Thin Is In: HP Streams In New Notebooks And Tablets

There’s no sign of HP’s new Stream notebooks and tablets in Australia as yet, but the Company has announced them in the US overnight. 

HP is billing its new Stream notebook PCs as “new” and “innovative”, promising they are thin and light, and comes with 1TB of Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage for a year, an Office 365 subscription for a year, a $25 gift card which can be used to buy apps from the Microsoft Store and, for US customers at least, 200MB of free 4G access per month for the life of the 13.3-inch HP Stream model – a deal not offered for the 11.6-inch version.  

The 11.6-inch version has a non-touch HD display, which the 13.3-inch version has an optional HD touch screen (which would naturally cost more compared to the non-touch HD version). 

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HP Stream notebooks

Both are billed as having an “innovative fanless design with high efficiency Intel Celeron processor and 32 GB of eMMC flash memory”, which allows for “quiet, cool operation and quick file recall”. 

As is the trend these days, “stunning colours and stylish gradient design available in Orchid Magenta and Horizon Blue” are promised to “turn heads”.

These two models join the previously announced 14-inch HP Stream notebook. 

Mike Nash, an HP Consumer VP said: “Today’s consumers demand mobile products that fit their personal style and allow them to work and play wherever they are. The HP Stream products announced today hit the mark with sleek design, portability, access to free cloud storage, and the familiarity of Windows and Office 365.”

 

Then there’s two new HP Stream 7 and Stream 8 tablets, both again running Windows 8.1, with the 7 and 8 denoting screen sizes. 

HP says these tablets “keep customers connected to work, friends and content all at an exceptional value”, and come with a year of Office 365 Personal, 60 minutes of Skype calls each month, 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage for a year and “the full Windows 8.1 experience”. 

In the US, the HP Stream 8 tablet includes an optional 200 MB of free 4G data each month with no annual contract for the life of the device, although there’s no indication as yet whether a similar deal can be reached with Telstra, Optus or Vodafone. 

Additional details for these two new tablets aren’t as yet forthcoming but it is likely they will use Quad-core Intel Atom processors as is the case with most of these kinds of tablets in 2014. 

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HP also has a range of “connected” apps, known as “HP Connected”, which let you “easily share, create and play with the HP Connected suite of apps included on HP Stream notebooks and tablets.”

These apps are said to “combine customers’ digital content including photos, music, and apps — all in one place, and make it easier to enjoy music, photos and digital files from multiple sources in a convenient way.”

HP Connected Music lets you listen to music from multiple sources including their local library and streaming services.

HP Connected Photo aggregates your photos from multiple sources in one place, while you can access files across multiple platforms from PCs to tablets and smartphones to online services in one place with HP Connected Drive.

The new HP Stream models will be available in the US from November, with the HP Stream 11.6-inch starting at US $199.99 and the 13.3-inch model starting at US $229.99. 

The HP Stream 7 starts at US $99.99 and the Stream 8 starts at US $149.99. 

Australian prices will naturally be higher – probably at least $100 extra if not more for each if history and educated guessing is any guide. We’ll have more information on the local launch of these products when it happens!

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