a big size, and plus, there is a number pad too! only thing that is different is there is FN keys. FN keys are okay, but not practical.

Processor
So like i said before this laptop has a AMD Quad-Core A8-4500M APU. So, for starters, 1.9GHz is not a lot. but with AMD Turbo Core, it boosts the processor fro 1.9GHz all the way up to 2.8, and all the way down to 1.3, to conserve battery. Even though its a quad-core, it runs on the Trinity Platform. This means that its a slower platform than Intel's haswell, and ivy bridge platforms. Trinity is on the same level as the Sandy Bridge based Intel Processors. It competes with the higher end i3 processors. But wait Ian! isnt the i3 a Dual-Core? Yes. but it has Hyper-Threading, which adds 2 more logical cores, which makes the higher end i3's more of a quad core.

RAM and Graphics
The laptop comes with DDR3L ram, which is DDR3 with a lower wattage. but that doesnt sacrifice speed. it comes with 4GB, so if you plan to run a lot of programs at the same time, think again until you upgrade it to 8. Once you upgrade to 8, things will speed up A LOT. But Wait! before you buy, you need to keep in mind that this is DDR3L memory. DDR3 will run, but it decreases the battery life, and makes the laptop run very hot. DDR3L is a little more expensive, but not by much. i will link you to a 4GB module on amazon if your interested in a upgrade.

The graphics card in this is part of the A8 APU, which means its integrated. But wait Ian! Arent integrated graphics bad? Yes. Well, at least before this came along. Integrated graphics before APU's were small graphics chips that shared memory with the processor. You may of heard about Intel's GMA, or Intel HD Graphics series. These are examples of integrated graphics. But with AMD's APUs, Their integrated graphics have the power of a discrete-class graphics card, with large dedicated memory. The one that comes with the A8-4500M, is the Radeon HD 7640G. this has 768MB of dedicated memory. even though this is a lot, you cant run high setting games like Skyrim, or Crysis 3. But you can run Battlefield 3 at low/med settings. So, its not a super gaming machine. But you can run minecraft at high settings and all the source engine games. For the best gaming experience, i recommend you upgrade the RAM to 8GB. 

Sound
The laptop comes with standard Realtek drivers, but with a kick, they include DTS Sound+. which is  a upgraded sound card, which makes the speakers loud and sound good, and the music headphone experience great.

Storage and Connectivity
I am very impressed with the storage on this laptop. 750GB is plentiful more most people. But like most laptops, at 5400 RPM, its not the fastest. But! since the laptop has USB 3.0 ports, an external hard drive should work fast and fine. which brings me to my next point.

The connectivity on this laptop is quite good. on the left side of the laptop, it has a VGA port, Fan, HDMI, 2 USB 3.0 Ports, A Microphone/Headphone Combo port (shiver), and a SD Card slot. on the right side there is a Ethernet, 1 USB 2.0 Port, and a DWD/CD-RW Reader. There is also a HD 720p webcam in the front which is pretty good quality.


Display and Power

The display on this computer is quite stunning for the the price. it has a 17.3" LED-back-lit display. its bright, clear, and reflective heheh. 1600x900 is the standard for 17.3" screens just like 1366x768 is for 15.6" laptops, so nothing spectacular. overall, nice display.

The battery on this is OK. nothing to say its bad, but not great. you'll get about 4-5 hours on web browsing, and 2-3 on gaming. there are extensive options in the AMD Catalyst Control center for optimizing and saving battery including The changing of screen brightness when you look at different things on the screen, you are able to slow down the processor to save battery, which it does A LOT.

The Verdict

 Overall, you cant go wrong with this laptop. at 400$ you get a lot of features. a big display, good processor, light gaming abilities, its a real bargain. if you want a good laptop for light gaming, video watching, music listening, or any other media consumption, this, is for you. Ill now link you to pricing for the ram, and the PC.

4GB DDR3L Module: http://goo.gl/FLJ0W5

HP Pavilion 17-e113dx: http://goo.gl/hgw2x3