HP's Stream, the budget-friendly notebook set to lead Microsoft's price assault on Chromebooks, was officially unveiled earlier today. The AMD-powered machine was supposed to arrive priced at an attractive $199 but that is apparently no longer the case.
Instead, the Stream will retail for a full $100 more than initially promised. Keep in mind, however, that HP itself never made the $199 promise. Indeed, it was Microsoft COO Kevin Turner that made that claim back during the company's Worldwide Partner Conference in mid-July.
Nevertheless, the official specifications for the Stream include a 14-inch display operating at 1,366 x 768, a low-power (fanless) AMD A4 processor, AMD Radeon R3 graphics, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of flash storage (expandable via microSD card slot). What's more, Microsoft will provide buyers with 100GB of OneDrive cloud storage space free for two years while Box is offering up 25GB of additional space.
The system will feature two USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.0 port, an HDMI connector and a combo headphone / microphone jack. Wireless connectivity includes 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. Paired with a 3-cell, 32Wh lithium ion battery, the system tips the scales at just over 3.8 pounds.
While the Stream would have been a much more attractive offering at $199, it still looks to be a solid Chomebook competitor at its current price.
Look for the HP Stream to hit retail on September 24 priced at $299.