Brandi McCants | Author at Gadget Gestures

The HP Pavilion15z Laptop Review – More Than A Budget Laptop

January 4, 2019 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

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The world of laptops can be a very complicated one. Especially if you are looking for a laptop with a great trade-off between performance and the size of the hole it will burn in your pocket. If you have a big pocket, you can pick whatever you want. But if your pocket is limited, like most pockets, the search for a good laptop becomes more complicated.

Well, let me tell you that I have been to the Goldilocks (not hot, not cold, just right) zone and I met your laptop. It’s the HP Pavilion 15z. I think for your sake, an HP Pavilion 15z laptop is in order.

But before we get to our HP Pavilion laptop review, let me let you in on a few secrets concerning budget laptops.

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The Truth You Need to Know About Budget Laptops

The HP Pavilion 15z Laptop Review

HP Pavilion 15z - Overview of Specs

Configurable Specifications

Universal Specs

Design and Build Quality

The HP Pavilion 15z Laptop Review - More than You Bargained For

The Truth You Need to Know About Budget Laptops

So, what are the secrets surrounding budget laptops? Here are 3 that you need to know so that you can purchase your next budget laptop (an HP Pavilion 15z perhaps) with great confidence.

Just Because They Are Cheap Doesn’t Mean They Are Poorly Made

Many times, people confuse budget laptops for poorly made laptops. Even though at times there may be some concessions made in terms of the materials used, budget laptops are still strong and robust machines.

What makes them cheap, then? Great question. One of the things that contribute to the low prices of budget laptops is technology. With technological advancements moving at the speed of light, today’s best-performing laptop quickly becomes relegated to budget laptop status in a few years’ time due to new technology ruling the market.

They Get the Job Done – Quite Well

Most budget laptops come with some technology from a previous generation or two tech-wise. But just because there is new technology available doesn’t mean the technology in budget laptops is not capable of handling your tasks – it is very capable in most instances. Budget laptops get the job done and at the fraction of the cost of high-end laptops.

You Can Depend on Them

Most budget laptops are very dependable machines that you can rely on to last for some years. Remember, they are not inferior models per se, just older models. Older models, technology-wise, and you can definitely depend on them for most of your basic tasks.

Now that you know the truth about budget laptops, let’s get on with our HP Pavilion 15z laptop review.

The HP Pavilion 15z Laptop Review

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Few laptops can live up to the title of “budget laptop” while providing you with the performance you require, but the HP Pavilion 15z does. But before I tell you what to expect from it, let me quickly run you through the specs.

HP Pavilion 15z - Overview of Specs

Just like the HP Pavilion 15t, the HP Pavilion 15z is a configurable laptop, but unlike the HP Pavilion 15t, it doesn’t come with Intel’s line of processors but is equipped with AMD’s A series of processors. Let’s take a peak.

Configurable Specifications

Screen Resolution

1366 x 768 Pixels (HD)

1920 x 1080 Pixels (Full HD)

Processor (CPU)

AMD A10-9620P “Bristol Ridge” quad-core 2.5-3.4GHz 2MB cache

AMD A12-9720P “Bristol Ridge” quad-core 2.7-3.6GHz 2MB cache

AMD A9-9420 “Stoney Ridge” dual-core 3-3.6GHz 1MB cache

Graphics (GPU)

AMD Radeon R5 Integrated Graphics

AMD Radeon R7 Integrated Graphics

System Memory (RAM)

8GB

12GB

16GB

Storage

128GB SSD

256GB SSD

1TB HDD

2TB HDD

Input

Non-backlit keyboard with numeric pad

Multi-touch trackpad with physical buttons

Touchscreen

Battery

3-Cell 31 WHr

4-cell 41 WHr

Up to 6 hours and 45 minutes of battery life with HD display; up to 5 hours and 15 minutes with full HD

Universal Specs

Screen Size

15.6-inch

Touchscreen

Optional

Speakers and Audio

Stereo speakers

Cameras

Front

Wifi

802.11AC, 802.11N

Ethernet LAN

Yes

Bluetooth

Yes (Optional)

USB

2 x USB 3.1 + 1 x USB 2.0

Video Ports

1 x HDMI

Media Card Reader

Yes (SD card reader)

DVD Optical Drive

None

Weight

4.1 pounds

Height

0.9"

Width

15"

Depth

10"

Windows Version

Windows 10 Home

This is a pretty neat machine for personal and office use, if I may say so. But let’s dig deeper into our HP Pavilion 15z laptop review just to make sure.

