While its name might be "od" the only thing "odd" about this laptop is that it sets itself apart from other laptops within its price range by including a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor. This is odd since pretty much every laptop that isn't pointing at the pro market tends to pack a dual-core processor.
That said, allow us to take a long hard look at this particular model as we dig deep within its specs to conduct a thorough review of the HP 15-bs191od and help you out when it comes down to deciding if this laptop is good for you or not.
In-depth Review of the HP 15-bs191od
Display and design
If we're going to be perfectly honest in this review of the HP 15-bs191od we might as well point out that there's nothing you might consider special either in the design or on the display. The laptop weighs in at a little over 4 pounds and packs a pretty standard 15.6 inch HD resolution display that accounts for 1366 by 768 pixels with LED backlighting.
The island style keyboard is different in the sense that unlike its more compact competitors that seek to cram everything up in a tight little space, the HP 15-bs191od packs a standard keyboard that includes a dedicated numeric keyboard on the side. Unfortunately, the keyboard is not backlit.
Aggressive performance
While its true that neither the design nor the display of the HP 15-bs191od builds up a burning passion for you to purchase this laptop, it's the set of key components that really set this laptop apart.
In that regard and starting off with the processor, the HP 15-bs191od comes with an 8th generation Intel Core i5-8250U CPU that works at a base speed of 1.6 GHz and reaches its turbo speed at 3.4 GHz with 6 MB of Intel's smart cache and the aforementioned 4 cores
We really can't stress this issue enough as we really never see a quad-core laptop unless we're looking at the professional segment that solicits way more then what HP is asking for in this model. That said; what does this mean in terms of performance?
Well, it basically means you're buying into a laptop that can deliver a high end performance on pretty much all fronts. Be it editing images, developing software through the use of virtual machines or streaming endless hours of HD content via Netflix, this laptop is up and ready for whatever you've got in store.
Aside from its very powerful processor, we've also got 8 GB of DDR4 RAM and 1 TB of storage working at a base 5400 RPM. The bad news is that RAM is not upgradable. The good news is that if you where to buy a laptop who's RAM can't be upgraded then 8 GB is a solid amount for you to be able to work comfortably without fear of the machine lagging due to insufficient memory.
To be perfectly honest, we would've been happier with an SSD storage unit instead of an HDD hard drive. That said, if you've never worked with a laptop that has an SSD storage unit you really won't notice the difference and in case you had then the top-notch processor really makes up for the lack of features such as instant boot-ups and instant shutdowns.
Is this a gaming laptop?
If you're looking for a gaming laptop I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree as this is not really a machine that was conceived as a gaming laptop. In that regard, there's no dedicated graphics chip, just an integrated one which basically means you'll be able to get away with playing games like Fifa or Sims but anything that goes beyond that in terms of graphics will be a pretty awkward experience.
That said, even if this isn't a laptop that was specifically tailored to play games, that doesn't mean it's inept from a graphical standpoint. Stuff like video editing (not at a pro level), image editing and so forth work incredibly well with an integrated graphics and unless you seriously rely on a dedicated graphics you'd be hard pressed to notice any difference in the day to day graphical performance of the HP 15-bs191od under review.
What's battery life like?
An upside to not having a high resolution screen or an ultra thin body is that HP can make sure to cram up a pretty decent battery and that's precisely what they've done with the HP 15-bs191od which comes with a 3 cell battery that affords us a maximum of 9 hours and a half of battery life.
If we're to be completely realistic then we should slash that number to around 6-7 hours under normal use but that's still pretty impressive all things considered.
What are my options for connectivity?
When it comes down to the connectivity segment of this review we've gotta say we're pretty impressed. For one thing, we've gotta dedicated DVD slot, something you don't see every day anymore. There's also the latest WiFi ac standard that works up to three times faster then the traditional WiFi b/g/n standard, we've also got a couple of USB 3.1 ports, a USB 2.0 port, ethernet port, card reader as well as an HDMI port in case you want to plug this baby up to your TV set.
It goes without saying that there's a high definition webcam in the mix as well as Bluetooth 4.2 support in case you want to connect a set of external speakers or even a mouse.
Unfortunately, the HP 15-bs191od doesn't come with any special kind of speakers like some of the more expensive laptops within HP's catalog. That said, for the most part, those things are just a question of marketing and the end user really doesn't appreciate that much of a difference over a "nameless" speaker system.
Verdict; Is this worth my money?
In this review of the HP 15-bs191od we've seen that this laptop isn't what you'd call exciting. Sure enough, it doesn't pack the most outstanding design nor does it bring gamers to their knees with an impressive graphics chip.
However, it does deliver a consistent, solid and powerful performance thanks to its quad-core Intel Core processor, it doesn't let you down thanks to its vast battery life and its up and ready for intensive multitasking thanks to its 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. All in all, a great laptop for the price that will probably last you far longer then the shinier models it neglects to compete against.