14 DAY TRIAL // HP introduced the Stream family of products earlier this month when it rolled out the Stream 14 laptop, which runs Windows 8.1 with Bing and is supposed to be a budget offering, albeit selling for quite a hefty price ($300 / €233).
This week HP has extended its Stream notebook family to include 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch models to be sold with more budget-friendly price tags. But it appears the Stream moniker is not limited to laptops only and will be including a bunch of tablets, as well.
Say hello to Stream tablets
Alongside the new Stream models, HP also rolled out two Stream models which also come equipped with Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 with Bing solution.
The two Stream machines come with 7-inch and 8-inch form factors and are to be sold for $100 / €79 and $150 / €118 respectively. Like the HP Stream notebooks, they will be made available in the US in November.
Let’s take a look at the specs and see what these small tablets offer in terms of specs. Both tabs run on an Intel Atom Z3735G processor fitted with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage and offer the standard 1280 x 800 display with wide viewing angles.
On top of that, HP also throws in microUSB ports, stereo speakers and 1-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365. However, the tablets lack a microSD card slot for expanding memory or an HDMI port for video output.
Like in the case of the Stream notebooks, HP is going to take the larger model (the 8-inch one) and offer a 4G variation of it. This product will ship out with 200MB of free mobile broadband each month from the magenta carrier, T-Mobile.
HP Stream 7 takes the budget crown from the Toshiba Encore Mini
Up until, the Toshiba Encore Mini was the cheapest Windows 8.1 with Bing tablet coming from a brand vendor and marketed at $120 / €95.
However, the tablet offered only 1024 x 600 pixel resolution with 16:9 ratio, so from this point of view the HP Stream 7 might seem more attractive.
But if we are to look toward Asia, Chinese low-cost device manufacturer Pipo already took the price of Windows 8.1 with Bing tablets below the $100 / €78 margin.
The Pipo W4 arrives with an 8-inch IPS display with 1280 x 800 res and takes advantage of an Intel Atom Z3735F quad-core Bay Trail processor.
The slate sells for only $81 / €63, but for the time being it’s not clear whether the device ships out internationally or not.
So if you care for a budget Windows 8.1 tablet coming from a brand vendor, the HP Stream bunch doesn’t look half bad. Keep an eye out for them in November.
