I have been blogging for more than 10 years now, and I’ve seen how laptop brands have tried to cope up with the demands of various Filipino consumers. As a consumer, my needs evolve too, but there are specific ones that stick around like power, style and portability.
As a blogger, I look for laptops that would help me create new things quickly and efficiently. This requires fast processing speeds and other enabling technologies present on the laptop. I don’t need to lug around a gaming laptop to satisfy my needs this time, as I play games on my desktop at home or sometimes with my console. It wouldn’t hurt if I can play a game or two on my work laptop, but what’s important is it can help me produce new contents for my site, Facebook and YouTube channels.
Just recently, I was introduced to HP Pavilion x360 that has exact features that modern creators would love to have. This got me hyped up as it doesn’t just flaunt enough power to help me create, but also provides technologies that make things utterly convenient.
Let’s break things down.
Power to keep you going
Bloggers need a laptop with fast processing power and has relatively enough memory size. HP Pavilion x360 is powered by an Intel Core i7-8565U processor with 8GB RAM. This should be more than enough to keep up with the hardware demands of Google Chrome when hopping from CMS (WordPress or Blogspot) tab to various website sources. During my experience with the device, it never slowed down even at the time when I had 15 Chrome tabs opened. (15 tabs: my usual average when blogging).
Just so you know, a browser tab usually loads about 50-100mb of memory. This gives you a picture of how 15 tabs can consume much RAM and processing power. This even discounts the fact that my Google Chrome loads about 1GB worth of plugins. I don’t want to be too technical, but as a consumer, I just really feel that you need to know this.
Other laptops we reviewed at the same price level already suffers in this category, and I was astounded with how HP Pavilion X360 managed to pull it off.
It is also good to note that the laptop is powered by an NVIDIA MX130 4GB DDR5 discrete graphics card. This is quite common among affordable laptops, and while it isn’t the most powerful around, it does the job of helping me produce videos using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Rendering a 1080p video will take quite some time, but since HP Pavilion x360 has significantly good processing power, it eventually helps the laptop in the full rendering process. I find this the perfect setup for priming up your 15 to 30-second Instagram or IGTV videos, transfer it to your smartphone and eventually post it for the world to see.
Style and Creativity-enabling technologies are cherries on top
HP Pavilion x360 is not your typical laptop as it dons various technologies that can enable digital creatives. HP has been very vocal that you can accomplish more with this laptop; and true to what they said, it really does help me accomplish more with its pretty cool features.
The laptop can be used in many ways. It can be used traditionally via laptop mode, which I find perfect for bloggers or creative writers.
If you’re going to take down some notes and draw using the pre-installed new MS Paint (or other more sophisticated drawing applications), you can simply flip the screen and turn it into tablet mode. This is the ideal mode for those who are into doodling or drawing on their laptop.
The laptop comes with a pen, which they aptly call HP Pen, and features N-trig technology. This lets users precisely write and draw on HP Pavilion’s screen. It includes AAAA battery and extra tips, so you don’t need to worry about parts.
HP Pavilion x360 packs a Full HD IPS touchscreen display and can stream HDR videos. You cannot play HDR games with this laptop, but it can be used to play some HDR titles on Netflix or Amazon Prime. Colors pack a punch, and the quality of the screen’s vibrance is topnotch. It can go up to 2 million pixels and 178-dregree viewing angle, and has refresh rate of 60hz. Yes, you can play some supported games at 60fps, or watch videos at 60fps too with this laptop.
Speaking of watching or streaming movies, you can turn the laptop to tent or stand mode. These modes let you watch your favorite movies conveniently wherever and whenever. Windows 10 automatically picks up the laptop’s orientation, and will promptly suggest if you wish to enable tablet mode. The latter, when enabled, converts Windows’ UI to laptop mode. Very convenient, indeed.
Lastly, HP Pavilion X360 features a premium dual HP speakers, powered by Bang and Olufsen. The laptop, in my experience, does not just have the loudest speakers we’ve used on a laptop, but performs outstandingly well too. HP Pavilion X360’s speakers are very clear and has no distortion even at high volume. Bang and Olufsen is considered a high-end audio brand that features superb craftsmanship and passion to bring about premium sounding products.
Perfectly priced premium laptop
Priced at PhP62,990 for its 8th Gen Intel processor and MX130 variant, this laptop is probably the best valued one I’ve seen in the market. You don’t need to spend much with everything it offers, and even if you’re not a creative professional or blogger like me, this laptop might turn you into one.
Available at HP Concept Stores and authorized dealers nationwide. Also available at HP Flagship Store on Lazada and Shopee.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
