Review Update HP Pavilion 17-e126sg Notebook

HP equipped the Pavilion with a glossy 17.3-inch display with a native resolution of 1600x900 pixels. Its average brightness of 198.3 cd/m² is mid-range. The display of the F75VC (213.8 cd/m²; HD+) performs slightly better. Neither competitor can keep up with the very good values of the Aspire's display (321.7 cd/m²; Full HD). The Pavilion performs better in contrast (765:1) and black value (0.26 cd/m²). The display can achieve good values here. The same is true for the Aspire (757:1, 0.44 cd/m²). The F75VC (236:1, 0.95 cd/m²) comes in last again.

The Pavilion 17 is a cheap 17.3-inch all-round notebook. Apart from everyday tasks like surfing, Skype, writing etc., the notebook can also run current computer games - at least to some extent. Currently, our test model costs about 650 Euros (~$892). HP offers many other Pavilion 17 models. These are either equipped with Intel or AMD hardware. At the time of writing, the HP Pavilion 17-e068sg (Pentium 2020M CPU, 4 GB of RAM, 500 GB hard drive, no Windows OS) is the cheapest model for about 350 Euros (~$480).

HP equipped the Pavilion with a Core i5-4200M processor from Intel. It is based on the current Haswell architecture and features two cores. The base clock rate is 2.5 GHz. The Turbo can increase the clock rate to up to 3 GHz (both cores) or 3.1 GHz (single core). The TDP of the CPU is 37 Watt. 

The full performance is available in mains operation as well as on battery. The CPU test of the Cinebench benchmarks proved that the processor runs at full speed. The Aspire achieves the same results since it is equipped with the same processor. The F75VC performs worse, because it is equipped with a weaker Core i3 processor.

The system runs smoothly. We could not observe any problems. The subjective impression is also reflected by a very good PCMark 7 result. Neither the Aspire nor the F75VC could keep up with our test model here. We are surprised that the Aspire cannot, since it is quite similarly equipped as the Pavilion. We think the HP might perform better because its RAM works in dual-channel mode.

The Pavilion comes with a hard drive from Toshiba with a capacity of 750 GB and a revolution speed of 5400 rpm. CrystalDiskMark reports a read rate of 106.2 MB/s. HD Tune displays an average transfer rate of 102.6 MB/s. This is a good value for a 5400 rpm hard drive.

The Pavilion houses two graphics cards: Intel's HD Graphics 4600 graphics core and the AMD Radeon HD 8670M GPU. They are an Enduro group (AMD's counterpart to Nvidia's Optimus technology). The Radeon core is used during demanding applications like computer games. The Intel chip is active during everyday tasks and on battery. Application profiles specify which GPU is used for an application. The user can change the pre-setting in the driver menu any time. The Radeon GPU belongs to the lower mid-range. It supports DirectX 11.1 and works with a base clock of 775 MHz. With Turbo, the clock rate can be increased to up to 975 MHz.

In the 3DMark benchmarks, the Aspire and the Pavilion achieve rather similar results. The F75VC performs significantly worse than the competitors. However, this is not primarily because of weaker hardware, but because the GPU cannot completely use its Turbo.

The Pavilion can run most computer games smoothly in low resolution and low quality settings. Several games can also be played with higher resolutions or quality settings - e. g. FIFA 14. While the Pavilion was on par with the Aspire in the 3DMark benchmarks, it has to give in to the Aspire in computer game performance. So, the Aspire is preferable, if you want to occasionally play games. If the gaming performance of the Aspire does not meet your demands, Acer offers an alternative: The Aspire V3-772G features a Core i5-4200M processor and a GeForce GTX 760M graphics card for currently about 700 Euros (~$961). Windows OS is not included.

The Pavilion is not a loud notebook. While idle, a permanent rustling of the fan and the hard drive are audible. The Aspire and the F75VC work quieter. Under load the fan noise of the Pavilion increases significantly, but it is still acceptable. The Aspire is quietest.

Power Consumption

While idle, the Pavilion is rather frugal with values between 6.2 and 9.6 Watt. The Aspire (9.5 to 15.7 Watt) and the F75VC (8.3 to 12.9 Watt) are significantly more power hungry. The Pavilion also proved to be the most frugal under medium load (3DMark06) and full load (stress test: Prime95 and Furmark) with 37.3 and 65.4 Watt (Aspire: 70.1 and 73.1 Watt; F75VC: 57.1 and 69.7 Watt).

Our realistic WLAN test automatically loads websites in 40-second intervals. The energy saving profile is selected and the display brightness is set to about 150 cd/m². The Pavilion achieves a battery life of 4:03 h. The Aspire's (3:57 h) and the F75VC's (4:49 h) are only slightly shorter. Overall, the battery lives of the three devices are very favorable.

The HP Pavilion 17-e126sg scores points with its good system performance and a gaming performance which should at least satisfy occasional gamers. Mostly, the notebook works quietly and does not get especially warm. In addition, the storage capacity is big. The display does not belong to the best facets of the computer. It is only averagely bright and bluish. The warranty period of 12 months is too short. We would have expected 24 months.

The Acer Aspire E1-772G features a matte, bright, contrast-rich Full HD display. In addition, its gaming performance is better than the Pavilion's and it comes with a 1TB hard drive and a free mSATA slot. Furthermore, it is cheaper than the Pavilion with a price of 600 Euros (~$823). However, the Aspire comes without Windows OS. It is generally difficult for the Pavilion to compete with the Aspire. The Acer simply offers more for the money. The Asus F75VC stands out with a low price: You will get an all-round notebook including Windows 8 for 500 Euros (~$686), which performs well in most application scenarios.