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3 Cool Laptops from HP that You Should Know About
Tom Gerencer
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April 25, 2020
A laptop is a versatile tool. It’s a portable workstation, entertainment center, and gaming unit all rolled into one. Haven’t bought a new machine in a while? Buckle up, because dozens of cool laptops and configurations have hit the market in recent years. Many have eye-popping features like high-powered CPUs, face recognition, and detachable screens.
Whether you’re a professional, a college student, a gamer, a creative, or a mix of any or all of those, HP® has a laptop you can fall in love with. These three cool-looking laptops from HP® have something for everyone, from the rock-bottom budget-soother to the pull-the-stops-out computing experience:
- HP Spectre x360 laptop
- HP Chromebook™ X2 laptop
- HP ZBook Studio x360 workstation laptop
Before we get to our list of cool laptops, let's talk a little bit about what makes one cool in the first place, and what that means for your computing and purchasing decisions. And below our list, stay tuned for the best of the cool gaming laptops and office laptops HP has on offer.
Buying tips for cool laptops
Shopping for cool laptops can be tough, especially when looking through the latest mix of new chipsets, graphics cards, and other specs. Should you get a 2-in-1 or a convertible? A laptop or a netbook? An ultrabook or a portable workstation?
What form factors, CPUs, GPUs, displays, and storage will set you up in style? More importantly, why do they matter? The quick specs list below will get you up to speed on the nuts and bolts so you can move on to find the coolest laptop for you.
1. Form factor
There was a time when a laptop was a laptop, and all you had to do was pick the CPU, RAM, and display. Today, informed shoppers start with the right form factor. You can choose from:
Ultrabooks
Light, thin, powerful, cool-looking laptops. They’re less than an inch thick and have long battery life for pro users on-the-go
2-in-1s
Laptop-tablet hybrids with touch screens and 360-degree hinges. They deliver flexibility with different modes for work, gaming, or home viewing
Netbooks
Super-affordable mini-laptops that stay budget-friendly by keeping vital software in the cloud
Mobile workstations
Look and feel like laptops, but they’re far more powerful with robust CPUs, faster graphics processors, and extra memory
2. CPU and GPU
How much power do you need? Stronger CPUs run faster, but ultra high-end ones can ding your battery life and boost your price. Most laptops today have Intel® or AMD® CPUs. The industry workhorses are the Intel Core™ i5 and i7 processors. If you run a lot of high-load programs like video or graphics editing, consider a higher-powered CPU.
If gaming or watching movies is your thing, a good graphics processing unit (GPU) is a must. Cool laptops at lower prices have integrated graphics processors built into their CPUs, but dedicated graphics cards like an NVIDIA® GeForce® pack more punch.
3. RAM and Storage
RAM is your computer’s working memory. Laptops with more memory don’t ping their hard drives quite as often, making them run fast and smooth. Machines with at least 4GB of RAM can handle most jobs well, but power users who do heavy audio visual editing will need more.
How much storage does your laptop need? Most laptops today have between 200GB and 2TB hard drives. Solid-state drives (SSDs) are best because their flash memory runs more reliably at faster speeds. One option is to go light on storage to save money and then extend your reach as needed with high-capacity Micro SD Cards, flash drives, cloud storage, or an external SSD.
4. Display
Display quality depends on size, resolution, backlighting, and surface type. Most laptop screens run from 10 to 17 inches, and resolutions range from 1366 x 768 pixels to 3840 x 2160 for Ultra High Definition (UHD). For heavy mobile work, binge-watching, or gaming, get the best display your budget can handle. Homebodies can save money with a lesser laptop screen and a second external monitor.
3 cool laptops from HP
The definition of a cool laptop depends on what you’ll do with it and what you can afford. Are you a gamer? Writer? Business pro? HP® has laptops that impress all types.
1. HP Spectre x360 laptop
No list of cool laptops is complete without the HP Spectre x360. It starts with a 2-in-1 convertible laptop chassis and loads in stellar features like Bang & Olufsen audio, a 17.5-hour battery, and a 360-degree display. Use it as a laptop, tablet, or reverse the screen to stow the keyboard for binge-watching in style.
If you're not familiar with the 2-in-1 form factor, you’re in for a treat. Its 19.3 mm, lightweight profile makes it a breeze to use in tablet mode. When you use a compatible digital pen, you’ll draw and take notes in speedy comfort. You can even pop it into tent mode to view videos, watch movies, or enjoy a wide-angled video chat.
Phenomenal, cosmic power
Want power? The HP Spectre x360 laptop has it with a blisteringly-fast 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM - the most efficient on the market. It also rolls in up to 2TB of PCIe SSD hard drive capacity.
To help you get control of all that muscle, the HP Command Center lets you customize performance, fan speed, and noise, and cool the laptop’s external temperature to match your every whim.
If you like tasty eye-candy in movies, video, and games, the HP Spectre x360 is made for you. Its attractive chassis hides a formidable NVIDIA GeForce MX 150 or GTX 1050Ti. What that means for you is crisper visuals and quicker editing and rendering for photos and 4K video needs. Couple that with a 4K Micro-Edge display and you’ve got 8.2 million pixels to serve up content in jaw-dropping quality.
