HP's Stream notebook priced higher than most expected

Shawn Knight

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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.

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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.

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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.

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For a windows laptop 32 gb of storage is not enough. You'll be left with barely enough to get office and whatnot and a couple MP3s or pictures.

Even the price is competitive, in the OS world is not.
 
For a windows laptop 32 gb of storage is not enough. You'll be left with barely enough to get office and whatnot and a couple MP3s or pictures.

Even the price is competitive, in the OS world is not.

Office should be online, as in Outlook.com / OneDrive Office, or GoogleDrive / Google Docs. What do you think of the choice in CPU? I have the Celeron Haswell in my Toshiba and it runs Chrome OS well. I am sure there will be 4GB RAM options and 64GB storage options. If you get the 32GB model, just plug in a USB 3.0 thumbdrive with 32GB or more and you are go-to-go!
 
I think people will be disappointed. When you buy a Chromebook, you expect it not to run Microsoft apps, except what is available online. But when users see Windows come up they will be confused as to why the software they are used to can not be installed.
 
Office should be online, as in Outlook.com / OneDrive Office, or GoogleDrive / Google Docs. What do you think of the choice in CPU? I have the Celeron Haswell in my Toshiba and it runs Chrome OS well. I am sure there will be 4GB RAM options and 64GB storage options. If you get the 32GB model, just plug in a USB 3.0 thumbdrive with 32GB or more and you are go-to-go!

If I get a windows laptop I don't expect everything to be in the cloud, I'd rather have everything with me (If it has a backup in the cloud the more the merrier, but that doesnt mean I want to be online every time I want to access anything).

Now that might be just me.

Now the proc, used to have an AMD E-350 (1,6ghz dual core) that was bought on the cheap and it was snapy most of the time, of course you don't expect to run autocad on it, but for normal browsing, doc editing, casual media streamer and even some indie/oldish games was more than enough. This one is a quad core with a boost on need from 1 to 1,6ghz, it's more than plenty for what it is meant to do.
 
It comes with Full Windows 8. It can run legacy programs. There are very, very, few Windows RT devices out there.
 
I think people will be disappointed. When you buy a Chromebook, you expect it not to run Microsoft apps, except what is available online. But when users see Windows come up they will be confused as to why the software they are used to can not be installed.

Actually, it comes with full Windows 8. Windows RT is practically nonexistent in laptops.
 
The problem I see with this is that Chromebooks run really well and are pretty fast even with their low specs. Windows 8 is going to run horrible with the specs for this notebook. Users are not going to be happy with the experience they get. The other problem I see is that it only has 32gb of storage. My guess is Windows takes at least 20gb maybe more so that doesn't leave you much space for any other programs you want to install.
 
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