HP 17z

 

Summary

The 17.3-inch display on the HP 17z is bigger than the average laptop display for its class. Also, this laptop is quite reasonably priced and has a sufficient number of ports. Unfortunately, the laptop's lid is flimsy because it is constructed of plastic.

 

Pros	Cons
o   Affordable price tag	o   Low graphics card
o   Attractive design	o   Plastic-built
o   Large display	o   Heavy
o   Enough ports

 

Let’s Start the Detailed Review

In this HP 17z review, I will make sure to provide detailed information about the design of the laptop. The performance of its CPU, RAM, storage, graphics, and battery life will be examined next.

Not only that, but in each part of the review I will show you the benchmark test result of this laptop. I will also compare this laptop with other laptops in its category.

Eventually, I will assign this laptop a performance rating of 10 out of ten in each category. So, after reading the review to the end, you will be able to decide whether it is worth buying the HP 17z laptop.

HP 17z: Specifications

Expansion slots	1x SD card reader
Webcam of HP 17z	HP True Vision HD Camera included microphone
Audio	Dual speakers
External I/O Ports	1 HDMI 1.4b; 1 independent headphone/microphone combo; 1 RJ-45; 1 USB 2.0; 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Data transfer only)
Network interface	Integrated 10/100/1000 GbE LAN
Battery life	Up to 8 hours with HD display; Up to 6 hours and 45 minutes with FHD panel
Video Playback Battery Life	Up to 7 hours with HD panel; Up to 5 hours and 45 minutes with FHD panel
Power supply	45 W / 65 W
Software included	McAfee Live Safe™
Security management	Kensington MicroSaver® security lock support
Warranty	1 year limited hardware warranty (for further information please visit www.hp.com/support); 90 day phone support (after purchase); complimentary chat support in warranty period (at www.hp.com/go/contacthp)
Dimensions	H-0.96 x D-10.72 x W-16.33 in
Weight	5.63 lb

My initial thoughts

One of the main manufacturers of laptops is HP. The HP 17z is one of those laptops.

Without raising the cost of the laptop, HP has crammed it full of essential functions. To be accurate, the HP 17z had a $499 beginning price at the time I published this review in February 2022.

Does the HP 17z, however, trade off performance for a lower price? The sections that follow will teach us more.

HP 17z: Notebook design

The HP 17z is one of the few affordable laptops that doesn't look its price. This is as a result of its alluring look.

However, despite its good looks, the HP 17z is made of plastic material like its predecessor. Therefore, this laptop is fragile because of the plastic material it is made of.

In addition, the HP 17z is available in three different beautiful colors – black, silver and blue.

Specifically, this HP 17z review is based on the silver color variant. Although any of the three colors would go well with this laptop, I think the silver color makes it look more stylish.

Still on the look of the HP 17z, you'll find the "hp" logo in the center of its lid. The inscribed "hp" logo looked like it was split into black and silver.

This logo tends to be more noticeable in silver than in any other color variant. In terms of physical feel and appeal, the laptop lid has a rough texture when you run your palm over it.

When you open the lid of the laptop, you will find the display held by two large chrome hinges. Thanks to HP, these hinges are quite stiff and hold the lid firmly.

Although the lid wobbles a bit when you try to adjust it, it's nothing to worry about.

As for the display, the 17.3-inch white LED-backlit display will impress you with this laptop. The display has HD+ (1600 x 900 pixels) resolution.

For a brief explanation, HD+ display quality is between HD and Full HD. So an HD+ display is better than an HD display.

However, it is not as good as the FHD display.

In addition, the HP 17z display is equipped with an SVA panel with an anti-reflective layer. The SVA panel gives the display a better viewing angle, while the anti-reflective coating reduces screen reflections.

Moreover, you can get this laptop either with a touch screen or without a touch screen depending on your taste.

The screen bezels are quite thin. However, the top bezel is strong enough to accommodate an HD webcam with an integrated digital microphone.

Likewise, in the middle of the bottom frame, you will find an "HP" logo similar to the one on the laptop's lid.

When we go overboard, you'll find a keyboard there. The keyboard is well made, but the keys are plastic.

When typing, the keys feature a short key travel and light feedback. For accuracy and typing speed, some users prefer a shallow key track, while some prefer a longer key track.

So if you prefer shallow keys, the keyboard on the HP 17z will give you comfortable typing. Unfortunately, these keys make a lot of noise when typing, which may not suit some people.

To be specific, the term "key travel" refers to how deep a computer keyboard key sinks to register input when you press it.

Moving down to the end of the keyboard, you'll find a dedicated touchpad. This touchpad measures 11.5 x 5.0 cm, which is larger than most laptop touchpads.

Meanwhile, the touchpad of this HP 17z has precise cursor movement when moving up. However, the cursor feels limited when moving sideways.