Design
and
Build Quality

For a budget laptop, the HP Pavilion 15z is built quite solidly. True, the chassis is mainly plastic, but the build quality and design are so good it doesn’t shout, “cheap.” It actually has a nice executive look about it, especially if you go with jet black as your choice of color. It comes in 6 different colors of the lid, sides, and bottom – you can choose between black, grey, silver, gold, blue, and red. But whatever color you go for, the HP Pavilion 15z looks good.

HP adopted the usual keyboard style with this offering, as it also features a keyboard with Chiclet keys and the number pad positioned on the right. The keyboard on the HP Pavilion 15z gives a good typing experience, especially since it doesn’t suffer from shallow key travel plaguing many of its competitors in the budget laptop category. For example, the keyboards on the Asus VivoBook S500CA-Ds51t. The multi-touch trackpad also comes with mechanical “click” buttons instead of being integrated into the surface. If you want a backlit keyboard, it is available as an option.

I can’t fault the HP Pavilion 15t when it comes to the build quality. After all, it is a budget laptop. And for its category, it is quite well built, to say the least. That’s why I rate it at 5/5 for design and build quality.

Display

When it comes to buying a budget laptop, it’s all about making concessions. And when it comes to the screen, this is one area you need to be willing to make a compromise on. Sure, the screen is not terrible, but it’s not brilliant either, and that in both configurations.

The HP Pavilion comes with a 15.6-inch screen that comes in two main configurations - a 1366×768 pixels HD display which can be configured to be touch-capable, and a 1920 × 1080 pixels full HD screen. Neither have IPS capabilities.

The display on the HP Pavilion is bright enough for most daily tasks and watching your regular movies or streaming even though it is not one of HP’s best displays. The display gets a 4/5 from me. It’s an average screen that does what it is meant to do, but it’s nothing to write home about.

Connectivity

When it comes to connecting you to the net and your accessories, the HP Pavilion is well-equipped to handle all your connectivity needs. It comes with 2 USB 3.1 ports, and HDMI video port, an Ethernet port, as well as an SD card reader on the right side while the left side has a USB 2.0 port, and a headphone jack on the left side.

As for wireless internet activity, it comes with 802.11n or 802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless connectivity which is fast enough to get you browsing your favorite sites and streaming your favorite movies. When you decide to go with the HP Pavilion 15z, you need to take note of the fact that Bluetooth is optional. Make sure to tick that box as Bluetooth has become an invaluable part of the digital experience.

When it comes to connectivity, I’m giving the Pavilion 15z a 5/5 as it manages to seamlessly connect you to the internet and all your other accessories in a more than satisfactory way.

Performance

As mentioned earlier, the Pavilion 15z comes with A8-4555M, A10-9620P, and A12-9720P quad-core AMD APUs (Accelerated Processor Unit). Unlike their Intel counterparts, they may be a bit sluggish when being used for heavier tasks like video editing and playing modern games. But apart from that, they are quite efficient processors for everyday tasks and handle them very well. Be sure to go for at least 12GB RAM for you to have better performance from your HP Pavilion 15z.

The Radeon HD 7600G GPU, on the other hand, is a different story altogether as it comes out top of the class when it comes to rendering 3D graphics, leaving its Acer and Asus counterparts struggling to catch up.

Performance-wise, the HP Pavilion doesn’t really sparkle but it definitely gets the job done. If you are looking for a daily workhorse, this is one machine that you should strongly consider as it will take care of all your word processing needs, photo editing, a bit of gaming, and video streaming without breaking much of a sweat.

For being a solid workhorse, the HP Pavilion gets a hard-earned and well-deserved 5/5.

Memory/Storage

One area in which you will find that the HP Pavilion 15z shines is in the storage department - both RAM and ROM. For RAM, you have the option to choose between 8GB, 12GB, and 16GB of DDR4 SDRAM, which are all more than adequate for most processor functions.

