Origin EON17-X (2015) review

Origin was one of the first companies to put a desktop processor into a gaming laptop, ringing in a whole new level of performance for gaming and production work. Now, Intel's latest line of Skylake processors should make Origin's EON17-X an even bigger powerhouse, with the ability to almost always overclock.

Aside from the desktop chip, this gaming laptop has other features that gamers will appreciate, including a big 17.3-inch screen and booming speakers to boot. The EON17-X also can be loaded up with the fastest PCIe solid-state drives (SSD) and DDR4 memory.

With all the available hardware options, this 17-inch gaming machine easily outpaces most gaming laptops – and even desktop rigs.

Design

Like the Origin EON15-X, this 17-inch gaming laptop has a surprisingly reserved styling. You won't find any superfluous track-lighting along the exterior of the notebook or so many angular body features that it looks like a Lamborghini-branded laptop. Instead, the Origin EON17-X is a stealthy gaming system with a few sophisticated touches.

Although my unit came with a bright red paint job on its screen lid, it doesn't attract too much attention otherwise. The laptop's top panel is an almost entirely flat piece of plastic without any extra lights or bits of metal.

The bottom portion of the notebook comes in a plain black finish that's nearly featureless, save for a subwoofer hidden on the laptop's underside. Meanwhile, the soft touch paint on the keyboard deck acts as a comfortable, rubbery surface for you to rest your wrists on for long stretches of gaming.

The few bits of flair on the Origin EON17-X are there for more than mere aesthetic reasons. Above the fully-backlit multi-colored keyboard is the power button flanked by two sets of indicators that signal hard drive activity or when the scroll lock has been engaged.

At the front right edge of the laptop, you'll find even more indicator lights. The only arguably superfluous bit of lighting on the notebook is found on the front lip, but it creates a cool under glow effect.

Optioned up

Near the hinge holding up the screen, there's a massive speaker bar, and it's not just for show. This laptop can output some bumping bass for gaming and full-bodied sound for movies and music.

Despite the tweeters measuring less than an inch in diameter, you can easily hear them playing tunes from across the room, which came as a surprise to my friends (and annoyance to coworkers in the office). What's more, because the EON17-X is that much larger than its 15-inch sibling, Origin was able to fit an additional subwoofer on the underside of this machine for even more bass.

The 17.3-inch screen is equally as attractive, giving you a huge helping of screen real estate, as well as bright colors, wide viewing angles and deep contrast levels out of the box. However, I recommend picking up the optional display calibration service for better color accuracy, as the screen starts off with an extremely cool tone on its default settings.