Netbooks have proven to be a very popular and relevant in between category since their launch; all thanks to their portability and low price. One of their trademarks is the size —they’re usually very small, perfect for those who are looking for portability.
In this case we have the review of the HP 15-Af015nr a laptop that would usually qualify as a netbook thanks to its extremely low price, but that offers a much bigger size than usual for this category. Keep reading to find out what this machine is all about.
Pros: 15 inch display, AMD processor, 4GB of RAM (not that common in this price range), full keyboard, extensive connectivity.
Cons: Running on Windows 8 (freely updatable to Windows 10)
HP 15-Af015nr Review of an entry level AMD laptop
Touchscreen and design
The HP 15-Af015nr has an all-black body that we can’t help but like thanks to its discrete look. We said this is a big laptop, but in reality it's only bigger for the price. It’s a medium size, 15.6 inches. Fortunately, thanks to that, it offers a full keyboard with numeric keypad.
The screen itself is a LED HD panel with a 1366x768 resolution. The best part is the anti-reflective finish it has, which will keep reflections at bay so that they don’t bother so much. The size will also be great for long, desktop-like sessions. All without losing the inherent portability of a laptop.
Power and multitasking
HP includes an AMD Dual-Core E1-6015 processor here, hence the name of the laptop (on the Amazon listing at least). This is an entry-level chip with two cores clocked at 1.4 GHz. It’s an adequate CPU for uses like office work, web browsing and multimedia playback; not more than that.
Multitasking capabilities go on par thanks to the 4 GB of DDR3 RAM present (1333 MHz). With this, you’ll be able to handle a couple of tabs open on your browser, as well a programs for work like the mentioned above.
What games can I play?
Gaming is not advised on the HP 15-Af015nr. The integrated Radeon R2 GPU should only be able to handle 2D games and older classics smoothly. Some light games like The Sims 4 might be playable on low settings, though not more than that.
Battery life
The HP 15-Af015nr comes with a 3-cell battery that, thanks to its low power components, should get you a very decent time without having to plug it on. You should expect it to be above the 4 hour mark.
Storage and connectivity
In this review of the HP 15-Af015nr, we found connectivity to be one of the strongest points for the entry level laptop. We have the usual audio combo jack and microSD reader, of course. But there’s also three USB ports (one 3.0, two 2.0) and the best part, a VGA port and an HDMI port for both analog and digital high resolution external displays.
The hard drive included is a mechanical unit with 500GB of storage (5400 RPM). This is a standard for the price, so you can expect to have a very decent option for storing anything from music, to photos and video. Don’t even mention documents —go crazy on those.
What’s the verdict?
After reading through the review of the HP 15-Af015nr we are left with a very simple choice. The best thing about this machine is its price, and the size for the price, which has advantages like the full numerical keypad and the expanded connectivity.
If you’re on a budget and want a medium size for work that can also double as a multimedia center thanks to that HDMI and VGA ports, you have a very interesting choice with this one. Also, black is a very nice look.