Technology Sains: HP 14-BW017AU, For Beginners Who Like to Play Game

Just like smartphones, the laptop market is divided into many segments, ranging from premium class with tens of millions to more friendly beginners class with buyer pockets. HP BW017AU is one of the first-class laptops with performance is quite capable.

With prices below Rp5 million, HP 14-BW017AU falls into the category of beginner classes. Therefore, do not expect it will have a luxury design like the HP Spectre x360. This laptop has a wide bezel on the screen. No wonder, considering the thin bezel is usually only found on premium laptops.

HP 14-BW017AU also has a body large enough and quite heavy. The weight of HP-made laptops is almost 2kg, to be more precise, 1.9kg. This indeed makes the laptop from HP is becoming a bit difficult to travel. To carry it, you have to put it in a sizable backpack. However, there are still many other laptops that weigh more than the weight of HP 14-BW017AU.

For connectivity, HP-made laptops are quite complete. This laptop is equipped with one USB 2.0 port, one HDMI port, one VGA port, one RJ-45 port, headphone / microphone port, card reader and 2 USB 3.1 ports. In theory, USB 3.1 can transfer data at 10Gbps, equivalent to original Ethernet and Thunderbolt density. By comparison, USB 2.0 can transfer data in theory with a maximum speed of 480 megabits per second.

The keyboard on the HP 14-BW017AU does not come with a numeric keyboard, but it's large enough to make it comfortable to type. For two weeks using it, I can adjust quickly, so do not often make a typo when using this HP-made laptop.

Performance & Operating System

HP equip this laptop with AMD Dual-Core A9-9420 APU (Accelerated Processing Unit). Unlike Intel HD Graphics embedded directly on a CPU, the APU has a separate CPU and GPU even though it is still part of the same system-on-chip.

The use of the APU is claimed to not only make laptops more power efficient, but also improve the graphics processing of a laptop, although its performance is still not as good as performance if the laptop uses a separate GPU or discrete GPU.

Indeed, although the benchmark results using 3DMark and PCMark from HP-made laptops is not very high, but I can use it to play DOTA 2 games. With the Fastest setting (which ensures the game can be played smoothly than the graphics quality), DOTA 2 can be played with average framerate 30 fps. That is, the game can be played quite smoothly.

Below is the benchmark result from HP 14-BW017AU.

When compared to the HP 14-AF115AU, a beginner class laptop that is also intended for learners, the benchmark HP 14-BW017AU is still higher. In terms of battery life, 14-AF115AU battery can actually last longer, ie 5 hours. However, the battery life of HP 14-BW017AU is actually not bad at 3 hours 24 minutes.

One drawback of HP 14-BW017AU, to me, is the absence of the operating system. Indeed, this laptop is qualified enough to run Windows 10. But, if you want to use Microsoft's operating system, you must buy it separately.

Just for information, separately, Windows 10 Home officially priced $200. You can get a discount if you are a qualified student, lecturer or staff. With the discount, the price of Windows 10 Home drops to $170. If you do not want to spend extra money to buy Windows, then you can use Linux.

Of course, you can choose to use pirated Windows. But we strongly discourage this. Especially since using a pirated operating system will only harm yourself. The use of pirated OS makes you more vulnerable to cyber attacks, such as WannaCry's ransomware.

With a $ 400 price range, the HP 14-BW017AU offers great performance. This laptop can even be used to play games. It is suitable for you who want a laptop with affordable price with good performance.

One of the disadvantages is mobility. The body is large and rather heavy making it not easy to travel. In addition, this laptop is also not bundled with the operating system, which may make you confused if you are not familiar with the process of purchasing and installation of the operating system independently.