Best. Review on HP 15 af114AU Notebook

Performance

HP 15-af114AU has an AMD Quad-Core A8-7410 processor that gives almost the same performance like the low-end i3 processor, for instance, Intel Core i3-2367M. It runs at a clock frequency of 2.2ghz and has a 2MB cache size which is sufficient for handling everyday tasks such as surfing the internet, watching videos, and of course a little bit of gaming in low settings.

The laptop has integrated AMD Radeon R5 Graphics which gives gaming performance lower than GeForce 820M and higher than Intel HD 9000 graphics. It can handle games such as F1 2014, FIFA 15, Sims 4, Risen 3:Titan Lords, Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Elder Scrolls Online, World of Warcraft, Diablo 2 etc… at low settings.

Memory

The laptop comes with 4 GB DDR3L 1600MHZ RAM which is upgradable up to 8GB with discard. When taking the power of the processor into account, 4GB RAM should be more than enough for this laptop. Adding extra RAM to this laptop may not bring much improvement in the performance. In terms of storage, af114AU has 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA, this definitely gives plenty of space for storing files. 1TB has become a standard in most of the laptops today. As the industry is slowly moving towards SSD, they are willing to offer higher amounts of HDD storage to the laptop users.

Display

The laptop has 15.6 inches diagonal WLED-backlit 1366 x 768 or 720p display. It is a standard type of display found in the most budget notebooks. For the budget, resolution wise, this display configuration is excellent and satisfying. However, viewing angles of the laptop are not that great and the screen doesn’t come with anti-glare. 16

Keyboard and Trackpad

This laptop has an island style full numeric keyboard. The keys have a good response but feel a little bit cheap on the fingers. But once the user gets used to the keys, it won’t bother much. The black keys look really good over the glossy aluminum background. The trackpad is designed on the keyboard deck itself. It is not separate even though the borders are well depicted. The trackpad buttons are brisk and seem to be very much durable. 14

Connectivity

In terms of I/O ports, we have 2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, 1 HDMI, 1 RJ-45 and 1 headphone/microphone jack combo. The inclusion of USB 3.0 in the laptop is a very useful thing. Also, you have the HDMI port which was usually included in the higher range laptops. For wireless connectivity, the laptop has Standard Wifi and Bluetooth 4.0. I tested the coverage area of the wifi and found that the laptop can catch signals within a radius of 3o meters which is again good. Overall, all the basic connectivity options are covered in this laptop. 11

Audio

The HP 15-af114au uses DTS Studio Sound technology. It has 2 speakers that give out loud sound but as the speakers are located at the bottom, if you are keeping the laptop on the bed the sound gets dampened.

Battery

The battery on this laptop offers a backup of 4 hours on browsing, watching videos etc. It might come down an hour up to 3 hours if low-end games are played on this.

Weight

The laptop is very light. It weighs only 2.19 kgs which is a result of sleek battery and low weight materials used for producing this laptop. Does that mean it is not durable? No the overall buildup of the laptop is done relatively good considering the budget. But one must protect the laptop from free falls.

SPECIFICATIONS

Product Name

15-af114au

Product Number

P3C92PA

Processor

2.2 GHz AMD Quad-Core A8-7410 APU with Radeon R5 Graphics

Processor Cache

2 MB cache

RAM

4 GB DDR3L-1600 SDRAM(1 x 4 GB)

Graphics

AMD Radeon R5 Graphics

Display

15.6? diagonal HD BrightView WLED-backlit(1366 x 768)

Hard Drive

1 TB 5400 rpm SATA

Multimedia Drive

SuperMulti DVD burner

Network Card

Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN

Wireless Connectivity

802.11b/g/n(1×1) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo

External Ports

1 multi-format SD media card reader

2 USB 2.0(1 HP USB Boost)

1 USB 3.0

1 HDMI

1 RJ-45

1 headphone/microphone combo

Sound

DTS Studio Sound with 2 speakers

Keyboard

Island-style keyboard with integrated numeric keypad

Pointing Device

HP Imagepad with multi-touch gesture support

Dimensions

38.43 x 25.46 x 2.43 cm

Weight

Starting at 2.19 kg

Power

65 W EM AC power adapter

4-cell, 41 Wh Li-ion polymer

Camera

HD Webcam(front-facing) with integrated digital microphone

Pros Premium Quality Design Very Lightweight Balanced configuration for everyday use Low Price Tag Relatively Long-life Battery Windows 10 comes preinstalled Good Wifi Range considering the money

Cons Keys on the keyboard are plasticky and loose type, not a major problem but could have been better The screen is glossy and doesn’t have anti-glare