Christmas is still far away, but that hasn’t stopped retailers and tech companies from already unveiling its line of products for the upcoming holiday season. Add Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) as a firm that is attempting to make some major buzz during the (highly competitive) spirited season.
HP revealed in a press release Tuesday that it is adding two new models to its line of Stream low-cost PCs: the HP Stream 11.6 and the HP Stream 13.3, coming with a low price-tag of $199 and $229, respectively.
Each laptop, which is meant to combat the rise of Google’s inexpensive Chromebooks, will consist of 1,366×768-pixel displays, Intel Celeron N2840 dual-core processor with 2GB of system RAM and 32GB of flash storage. Both laptops will include one free year of Microsoft Office 365, one terabyte of cloud storage, a $25 gift card for Windows Store apps and 60 minutes of free Skype each month.
There will also be an optional touchscreen on the 13-inch model as well as two colors (blue and magenta).
When it comes to tablets, HP will release the Stream 7 and Stream 8, seven- and eight-inch screens with 1280×800 displays that consist of a quad-core Intel Atom Bay Trail Z3735G processor and 1 GB of RAM. The Stream 7 will have a price-tag of $99 and the Stream 8 will cost $149.
All of the new laptops and tablets will be available for purchase in November.
Notebook Review wrote in its update on the latest selection of HP products that it won’t have any high expectations for the listed performance and features of these new notebooks.
“Unlike the low-priced netbooks of the past, these budget Windows laptops lack enough internal storage to keep you productive when you’re away from an Internet connection. Granted, most people don’t use their laptops when there isn’t an internet connection available, but laptops that rely on cloud storage aren’t ideal for frequent travelers who regularly find themselves without Internet access.”
During this year’s back-to-school shopping season, Google Chromebooks experienced a 37 percent increase in sales from the previous year. Also, according to a Gartner report published in August, Chromebook sales are projected to triple by 2017.