Cool-looking laptops with max security
Want to keep the baddies out? You’ll do it with a fingerprint reader and face recognition for robust web security. You’ll also ward off prying eyes with a privacy camera kill switch and an HP Sure View privacy screen. Just tap F1 to enter privacy mode and your screen will go dark to everyone but you.
There are also all the ports you need for maxed-out connectivity. The HP Spectre x360 serves up an HDMI port, audio combo, Micro SD card slot, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a USB 3 Type-A jack. You’ll never wonder, “How can I connect to that?” or worry about bottlenecks again.
2. HP Chromebook x2 notebook
Next up in our list of cool HP laptops is the HP Chromebook x2. This king among cool laptops for students takes a category known for bare essentials and explodes the boundaries. If you’re all about affordability, but you’d like to sneak in some high-performance, its detachable screen, dual-core Intel Core M3 processor, and other high-end features will get you in the sweet spot.
One of the coolest features of this laptop is its detachable touch screen and magnetic hinge. It converts quickly from a power-packed little laptop to a 12.3-inch tablet with a touch screen and its own digital active pen. That means you can use it for work, school, catching up with friends on the couch, or curling up with a good movie.
Powered by Chrome
Part of what puts the HP Chromebook x2 squarely on any list of cool laptops for students is Chrome OS™ and cloud-based software and storage. That forward-thinking model keeps the price low as it zaps the need for upgrades, updates, and virus-checking software because all those functions happen automatically in the cloud.
This HP Chromebook also delivers a power-sipping 12.5-hour battery life to keep you up and running for a full day of mobile study, work, and entertainment. It’s the perfect choice for college students on a budget who don’t want to sacrifice their flexibility. It also has an ENERGY STAR® rating for power users who are conscious of their greenhouse gas emissions.
Let’s not forget the front and back cameras and dual-array digital microphones for max connectivity. And if you’re worried HP Chromebooks can’t be cool or stylish, one look at the ceramic white cover and oxford blue keyboard frame will make you a believer.
3. HP ZBook Studio x360 workstation
When it comes to cool laptops, the HP ZBook Studio x360 workstation puts them all to shame. Because of its advanced features, this high-powered computer corners the market in wow-factor. This fully-customizable machine can be a digital editing or 3D graphics studio for creative types who don’t stay shackled to a desk.
You can pack it with up to an Intel Core i9-8950HK processor, running 6 cores in the Coffee Lake configuration. It provides a base speed of 2.9 GHz, which is boostable to a blazingly-fast 4.8 GHz in a pinch. If you’re a heavy user, you’ll enjoy magnified efficiency and productivity as a thousand little delays you’ve gotten used to vanish.
More power to create
The HP ZBook Studio x360 was designed to give creative types a fully mobile studio they can pack up to work from anywhere their talent takes them. NVIDIA Quadro® 3D Graphics mean you can run professional-level apps for video editing and 3D rendering with studio-quality performance and stability. And with a max of 4TB of local NVMe storage, you’ll access your work up to 21 times faster than a standard hard drive.
A mobile studio in every way, this HP ZBook can work in several modes. Use it in laptop mode while you work, then easily switch it into stand and tent mode for smooth collaboration. Sketch, design, and edit in tablet mode with your compatible digital pen for pencil-on-paper feel. Finally, dock it with multiple displays when you’re back in the office.
As cool laptops go, this one’s got a display that creatives of any stripe can fall in love with. One billion colors put the HP DreamColor 4K UHD anti-glare matte touch screen in a class by itself. It’s brighter than the competition, and its 100% Adobe RGB means when color is critical, you’ll stay on point.
3 more cool HP laptops
Now that we’ve seen our choices for the top three cool laptops from HP, there are a few runner-ups more than worth mentioning. This mini-list contains cool gaming laptops, new concepts in professional styling, and a leading edge ultrabook at a trailing edge price.
4. HP Spectre Folio laptop
This brilliantly-stylish Windows 10 2-in-1 laptop has everything the business professional needs, including a 100% genuine leather clamshell. Say hello to a work machine with boardroom appeal.
5. HP ENVY 17t laptop
This slim ultrabook impresses with a 17-inch 4K screen boasting eye-popping colors that create a memorable viewing experience. Paired with its Bang & Olufsen soundbar, this aluminum workhorse is an entertainment dream.
6. HP OMEN X laptop
The rugged HP OMEN X is built for overclocking, with a high-performance cooling system and cutting-edge NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics. It looks like something from a Marvel movie and plays like it, too.
Cool laptops for any budget
It’s a great time to be in the market for a laptop. With so many cool laptops on the shelves, users of all kinds can find something to entice, excite, and fit their needs. Whether you’re a gamer, a business pro, the fun-loving type, or a little bit of all of them depending on the weather, you’ll find plenty of cool HP laptops to suit your needs.
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About the Author: Tom Gerencer is a contributing writer for HP® Tech Takes. Tom is an ASJA journalist, career expert at Zety.com, and a regular contributor to Boys' Life and Scouting magazines. His work is featured in Costco Connection, FastCompany, and many more.
