Last month we got word that Microsoft was going on the offensive and that we could expect to see the netbook make a return by the end of the year. That prophecy is one step closer to becoming a reality today as a leaked data sheet from HP outlines a 14-inch Windows notebook with a $199 price tag.
As the name suggests, the HP Stream 14 features a 14-inch display operating at 1,366 x 768 - much like what is currently found on Chromebooks. Under the hood is a quad-core AMD A4 Micro-6400T chip clocked at 1.6GHz, Radeon R3 graphics, 2GB of memory and either 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage.
The system has a decent amount of connectivity options as well with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, three USB ports, HDMI out, an SDXC card reader and a webcam all included.
Naturally, the Stream 14 will ship with Windows 8.1 preinstalled. And as an added bonus, Microsoft is throwing in 100GB of free cloud storage via OneDrive - good for two years. It all sounds a bit familiar, no?
No word yet on when the Stream 14 will make its official debut although Microsoft revealed last month that a Windows 8 machine from HP would be ready this holiday season. We were also told at the time that Acer and Toshiba are working on devices in the $250 range powered by Intel Celeron processors.