Storage space also comes in abundance with the Pavilion 15z as you will have a choice between 1 TB SATA, 2 TB SATA, 256 GB SSD, and 512 GB SSD. Of course, for faster performance, best you opt for a solid state hard drive.

It’s a 5/5 for the HP Pavilion in this department.

Battery Life

Most budget laptops come with less-than-acceptable battery life, but the Pavilion 15z is not most. The 15z has a battery life of up to 6 hours and 45 minutes on configurations with the HD display, while full HD models can go up to 5 hours and 15 minutes on a charge. That is pretty impressive for any laptop, and that earns the HP Pavilion 15z an impressive 5/5.

The HP Pavilion 15z Laptop Review - More than You Bargained For

With many budget laptops, you’re never really sure of what you are getting until it starts showing its true colors – usually its weaknesses. With the HP Pavilion 15z, you get more than you bargained for. It’s a durable machine that gets the job done without causing you much of a headache. If you are on the hunt for a budget laptop, this is one that should be on top of your list.

Snapchat Might Be Preparing a Gaming Platform Within Its App

June 28, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Snapchat launched on a smartphone thrown on the bed

The Snapchat gaming platforms will play games directly in the app

You might have noticed how Snapchat has been experimenting with gaming features in its app but found nothing strange about it. According to some rumors, there was a serious reason behind this attempt, showing the platform has big plans for the future. It turns out Snapchat wants to build a gaming platform inside the app with titles developed by real publishers.

Snapchat hints at an in-app gaming platform

In the past, Snapchat inserted some mini-games within its app which allowed users to have a little more fun than usual. These elements weren’t too complex, so users didn’t think they could hint at something else. Now, some new rumors have arisen claiming that Snapchat is preparing to launch a gaming platform of its own.

This time, Snapchat has big plans, as the games won’t just be small in-app elements you can interact with. The company wants something a bit more elaborated this time, so it will start a collaboration with a series of developers.

Snapchat has been preparing to win back its users

The gaming platform will be part of Snapchat and will contain games that will only work within the app. To play these games, people will have to download them from the app store. Then, the games in question will open directly into Snapchat.

It turns out Snapchat has been preparing the gaming platform for a year. For this, it used the help of PlayCanvas, a UK company known for developing mobile games. Snapchat has acquired this company and, together, they created a special platform for developers where they can log in with their Snapchat accounts.

This gaming platform could be an attempt to restore the user number. Not a long time ago, Snapchat rolled out a redesign that left people quite disappointed, and this was immediately reflected in the decreasing number of users. Now, the company hopes these games will help them regain their popularity and bring some of these users back.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Bose Releases the Sleepbuds that Mask Outside Noises and Help You Fall Asleep

June 22, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Woman holding her blanket while sleeping

The Bose Sleepbuds play soothing noises to help you sleep

Bose created the ideal earphones for those who have trouble sleeping. For only $250, you can get the Sleepbuds that can mask all the noises around you, allowing to have a peaceful sleep. After producing several pairs and successfully testing them, the company will now release these unique earphones that aren’t meant for listening to music.

The Sleepbuds are noise-masking earphones

With the Sleepbuds, Bose created the smallest earphones it has ever produced. They measure one centimeter both in length and in width, and are extremely light, weighing only 1.4 grams. Since they should help you sleep, it means you have to wear them after you get in bed. Therefore, Bose made them light and easy to fit in the ears.

Of course, the Sleepbuds are wireless, so you need to charge them before using. The process is simple, as the buds come with rechargeable batteries you can remove and then reattach. After one charge, they should work perfectly for 16 hours, just enough to keep you sleeping for two nights.

How should the Sleepbuds help you sleep?

Unlike other earphones, they don’t have noise cancellation properties. You should still hear your alarm early in the morning, so such an option wasn’t suitable for the Sleepbuds. Instead, they offer sound masking. This means you won’t hear disturbing sounds, as the earphones will play soothing noises to help you fall asleep.

These noises are stored right on the earphones, but you can transfer them to other devices with the help of a special app and a Bluetooth connection. The buds offer you ten sounds you can choose from and, by using the app, you can choose how long you want them to play. These will mask all the other disturbing sounds coming from outside.

