Microsoft has been battling low cost tablets and ‘laptops’ from Google for a while now. The newest strategy from Microsoft is the HP Stream. This laptop is cheap but functional computer with enough power to accomplish most tasks. For the average computer user, the HP stream will run Microsoft Office, Windows Store Apps, and a web browser just fine.
New ads from Microsoft put the HP Stream against the old way of staying organized and getting things done. With Windows 8.1, the HP Stream will come with mail, calendar, contacts, and OneNote to help make it easier to coordinate with friends, family, and coworkers to get things done. Now that Microsoft seems to be pushing productivity, the HP stream fits into the new Microsoft nicely.
The HP stream 11″ starts at $199 and comes with 1TB free cloud storage for a year, and Office 365 Personal for a year. The Stream’s tech specs are as follows:
- 2.16 Intel Celeron N2840
- 2GB RAM
- 32GB eMMC Storage
- 8.5 Hours battery life
- 1 USB 3.0
- 1 USB 2.0
- HDMI Out
- Headphone output/Microphone input combo
- HP TrueVision HD webcam
- Bluetooth enabled
- 802.11b/g/n (Miracast enabled)
- 2.72 lbs
Noteworthy differences from other laptops: the HP Stream does not have an optical drive, or a very large hard drive. This is probably not an issue for most people especially with the 1 TB of OneDrive storage, but it is worth mentioning. The HP Stream is a great looking laptop for anyone looking for a cheap solution for working on Office, or consuming media, or playing games from the Windows Store and best of all the laptop works great offline!
Further reading: HP Stream, Microsoft, Windows 8.1
