The barrier into the Windows ecosystem lowered to $79 with HP Steam 7

Kareem Anderson

HP Stream7

If you’ve been a Windows tablet user hold-out or feared the funky, colorful interface of Windows 8.1, HP is making a pitch for you to join the wonderful world of Windows 8.1 and tablets. The HP Stream 7 tablet has been one of the best selling tablets in the admittedly small pond of Windows tablets. It usually was priced at $99, making it an enticing bang-for-your-buck proposition. Unlike other low-end priced devices the HP Stream 7 garnered high reviews for its build quality in markets looking for lower cost entries into tablet computing.

It would seem in light of the phantom Surface mini, Microsoft is looking to bolster its partnership with HP while also filling in their gap for low priced small tablets. The HP Stream 7 is on sale for $79 at the Microsoft Store. During Christmas, the device saw a similar price drop and like the Xbox One, it looks like holiday savings are becoming more of everyday occurrence.

For just $79 dollars, the HP Stream 7 offers:

  • 7-inch HD IPS touchscreen 800×1280 
  • Intel Atom Z3735G quad core 1.33 GHz with Burst Technology up to 1.83 GHz 
  • 1GB memory/32GB SSD 
  • microSD expansion 
  • 3000mAh lithium-ion 11.1Wh (up to 8 hours) 
  • 2MP back-facing camera, 0.3MP front-facing camera 
  • WiFi 802.11b/g/n (Miracast enabled) 
  • 0.78 lbs (353.8 g) 

Those features are on top of the inclusion of Office 365 Personal (including 60 minutes of Skype per month) but also a free $25 Windows Store Gift Card. Aside from all the bells and whistles of this sale, the Stream 7 will be offered as a Signature Edition. Meaning all the “freeware” usually provided by OEM’s that junk up your system will be removed, allowing for a pure Microsoft experience. So, if Windows 8 wasn’t your thing or tablets were always in the back of your mind but not in the front of your budget, you can try both for half the price of some headphones out today.