HP Stream 11 Review: A New Take On Low Cost Computing

Final Words

HP has an interesting lineup with the Stream devices. The lowest price Stream is the Stream 7 tablet, which normally retails for $119 but was as low as $99 just last week. The Stream 8 tablet comes in at $179 and includes 200MB of 4G data per month. The lowest price laptop is this Stream 11 we are reviewing, which has a price of $199, and the 13.3” model comes in at $229. The highest price is the $299 Stream 14, which swaps the Intel CPU for an AMD A4 APU which is going to give better graphics performance along with the larger screen size.

We are used to low cost Windows PCs being big and bulky, but the Stream 11 is far from that. While not as thin as Ultrabooks, the 11.6” model is reasonably light and easy to carry around. Clearly some compromises were made to achieve this price point, with a terrible TN display and a Realtek wireless network adapter that connects at the bare minimum 802.11n speed. It is unfortunate that the IPS display revolution that has taken over tablets has not made its way to the low end laptops yet. Laptop users must still suffer the poor contrast and off-angle color shifts when shopping at this price point.

The Stream 11 is a shot across the bow at the low priced Chromebook, and in this comparison it does well. With the new Windows licensing model, Windows laptops can now compete price-wise with a Chromebook. The Stream 11’s price is right in line something like the Acer Chromebook 11. Usable onboard storage will be higher than most of the Chromebooks around the same price, as they normally only come with 16GB of storage; however, many of them also come with 802.11ac wireless too.

While there are a lot of fans of Google’s Chrome OS, unless you are willing to live in Google’s ecosystem there will be a lot of compromise. With the rise of Android, there are certainly more people who are happy to do this. A large percentage of people need Windows to run the programs and connect to the devices they are used to. Windows 8.1 of course works very well with the Microsoft ecosystem, with OneDrive integrated, and Office 365 being offered for free for a year as a carrot to get people to try it, but Windows 8.1 does not preclude you from working in whatever ecosystem you want, or in multiple ecosystems at the same time. Chrome OS has been adding offline support for a while now, but Windows was designed before there was even an online status, and of course works perfectly well with no access to the internet.

The Stream 11 is a nice laptop for $199. I have to emphasize the $199 part though. If HP releases an updated model later on, hopefully they can squeeze an IPS panel and an updated wireless card in as well. It is difficult to excuse this awful display at any price, when similar sized tablets come with better for the same price. Storage, at just 32GB, is also tight, and I would love to see a 64GB option. I understand why it is not there now, with the added costs of multiple SKUs eating into the thin profit margin on a device like this, but if you are looking at a Stream, factor the price of an SD card into the overall price as well, as you will likely need it.

What HP has brought to the table though is a device which has decent performance, a good keyboard, and a great color to compliment the design. It is all plastic, but with a great matte finish. Small, light, and reasonable battery life makes this reset the expectations of a low cost Windows laptop. Caveats and all, if you have been wanting a Chromebook running Windows, be sure to check out the HP Stream.