HP Zbook 15 G2 review

The impressive specification is backed up by good connectivity and business features. There's dual-band 802.11ac wireless and Gigabit Ethernet, and TPM 1.2.

Screen

The new breed of high-end work laptops often have high-resolution screens, and the HP is no different. It's got a 3,200 x 1,800 15.6in panel, which means images are pin-sharp. It's a better resolution than the Macbook Pro 15in, and virtually the same as the Dell XPS.

Windows 8.1 has made great strides in working properly with high-resolution panels, and HP has made the screen usable by scaling the OS by 150%, which makes icons and text readable without any squinting.

The impressive sharpness and pixel density does have its downsides, though. Most of these concern third-party software, which often doesn't work properly with such high resolutions some make text tiny, others mix up page furniture, and others blow icons and text up until it's pixelated.

Quality is mixed, too. The brightness and contrast levels of 248cd/m2 and 1,127:1 are fine: the former figure ensures the screen will be legible beneath bright office lights, and the latter ensures deep black levels and good variance and vivacity throughout the rest of the colour gamut. Those figures may be good, but the Dell XPS 15 and Macbook Pro 15 are both brighter.