Chromebook competition from HP

HP released a small computer called the Stream Mini earlier this year to compete with the Chromebox. It’s a tiny PC with some pretty impressive specs – it’s really  looks like a better deal than a Chromebox.

Here are the specs:

• 1.4 GHz Celeron 2957U processor
• 2GB of RAM (max 16GB)
• 32GB SSD
• 200GB of OneDrive storage for 2 years
• Keyboard and mouse included
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 4 USB 3 ports
• WiFi
• Bluetooth 4
• SD card port
• Audio in and out
• DisplayPort 1.2 
• HDMI 1.5 port
• Windows 8.1 (Bing version) 

It’s small, about the size of a typical Chromebox, and very low power (at about 45 Watts.) Since it comes with a keyboard and mouse, all you have to add is a monitor to be up and running.

It runs Windows 8.1 (Bing version), but, apparently, there is only a trivial difference between Bing version and regular Windows 8.1. (I haven’t heard if the Bing version can be managed in an enterprise like regular 8.1.) 

At $180 (without a monitor) this seems like a great price – particularly for users who don’t need much horsepower.