However, the Sleepbuds come with one disadvantage. They can only store these sounds, and you cannot transfer other audio files to them. This means they don’t work like regular earphones and you cannot use them to listen to music.

Image source: Pexels

Conan Makes Fun of Apple’s Screen Time Tools with Mock Ad on ‘iPhone Basic’

June 7, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

The lower part of an iPhone on a reflective surface

The mock commercial presented during the Conan show presents an iPhone with no screen

Smartphones are an important part of our lives and it’s impossible to imagine a world without them. However, people have started spending a lot more time using them and neglecting other activities. As a result, Apple decided to develop some tools to help people reduce their screen time, which attracted some funny reactions. Comedian Conan O’Brien presented a mock commercial during his show where he poked fun at Apple’s initiatives.

Conan makes fun of Apple’s attempts to reduce screen time

By spending too much time in front of a smartphone screen, we can really issue a bad influence on our health. Therefore, Apple decided it was time to act and came up with some possible solutions. It developed some tools which should help users reduce their screen time, but others saw the funny part of it.

The show Conan presented a parody of an Apple commercial with probably the only device that could cure smartphone addiction. The mock phone displayed in the video was called iPhone Basic and presented an innovative way to reduce screen time, since it actually had no screen.

The iPhone Basic had no display, no screen, buttons, or any other hardware component that could attract users. This can be a parody on how attached we have become to our smartphones since any small distraction can get us hooked. Apart from the incredibly basic phone, the Conan mock ad also displays stock photos of active people and ends with the slogan “We release you”.

What strategies will Apple take against smartphone addiction?

On a less humorous note, here are the tools that Apple will provide to help us reduce our screen time. One of them is called Do Not Disturb and keeps notifications away during bedtime. It blocks them from appearing within this timeframe, but also lets users block them completely from the lock screen. Instead, they can find them in the notification center.

The second tool is simply called Screen Time and it puts together reports on your phone usage. These reports can highlight apps that are overly used or pinpoint potentially unhealthy behaviors. Screen Time is related to another tool called App Limits that lets you set some limitations for certain apps.

Image source: PxHere

Facebook Is Taking Its Fight Against Misinformation to a Whole New Level

May 25, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Facebook is determined to inform people on how to avoid and combat fake news

Facebook is taking the fight against misinformation really seriously, as it has now resorted to a series of methods to combat it. Starting from academic help to measure the impact of fake news on the feed, Facebook moved printed campaigns informing users on the matter, as well as a short film about how to fight false news.

Researchers will investigate the impact of misinformation on Facebook

This year, the news that Russian hackers got involved in the US presidential election hit everyone hard. It turns out these hackers helped promote fake news on Facebook regarding the election. Soon after this went public, the platform decided to intervene. This way, they hired a team of researchers to analyze the impact of misinformation on the outcome of the election.

Now, Facebook seems to have gotten used to academic help, as it asked the same expert commission for a new mission. These researchers are going to target misinformation on the news feed and measure how widespread it is. They will develop a special website for that, and its launch should occur in two weeks’ time.

Soon, Facebook will decide what researchers should be part of the project. The matter is quite delicate, as they will gain access to user data. However, you shouldn’t worry about that. Your privacy is not in danger, as the researchers will be looking at something completely different.

People will find out more about fake news through films and posts

Facebook has other secret weapons against misinformation. It is going to inform users about fake news and how to spot them. For that, it will post some info that should appear at the top of the news feed page, but also a print campaign that should reach over 170 million people. Over the next few months, users will be able to read about digital misinformation in newspapers.

In the end, one last strategy against fake news is an 11-minute short film, Facing Facts. It presents several employee interviews where they talk about their strategies against misinformation. This way, they tell us how they want to keep the platform clean. If you want to see how the algorithms behind the news feed work, you can read more in the section called Inside Feed.

