HP Announced Chromebook-Like Laptops and Super-Cheap Tablets
Hewlett-Packard promised fall would be the season of new, affordable Windows laptops. Keeping their word, the company announced the HP Stream 14-inch Notebook. The Stream series is HP’s version of the low cost Windows laptop, meant to compete head to head with Chromebooks on price, but still offer the powerful operating system.
This Intel Celeron-powered Stream will have an 11.6-inch HD non-touch display and 32GB of eMMC flash memory for storage. The company also unveiled a 13.3-inch touch-optional SKU that goes for $230, and 7 and 8-inch Stream tablets priced at $100 and $150, respectively.
The 11.6- and 13.3-inch notebooks are both fan-less designs with HD displays. The 11.6-inch Stream and the 14-inch model announced earlier this month have non-touch displays. Touch is optional on the 13.3-inch model, but HP did not reveal how much that feature would add to its cost.
The 13.3 inch model also is available with optional 4G connectivity, and as a value add, HP is including 200 MB of free data every month for the life of the device. As another value add, HP is offering one year of free Office 365 personal, which includes 1 TB of online storage and 60 Skype minutes per month.
Battery life is listed from HP at 8:15 for the 11.6 inch model, and 7:45 for the 13.3 inch model. The HP Stream laptops are available in several colors, and will be priced at $199.99 for the 11.6 inch model and $229.99 as the starting price for the 13.3 inch model.