Also supported by this touchpad are multi-touch movements using up to four fingers. Not only that, the touchpad has automatic palm detection capability.

For clarity, touchpad palm detection helps detect finger touches and accidental palm touches while typing.

Moving on, you'll find the ports on the sides of the keyboard base. On the left side is the AC charging port, Ethernet port, HMDI port, two USB 3.0 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The DVD burner, a USB 2.0 port, and an SD card slot are all located on the right side. This laptop definitely has enough ports to meet your connectivity demands.

Before I get into the size of this laptop, you should note that the laptop's speaker is just above the keyboard. One of the greatest stereo speakers with excellent sound is found on the HP 17z.

Without an additional speaker, the multimedia sound from this laptop can fill a whole room. However, with loud sound from this speaker, you may experience some vibration on the keyboard palm rest.

Let's now discuss the dimensions and weight of this laptop. The HP 17z weighs 2553.7g and measures 414.7 x 272.2 x 24.3mm (W x D x H).

Compared to the HP ENVY 17, which is also a 17-inch laptop, the HP 17z is lighter but larger. The HP ENVY 17 is specifically 2780 g and 399 x 259 x 19.3 mm in size (W x D x H).

Although the HP 17z is lighter than the competition I tested it against, it's still quite heavy. So you might find it a bit uncomfortable to carry it in your backpack for a long time.

In conclusion, the HP 17z has a plastic construction, but it still manages to stand out among other laptops in its category. Based on that, I'll rate it an eight out of ten in this design and dimensions review section.

HP 17z: Processor (CPU) performance for notebooks

This laptop has an effective AMD Ryzen 5 3500U CPU. This processor has 4 cores and its minimum frequency is 2.10 GHz.

Not only that, but the processor also has a maximum speed of 3.70 GHz and 4 MB of cache. With its 4 cores, the processor of this laptop can easily multitask.

However, to confirm the capabilities of this processor, I will share with you the CineBench R15 benchmark result.

A test programme called Cinebench R15 measures how well a computer's CPU performs. In contrast, the Cinebench test is split into two parts.

One processor core is utilised in the single-core test that takes up the initial section of the exam. Meanwhile, the second part of the test is the multi-core test where all processor cores are used.

It's important to note that a higher score means a laptop performs better in these tests.

So the HP 17z scored 142 points in the single-core test, which is right around the average benchmark score. On the other hand, it scored 652 points in the multi-core test, which is higher than the average of 642 points.

In comparison, the HP 470 G7 8VU24EA scored a higher score of 164 points in the single-core test. However, it scored low in the multi-core test with a score of 520 points.

The ASUS VivoBook 17 M712 scored similarly low in the single-core test with 131 points. The score is even lower in the multi-core test with 622 points.

Based on the above results, it seems that the HP17z processor performs very well. So, I would rate this laptop a nine in this processor review section.

HP 17z: Laptop Memory (RAM) Performance

The operating speed of the DDR4 SDRAM in this laptop is 2400MHz. It features a maximum memory capacity of 16 GB and a typical memory capacity of 12 GB.

In terms of speed and bandwidth, DDR4 memory performs better than previous memory types. Therefore, after reading that little description, you should have a good understanding of how quickly this laptop can access memory.

You may be pleased to know that the HP 17z has two memory slots with removable RAM. Therefore, it is possible to expand the memory up to 16 GB.

With 12GB of RAM, this laptop is capable of extensive multitasking and will be even better if you have 16GB of RAM. With 12GB of RAM, the HP 17z should be able to run 25 Chrome tabs simultaneously.

In the meantime, you can choose to stream YouTube videos in three of these browser tabs without worrying about lag.

To better understand the RAM performance, I will share with you the PC Mark 10 benchmark result. PC Mark 10 is a benchmark that measures the performance of a computer's memory based on real-world applications.

It's also worth noting that the laptop with the highest score performed better in this benchmark test. That's why the HP 17 scored 17 out of 3841 points in the benchmark test.

Unfortunately, this performance was below the average benchmark score of 4377 points.

For comparison, the HP 470 G7 led the table with 4494 points. However, the HP 17z fared better than the ASUS VivoBook 17 M712, which scored 3719 points.

The test result clearly shows that although the performance of the HP 17z is not the best, it performed better than some of its competitors. So I give it an eight out of 10 in this area of ​​memory checking.

HP 17z: Laptop storage options and performance

Three storage options are available for the HP17z. First, it comes with PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage with a maximum capacity of 256 GB.

Second, it comes with an additional storage option that combines a 1TB SATA HDD with a 128GB SSD. The HDD in this storage option has a disk speed of 5400 rpm.