Image source: Pixabay

Google Gives Up on YouTube Red in Favor of Something Better

May 20, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Google revamps YouTube Red and Play Music as a strategy against other streaming platforms

Google wants to own the supremacy among other music streaming services, so it decided to run a few changes. These strategies should improve Google’s fight against Spotify and Apple Music and maybe help its services become even more popular. Therefore, get ready to say goodbye to YouTube Red and Google Play Music. The services won’t go anywhere, they will just get new names.

Google still needs to improve its game against Spotify and Apple Music

Google has quite a solid music streaming service that many people enjoy using. However, it is quite far from overcoming the music titans Spotify and Apple Music. As a result, the platform decided to come up with a brand new version of YouTube Red. The service will also abandon its name in favor of a more sonorous one, YouTube Premium.

According to the reports, this new service won’t be a lot different than YouTube Red. In terms of features and functionality, it will be more or less the same. However, it will add some extra items that should improve the experience of the users. For instance, the app will make custom playlists for each user based on their listening history.

YouTube Premium replaced both YouTube Red and Google Play Music

YouTube Premium isn’t a replacement only for YouTube Red. It turns out it will take the place of Google Play Music as well. Also, the price will more likely increase from $10 to $12. This is an attempt to preserve the well-functioning of the service, but also keep it away from ads.

If you used Google Play Music instead of YouTube Red, you won’t have to worry. The company wasn’t too happy about having two music platforms, so it decided it was time to bring the subscribers of the two together. The good thing about YouTube Premium is the fact that it reunites all the features you saved in any of the two services.

The release of YouTube Premium should come soon enough, so get ready for some brand new options on the new platform.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Black Spot Prank Crashes WhatsApp on Android Devices, But You Shouldn’t Worry

May 7, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Person scrolling among some WhatsApp conversations

The black spot prank temporarily crashes your WhatsApp without damaging the phone

WhatsApp users with Android versions of the app have recently been experiencing some unpleasant incidents due to a black spot prank message. The incident appeared to affect only Android devices and caused them to freeze if the user tapped the black dot in the message. However, you shouldn’t be worried, as WhatsApp explained what the problem was.

The black spot prank temporarily freezes your WhatsApp

The black spot prank consists of a WhatsApp message containing the black dot in question and a warning message. This message warns users that tapping the spot might cause the entire app to freeze. Although people call it a prank, both the device and the app stop working when you do it. However, they don’t suffer any permanent damage.

This freezing effect doesn’t last long and, according to experts, it doesn’t get your phone broken. So far, only Android users experienced this incident. There have been no reports regarding any freezing events involving iOS devices, but WhatsApp might soon solve the problem on all platforms.

The prank overloads the app and it stops working

What makes the black spot prank effective, after all? You might say it’s the black spot itself, but the situation is actually a bit different. Experts took the message and converted it to HTML. This way, they saw the space following the spot was actually a repetition of the “&rlm:,” characters.

These characters control the invisible text that separates other characters and signal they are different. Since the black spot prank used two masked control characters, the app overloaded and temporarily crashed. However, there seems to be no malicious purpose behind this black spot prank.

The person who made it is, indeed, clever. However, they included no malicious links or viruses in the message. What it does is to make the app freeze for a few moments only to regain its well-functioning. While it might be disturbing when it happens, it has no long-term effect on your device.

Image source: PxHere

Instagram Might Soon Get an In-App Payment Feature

May 3, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Person holding a credit card in front of a laptop

The Instagram payment feature works without having to leave the app

This year’s Facebook F8 conference has come with a series of changes and updates both on the social media platform and on the other Facebook-owned services. Among the things that stood out, there was an update for Instagram that some users might find useful. It’s a payment feature that might make in-app purchases a lot easier.

Instagram also gets a payment feature

Plenty of social media platforms have decided to include payment features in their apps that have different purposes. The one in WhatsApp, for instance, allows you to send money to your friends. However, the Instagram one is a lot different. It is strictly for e-commerce, or buying products directly from the app.

This payment feature might sound great for some people. However, chances are Instagram is not testing the update on you right now. It was rolled out only in certain parts of the US as a beta, so it will take some time until it gets a final form and becomes available for everyone.

To be able to use it, the payment feature asks the user to add their credit card details. Also, they should choose a PIN to keep everything safe. Then, it will allow them to make any kind of payments, purchases, and reservations. Many businesses welcomed this feature, as it allows users to purchase products and services directly from Instagram.

