The HP Pavilion 17-e113dx is a 17.3-inch Laptop that comes with a interesting design and decent specifications. Read the full review to see how good it is.
HP Pavilion 17-e113dx 17.3″ Laptop Review
The Exterior
On the outside the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx comes in a classic chassis shape and size with a textured shiny silver top cover. The cover has the chrome HP logo right in the middle. The shiny finish makes the top cover a magnet for fingerprints and small scratches.
On the inside we find a very similar pattern on the shiny black palm rest. The HP Pavilion 17-e113dx features a full sized keyboard with numerical pad and a generously sized touchpad slightly off-center for better typing comfort. On top of the keyboard we find a mesh grill underneath which the two built-in speakers are located. The power button is located just left of this mesh.
The sides of the body have a silver border that contain all the connectivity features.
The HP Pavilion 17-e113dx comes with a 17.3″ LED-backlit high-definition display surrounded by a shiny black border. In the middle of the top border we find the 720p Webcam and the integrated microphone. Centered on the bottom border we find a silver HP logo.
For future upgrades HP has kindly provided a large panel on the back of the device which you can open to gain access to the HDD, RAM and WiFi modules.
The overall exterior of this HP looks very stylish and elegant but as a downside I can foresee many scratches and fingerprints in the future of all its shiny surfaces.
The Connectivity
A VGA-port, HDMI-port, 2 USB 3.0 ports, a combo mic headphones port and a card reader are the connectivity options for the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx left side. The right side features a Kensington lock port, power port, Ethernet LAN port, one USB 2.0 port and the multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive.
To this we add WiFi 802.11 B/G/N Wireless connectivity. The only thing missing from the package is Bluetooth connectivity.
The Performance
The HP Pavilion 17-e113dx comes equipped with a AMD Quad-Core A8-4500M processor running at 1.9 GHz (up to 2.8 GHz w/ Turbo Core). The performance of this processor is comparable to Intels Core-i3-series processors. The integrated Radeon HD 7640G will outperform any Intel HD 4000 graphics card. This combination of processor and GPU makes this device capable of running most of todays games without problems.
The 4GB of DDR 3 RAM is the only thing pulling this configuration down. Considering the abilities of the AMD A8-4500M processor I think 8GB of RAM is more suitable if you intend to use it to its full capacity.
Thankfully HP has provided easy access to the RAM of the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx making the upgrade easy to make.
The 750 GB HDD spinning at 5400rpm completes the configuration. The available storage space is higher than available on most devices in this price range.
The performance specifications of the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx are very good for a 17.3-inch laptop in this class and with an upgrade to 8GB of RAM it can become a very well balanced package.
Who is it for? discussing who would benefit most from this laptop...
- Student
The large screen in the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx makes this laptop a good choice for dorm room life. It will make for a very good multimedia laptop for watching movies and video clips. To this the performance will be more than enough for most students' needs. This laptop is even capable of moderate gaming. - Casual User
The on hand available performance of the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx makes it a good choice for a long term buy for casual users. The screen is large enough to be used for regular movie and video watching and with the 750GB you won't ever have a storage shortage. The performance is more than would ever be needed at the moment and with a 4GB RAM update this device will have a long life of computing ahead of it. - Gaming
The combination of A8-4500M processor and AMD Radeon 7640G graphics card make the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx a very good starting point for a gamer on the move. This laptop will need a RAM upgrade to offer peak performance and HP has kindly provided an easy means to do just that. This notebook is an entry level gaming device and should be seen as such. Gaming is definitely possible on this device but only on low to medium settings. If you have higher needs than this, I suggest you look at a different device.
PROs Vs. CONs
The HP Pavilion 17-e113dx comes with a very good mid-range Processor-GPU combination, plenty of storage space and a very elegant design. The performance is good enough to consider this an entry level gaming laptop.
The presence of only 4GB of RAM inside the HP Pavilion 17-e113dx pulls the whole, otherwise very good configuration, down. This device needs the a RAM upgrade to offer peak performance. The lack of Bluetooth may put off some buyers.
Summary
The HP Pavilion 17-e113dx is a mid-range large screen laptop that offers decent performance for a limited budget. The exterior design is very elegant and stylish. The lack of another 4GB of RAM is the only thing pulling the configurations performance down. " class="orange">Click here to see what other CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING...Technical Details
Processor AMD Quad-Core A8-4500M 1.9 GHz
Video Card AMD Radeon HD 7640G
RAM Memory 4GB DDR3
Audio Built-in Speakers And Microphone with High Definition Audio Support
Operating System Windows 8.1
Display 17.3-inch 1600 x 900px
Storage Drive 750 GB 5400rpm
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
USB 2.0 Ports 1
USB 3.0 Ports 2
Built-in Camera Yes
Built-in Microphone Yes
Optical Drive Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive
Memory Card Reader Yes
Bluetooth -
Headphone-out Yes
VGA-out Yes
HDMI-out Yes
LAN-out Yes
Color Anodized Silver
Width 16.5 in.
Depth 10.5 in.
Height 1.3 in.
Weight 6 lbs.
Battery Life up to 4 hours
Warranty 1-Year limited warranty
Updated on June 7th, 2015