Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

HP takes Star Wars branding to the Dark Side with this Empire-themed notebook

Just when you thought they’d branded every possible product with Star Wars logos, HP shows up to the party with a Sith-inspired laptop. What does a Star Wars laptop even look like? You might ask. Well young padawan, trust in your training as we take you through it.

To start with, the 15.6-inch laptop is wrapped in a black and grey print reminiscent of the Galactic Empire’s spaceships, with Darth Vader featured prominently on the lid. The entire keyboard is lit up by a sinister red backlight, so you can really feel the anger flowing through you. It’s also loaded up with the Star Wars Command Center, which features thousands of wallpapers, screen savers, and art from the Star Wars archives. Plus, the noises in Windows have all been replaced with a custom set inspired by the movies.

Recommended Videos

At this point, you may be asking yourself what the specs are — a good Jedi is always curious. Users have a choice of Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, both from the Skylake family. It’s configurable with up to 2TB of hard drive space, and 12GB of RAM. By default, the graphics is an integrated HD 520 from Intel, but there’s also the Nvidia GeForce 940M if you need a bit more power to make the Kessul Run in less than twelve parsecs.

Of course, the dark side holds a terrible secret — the HP Star Wars laptop is remarkably similar to the existing HP Pavilion 15t. They’re available with almost identical specs as well, and the chips available in the Pavilion are the i5-6200U and i7-6500U, both dual core processors, with the option for the 940M in either setup. A fully tricked out Pavilion 15t costs $899.99, and the base price of $429.99 is lower than the $699 starting price for the Star Wars version.

HP

The HP Star Wars notebook will be available for pre-order on October 8th, with a laptop sleeve and wireless mouse on the horizon as well.
Brad Bourque
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Brad Bourque is a native Portlander, devout nerd, and craft beer enthusiast. He studied creative writing at Willamette…
The Acolyte can’t escape Star Wars’ biggest Jedi problem
Sol stands between Jecki and Yord in The Acolyte.

Across its first three episodes, The Acolyte has gotten off to a propulsive, if imperfect, start. The series, created by Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland, is one of the only truly original (i.e., not a spinoff) pieces of Star Wars media that Disney has produced in the 12 years since it acquired Lucasfilm. As depressing as that is in and of itself, it's also helped The Acolyte. The show, for all of its flaws, feels fresh. It isn't weighed down or suffocatingly constricted by the events of any other Star Wars movie or TV show and, therefore, has the freedom to explore its characters and plot exactly how it wants.

That doesn't mean The Acolyte has been able to completely avoid making the same mistakes as all of the Star Wars titles that have come before it. On the contrary, the series, which focuses on the reemergence of the Sith near the end of the High Republic era, has struggled in its depiction of the Jedi Order. The Acolyte has, consequently, revived an issue that has plagued its franchise ever since 1999's Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.
Are the Jedi cool samurai or boo-worthy space cops?

Read more
10 best Star Wars shows ever, ranked
Diego Luna walks through a scrapyard of ships in a scene from Andor.

Prior to the launch of Disney+ in 2019, there were no Star Wars live-action shows, and only a handful of animated series. The earliest Star Wars cartoons from the '80s, Droids and Ewoks, barely resembled anything from the movies. Decades later, Star Wars: The Clone Wars provided the blueprint for the franchise's animation resurgence, which in turn helped pave the way for The Mandalorian and the rest of the live-action shows.

To celebrate the release of The Acolyte, we're taking a look back at the 10 best Star Wars shows ever. But we reserve the right to revise our listings as more Star Wars series arrive on Disney+ in the future.
10. The Book of Boba Fett

Read more
Big Trouble in Little Endor? Kurt Russell could’ve been Han Solo in Star Wars
Man points his gun in Big Trouble in Little China.

The first Star Wars is a classic that kicked off a movie franchise that has earned billions of dollars just in ticket sales alone. But in 1976, it was a silly little sci-fi project from the kid who struck gold with American Graffiti in 1973. Still, it was appealing enough to attract some talent to audition for it, especially its three lead roles: Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo.

Earlier this year, Jodie Foster revealed she had once auditioned for Leia and was good enough to be offered the part. For Luke, '70s teen heartthrob William Katt unsuccessfully tried out for the part. However, it was the character of Han Solo that drew newcomers and veterans alike. (Can you blame them?)

Read more