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DEVINDRA HARDAWAR: A dual-screen
gaming notebook sounds

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like a smart idea at first.

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Who wouldn't want
another display

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to keep an eye on Twitch
streams and Discord chats?

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But is it worth taking a
gamble on unproven tech?

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That's what I've
been asking myself

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as I've tested
out HP's Omen X2S,

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the company's first
notebook with two screens.

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It certainly looks
intriguing at first,

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but it's clear HP
still has plenty

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of work left to do to make
the extra display worth it.

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Now let's be clear,
I'm not putting down

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the idea of dual-screen
laptops in general.

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At COMPUTEX this year, we
saw the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo

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and Intel's concept gaming
notebooks, both of which

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look unlike anything
we've ever seen before.

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But those devices all feature
large secondary screens,

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which make them far more
useful for multitasking.

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The Omen X2S has
a relatively small

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6-inch touchscreen display
nestled above its keyboard.

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That really limits how
much you can do with it.

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It's more reminiscent
of Asus's touchscreen

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touchpad from last year.

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What's surprising is
that the Omen X2S looks

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like it actually
has a decently sized

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secondary screen at first.

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There's a large glass panel
right below the main 15.6-inch

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display, as if HP was
planning to include

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something much wider but had to
settle for something smaller.

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The result isn't as
futuristic as I'd like.

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Plus, it's not the
first gaming laptop

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to include a second display.

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Razor shoved one into its first
Blade notebook back in 2011.

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That tiny display is
exactly what it sounds like.

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It's just another
screen and window,

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so you can drag over anything
from the main display.

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It's ideal for throwing
up a YouTube video

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or keeping an eye on a
group chat as you work.

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The button above the touchpad
lets you quickly move windows

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back and forth
between the displays,

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and you can also
turn the smaller

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one into a simple number pad.

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Beyond that, there
aren't any built-in apps

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like Asus's ScreenPad,
but the simplicity

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makes it much easier to use.

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You can also have the small
screen mirror portions

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of the main display
in real time,

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which could be
useful for strategy

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games and slower-paced titles.

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It doesn't really
help much in an FPS

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like "Overwatch," though.

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Most developers
spend a lot of time

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optimizing exactly how
their game interfaces are

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laid out so that you
don't have to take

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your eyes off the action.

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Looking down at a completely
different screen ended up

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hurting my performance
in Overwatch,

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even thought it was sort of
nice to have a zoomed-in view

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of my cool-down timers.

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The Omen X2S's tiny
screen was more

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useful for basic
multitasking than it

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was for actual gameplay.

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I appreciate being able
to have a Twitch stream

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playing in the
background while I

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jumped into a long "Destiny"
or "Overwatch" session.

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You can interact with the
small touchscreen while you're

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playing a game but only
if you're playing it

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in some sort of windowed mode.

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If you go full
screen, the laptop

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shuts off the touch controls.

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The thing is, nothing about
the Omen X2S's small screen

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feels essential,
especially when your phone

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can do most of the same things.

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Sure, you can't easily
drag over windows,

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but it's a better interface
for navigating through Twitch,

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YouTube, and Discord channels.

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And if you're annoyed
by using a smaller phone

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display for multitasking,
you could just as easily

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pick up a tablet.

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Actually, that would be a
much smarter investment.

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When it comes to
actually playing games,

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the Omen X2S is
a powerful beast.

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Our unit featured Nvidia's
RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU and Intel's

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6-core i7-9750H CPU.

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And not surprisingly,
that hardware

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was more than enough to
make games perform well

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and look great on the 1080p,
144-hertz G-SYNC screen.

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In "Overwatch," I saw between 90
and 110 FPS with epic settings,

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while the "Hitman 2" benchmark
reached 102 FPS with all

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the graphics turned up.

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You can also choose from a
faster 240-hertz 1080p screen

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for an additional $230, like
we're seeing on other gaming

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laptops this year.

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As you'd expect, all that
power generates plenty of heat.

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I typically saw CPU temperatures
of 70 to 80 Celsius under load,

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but during some benchmarks,
that skyrocketed to 92 Celsius.

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That's surprising since HP used
a liquid-metal thermal compound

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on the CPU, which is supposed
to help with offloading heat.

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The GPU, meanwhile,
sat between 60 and 72

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degrees as I was playing games.

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Clearly the Omen X2S
is a solid performer,

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but it also proves HP is
getting better at making

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attractive gaming laptops.

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It's only 20 millimeter
thick and weighs 5.2 pounds.

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That's heavier than
some of the competition,

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which are closer to 4.5 pounds,
but still pretty portable.

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Its metal case is
sleek even though it's

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not as refined as something
like the Razor Blade.

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You definitely won't mistake
this for a typical PC.

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All of its LED lighting
and sharp angles

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show that it's a gaming
notebook through and through.

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To fit in its
secondary display, HP

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had to make a few compromises.

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The Omen X2S's keyboard
is way up front along with

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a surprisingly short trackpad.

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The keyboard feels fantastic
for both gaming and typing,

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but you'll definitely need
to use the bundled wrist rest

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to avoid cramping your hands.

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And while the touchpad
is smooth and accurate,

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I wish it was a bit taller
for multi-touch gestures.

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It looks like it was
cut short to make

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room for some extra
keys to control

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the laptop's tiny display.

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That makes it less useful
as a productivity device,

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but it probably won't
matter much if you're always

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relying on a gaming mouse.

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HP also included
a wealth of ports,

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including three USB
3.0 Type A connections,

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a Thunderbolt USB-C port,
ethernet, and a full-sized HDMI

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connection.

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As for future upgrades, you can
get under the hood to easily

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replace its SSD and memory.

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The power adapter also
seems thoughtfully

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designed with rounded
edges and a slim enclosure.

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You'll want to keep that handy
because the Omen X2S won't last

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you very long on battery power.

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With the secondary
display turned on,

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it only lasted 2 and 1/2
hours during our test.

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And with that screen turned
off, it got closer to 3 hours.

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The Omen X2S starts at $1,800,
but if you want something

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as fast as our review
unit with the RTX 2080,

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you'll have to shell out $2,850.

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That's only $50 more
than the Razor Blade

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with similar hardware, but that
machine is also far sleeker.

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I will say this though.

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Compared to some of the
other gimmicky gaming

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laptops we've seen
this year, this gimmick

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is actually kind of useful.

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Having a second screen
is definitely better

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than the Triton 900's
expensive swiveling display,

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and it costs a lot
less than the Alienware

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Area 51m, which offers
desktop-like customizability.

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But that's really
not saying much.

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Unless you absolutely
need another screen,

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you'd likely be better off with
any other slim gaming network

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which will get you
better battery life

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and shed a few pounds
in the process.

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Based on the concepts we're
seeing from Asus and Intel,

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I'm convinced the future
of laptops is dual screen.

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They're the sort of
leap forward we've

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been waiting for after
laptops have been

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kind of boring for a while.

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But as usual, it's
not a good idea

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to jump into the first
wave of any new technology.

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The Omen X2S is an
admirable effort from HP,

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but it feels like the
company is still trying

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to get the hang of things.

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There's clearly room to fit
in a larger and wider display.

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Maybe next year HP
can actually figure

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out how to make that happen.

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Check out Engadget.com for
more gaming-laptop reviews.

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