The feature allows you to make purchases without leaving Instagram

You might have heard of similar features before. However, this one is a bit different. In 2016, Instagram photos had tags from Shoppable which showed their prices whenever you tapped them. However, if you wanted to make a purchase, the feature redirected you to the website of those who sold them. The new payment feature allows you to make these purchases without leaving Instagram.

Promoting e-commerce via Instagram might be a great idea. Since you only see photos on the platform, it could be a great way to promote products and increase the number of sales. Also, staying in the app while making the purchases can increase the popularity of Instagram.

Image source: Pixabay

Download All Your Instagram Data with a New Exclusive Feature

April 24, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

The feature lets you download all your Instagram data in a few easy steps

Several weeks ago, Instagram started teasing a new feature that was supposed to strengthen the users’ privacy. Now, the social media platform has finally released the exclusive tool that allows users to download their Instagram data. This means they can retrieve all the personal info they have shared with the platform. Therefore, it’s not only about filtered photos or other posts.

What Instagram data will you receive?

If you want to get all your Instagram data back, you can now do it by using this exclusive data export feature. The tool is currently available in a web version, but the company said it would soon come on mobile as well. However, it didn’t mention when the Android and iOS versions of the feature should get here.

As soon as you start downloading your Instagram data, the platform will tell you what you’ll be getting. This will happen through a message that will be displayed on the screen. However, this message is not really that specific, so we don’t really know what to expect.

You will receive this Instagram data via an email. According to the message you’ll be seeing, the data consists of filtered photos, all your comments, information on your profile, and some other unspecified things as well. However, this feature is not that advanced, and can process only one single request at a time. As a result, the email with all the data should be delivered in about two days.

The process is easy and quick

In fact, this is what Instagram is telling you. Actually, you might not wait for so long, and all your Instagram data actually arrives much sooner. Among those other mysterious things you’ll get, there are also recent stories that have appeared on your feed. Another interesting thing is a file that contains all your likes, messages, but also information on your followers.

To export your Instagram data, you’ll need to visit the Privacy and Security menu. There, you’ll find a field called Data Download, and you can select the option called Request Download. Then, you are one step away from receiving all this information. Enter your email and the password for your Instagram account and you’re done.

Image source: Max Pixel

Apple Music Strengthens Its Fight Against Spotify with a New VP

April 13, 2018 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Apple Music has hit 40 million subscribers this month

Apple Music is putting some serious competition for Spotify, the most popular music streaming service of the moment. Since last month, the Apple-owned service has gained 2 million new subscribers, thus surpassing the 40 million milestone. While this is still a lot fewer than Spotify’s user base, it is a significant improvement. If that wasn’t enough, Apple has more plans with the streaming service, starting with a new vice president.

The new Apple Music vice president will also lead International Content

On Wednesday, Apple announced the name of the new vice president of Apple Music. Apart from the music service, Oliver Schusser will also head the International Content department. This means he’ll also take care of iTunes and App Store, services that also work beyond the US borders. He will be the direct subordinate of Eddy Cue, the president of the department of software and services.

However, Apple already had an expert that helped the company deal with the music streaming service. Jimmy Iovine became a part of Apple when it bought Beats in 2014. Next year, he was the one that propelled the launch of Apple Music. However, he has recently started making fewer public appearances.

Therefore, people now expect him to no longer be a part of Apple Music, or adopt a less important role within the company. So far, Apple made no comments regarding Iovine’s position and future attributions.

Apple Music is one of the most popular streaming services

The Apple Music move was quite necessary for the tech giant. For many years, the company resisted streaming thanks to iTunes, the platform where people could listen to music they had downloaded digitally. However, streaming slowly became the norm, so they had to come up with an alternative to iTunes.

Soon after its release in 2015, Apple Music easily overtook other competitors and gained an impressive number of subscribers. Even so, it was hard to beat Spotify. It remains the leading music streaming service, with 71 million subscribers acquired by the end of 2017. Even if Apple’s music streaming service managed to increase its number of subscribers really rapidly, it’s still a long way until it beats Spotify.

Image source: Flickr