The MacBook Neo made fairly a splash final month. $599 for a MacBook felt groundbreaking, and it was straightforward to say that Home windows laptops had no true reply to it.
However what if I instructed you there was a Home windows choice that was higher in nearly each approach? That is the HP OmniBook 5, a laptop computer you have most likely by no means heard of except you watch the house carefully. I have been recommending it ever since I examined it final month, and the worth has fluctuated. However immediately, it is solely $500, and that buys a stacked configuration with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. That is twice the reminiscence and storage of the $599 MacBook Neo. It is also powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X, a extremely environment friendly chip that will get nice, all-day battery life that is at the least on par with the MacBook Neo.
The HP OmniBook 5 Is Solely $500
Now, I do know what you are considering. Specs do not inform the entire story, and Apple has by no means been recognized for providing tons of specs for reasonable. However the OmniBook 5 14 can also be a lovely design in a extremely transportable package deal. At 0.50 inches, it is precisely the identical thickness because the MacBook Neo, and proper across the identical weight too. Does the MacBook Neo have a bit extra type and persona? Completely—particularly with these bolder coloration choices. However I might say the OmniBook 5 is a really fairly laptop computer in its personal proper.
A few my greatest hangups with the MacBook Neo had been the smaller issues. For one, the storage pace of its SSD was fairly sluggish, and the USB-C ports had been outdated. The OmniBook 5 has two USB-C ports able to 10 Gbps, in addition to a quick USB-A port on the opposite facet. And whereas the MacBook Neo does not actually have a fingerprint sensor, the OmniBook 5 has an IR digicam with facial recognition for Home windows Hiya.
{Photograph}: Luke Larsen