Finally, the HP17z offers a storage option that combines a 1TB 5400rpm SATA HDD with a 256GB SDD. In the second and third storage options, you have two independent storages - HDD and SSD on the same laptop.

With these HDD+SSD storage options, you get large storage from HDD and fast storage from SSD. In short, this laptop doesn't limit you to a single storage drive, so you can have your cake and eat it too.

However, this HP 17z review is based on the first storage option – a 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. Unfortunately, this option only boasts speed and not the large storage capacity of the second and third storage options.

With 256GB of storage on my review model, it could fill up quickly. Thankfully, this laptop also includes an external SD card reader for further storage.

If the laptop's storage space is full, more files can be stored on the SD card.

To confirm the performance of this laptop, I will share its CrystalDiskMark benchmark result. Crystaldiskmark evaluates the speed of sequential reading and writing from a storage drive.

To be precise, the sequential read speed indicates how long it takes on the storage drive to open a file. Meanwhile, write speed indicates how long it takes to save a file to your computer's storage.

Moreover, the higher the read and write speed, the better the performance of this laptop.

The HP 17z's read speed in the CrystalDiskMark benchmark was 500.1 MB/s. On the other hand, the notebook had a write speed of 325 MB/s.

In comparison, the Lenovo ThinkPad E470 had a read speed of 476.5 MB/s and a write speed of 458.7 MB/s. This means that the HP 17z will open files faster than the Lenovo Thinkpad E470.

Meanwhile, the Lenovo Thinkpad E470 saves files faster than the HP 17z.

In conclusion, the performance of the HP 17z is encouraging based on the above result. That's why I'm giving it a nine out of ten in this part of the storage review.

HP 17z: Laptop graphics card performance

This HP laptop has an AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics card built in. The graphics card can run at up to 1200 MHz.

Being an integrated graphics card, the AMD Radeon Vega 8 may not be able to perform the most demanding tasks smoothly. However, playing modern games on medium settings will give you some playable frame rates.

For example, this laptop should be able to play Far Cry 5 (2018) at 16 fps on medium settings. It should also be able to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) at 12 fps on medium settings.

In addition, I will share with you the 3DMark benchmark result of this laptop. A test programme called 3D Mark evaluates how well a computer's graphics card performs 3D rendering.

It's also worth noting that the higher the laptop's score, the better the performance. In the benchmark test, the HP 17z scored 3871 points.

Impressively, the laptop's score is above average at 3429 points.

By comparison, the HP 470 G7 scored 2360 points in the same test. The ASUS VivoBook 17 M712 also scored 1878 points in the 3DMark test.

In conclusion, the HP 17z GPU is capable of playing modern games, but only at medium settings. However, it performed excellently in the benchmark test.

That's why I'll give it a nine out of ten in this graphics performance rating section.

HP 17z: Battery life and laptop performance

The HP 17z is equipped with a 3-cell 41 Wh Li-ion battery. According to HP, this battery will provide up to 8 hours of battery life.

Thanks to the 8-hour battery life, you will be able to carry out your daily work without having to recharge the battery frequently. So we need to confirm this HP claim.

To that end, we'll consider some battery tests conducted by notebookcheck.com. The test revealed that the laptop could be used to continuously browse the internet for 4 hours, 52 minutes.

Unfortunately, the laptop's battery life in the test does not come close to HP's claims. But before I give my final verdict on the battery, let's compare it to other laptops.

Compared to the HP Pavilion - 15t notebook, our test model did not fare well. This is because the HP Pavilion's battery life in the same test was 9 hours 30 minutes.

In conclusion, the battery life of the HP 17z falls short of HP's claims and is not up to par with one of its competitors. That's why I'm giving it a seven out of ten in this battery life review section.

FAQs

1. What does optional touch screen mean?

The optional touchscreen means you can get this laptop with or without a touchscreen.

2. What is the price of the HP 17z laptop?

The HP 17z cost $499 as of the time I wrote this review in February 2022.

3. Does the HP 17z come with a dedicated graphics card?

No, this laptop only comes with an integrated graphics card.

4. How big is the HP 17z?

The HP 17z is a 17-inch notebook with dimensions of 414.7 x 272.2 x 24.3 mm (W x D x H).

5. What is the battery life of the HP 17z?

The battery life of this laptop, according to HP, is up to 8 hours. However, it lasted 4 hours and 52 minutes in a web surfing battery test conducted by notebookcheck.com.

My Final Opinion

The HP 17z is intended to be used at a home desk because of its heavy weight. However, when it comes to performance, the laptop is up to the task in areas such as storage, processor and memory to name a few.

Another thing that will catch your eye about this laptop is its price tag. In addition, despite the plastic construction, this laptop has an attractive design.

So if you're looking for an HP laptop with adequate performance at an affordable price, you might want to consider the HP 17z.

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