The promise of a sub-$200 Chromebook rival with full Windows 8.1 and 14 inches of screen real estate always felt a little on the outlandish side of things, and as it turns out, it really was too sweet to be true.
From market oddity bound to fail to dark horse to low-cost title challenger. It’s been a wild ride for Google’s experimental Chrome OS computer platform, but somehow the cloud-reliant Windows alternative managed to become a benchmark of the ever-mutating PC scene. And it only took Chromebooks three years.
Now, Microsoft is so afraid of losing out precious market share to something other than iPads and Android tablets, it’s started to consciously make misleading pledges. And don’t even try to find Redmond any excuses.
They knew full well there was no way they could get HP to charge $199 for the Stream 14 notebook, yet they promised and teased it anyway. And now it’s HP that looks greedy and dishonest, although they’re merely trying to earn a (slim) profit on this AMD Mullins-powered low-end machine.
Officially priced at $300, the Stream 14 will likely get a baby sibling at some point for $50 to $100 less. In the meantime, the 14 incher is essentially an alternate for HP’s own first-generation Chromebook 14, available at around 300 bucks too.
Obviously, Windows 8.1 gives the Stream an important productivity edge, however Intel Bay Trail offers the Chrome OS-running laptop the advantage in both raw speed and battery life. Rated at 6 or so hours in continuous use, the Windows-based Chromebook killer wannabe is a featherweight next to the 9-hour OG beast, so it’s really not easy to pick between the two.
If size doesn’t matter all that much, it’s good to remember Asus brought back the legendary Eee series during IFA 2014, taking the wraps off an 11.6-inch EeeBook X205 which manages to hit the $200 sweet spot. Oh, decisions, decisions.
Don’t forget to recap the full spec sheet of the Stream 14 by checking back to this post from a few weeks ago (yes, all the intel panned out), and circle September 24 in your calendars if you’re thinking of going Windows and AMD instead of Chrome OS and Intel and have $300 to spare.
Source: Liliputing
Read More: http://ift.tt/1nIeQEX
From market oddity bound to fail to dark horse to low-cost title challenger. It’s been a wild ride for Google’s experimental Chrome OS computer platform, but somehow the cloud-reliant Windows alternative managed to become a benchmark of the ever-mutating PC scene. And it only took Chromebooks three years.
Now, Microsoft is so afraid of losing out precious market share to something other than iPads and Android tablets, it’s started to consciously make misleading pledges. And don’t even try to find Redmond any excuses.
They knew full well there was no way they could get HP to charge $199 for the Stream 14 notebook, yet they promised and teased it anyway. And now it’s HP that looks greedy and dishonest, although they’re merely trying to earn a (slim) profit on this AMD Mullins-powered low-end machine.
Officially priced at $300, the Stream 14 will likely get a baby sibling at some point for $50 to $100 less. In the meantime, the 14 incher is essentially an alternate for HP’s own first-generation Chromebook 14, available at around 300 bucks too.
Obviously, Windows 8.1 gives the Stream an important productivity edge, however Intel Bay Trail offers the Chrome OS-running laptop the advantage in both raw speed and battery life. Rated at 6 or so hours in continuous use, the Windows-based Chromebook killer wannabe is a featherweight next to the 9-hour OG beast, so it’s really not easy to pick between the two.
If size doesn’t matter all that much, it’s good to remember Asus brought back the legendary Eee series during IFA 2014, taking the wraps off an 11.6-inch EeeBook X205 which manages to hit the $200 sweet spot. Oh, decisions, decisions.
Don’t forget to recap the full spec sheet of the Stream 14 by checking back to this post from a few weeks ago (yes, all the intel panned out), and circle September 24 in your calendars if you’re thinking of going Windows and AMD instead of Chrome OS and Intel and have $300 to spare.
Source: Liliputing
Read More: http://ift.tt/1nIeQEX
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