HP Stream 13-c010nr – Cheapest 13.3″ Laptop

The 230-dollar HP Stream 13-c010nr is currently the cheapest 13.3-inch notebook on the market. It’s a bigger brother of the even cheaper HP Stream 11 11.6-inch retailing for $200. Both are very basic Intel Celeron-powered machines with the same RAM and storage capacities of 2GB and 32GB respectively, the same screen resolution of 1366×768 pixels, and all other identical features. The only difference between them, alongside the obvious screen size, overall dimensions, and weight is the battery life. The Stream 13-c010nr is claimed to provide up to 7.75 hours of run time versus up to 8.25 hours on the smaller model. That’s understandable since the bigger display consumes more power.

As for computing potential, the Streams have several limitations. The included Intel Celeron N2840 dual-core processor with the Intel HD integrated graphics is a satisfactory chip for the daily tasks as you can read in the review here, but only 2GB of RAM instead of at least 4GB noticeably cripples multitasking capabilities. Smallish 32GB of internal storage can also be troublesome, especially if you regularly download apps from the Windows Store. More about limitations of 32GB of storage on Windows 8(.1) machines you can read here.

HP’s Stream 13-c010nr comes in “Horizon Blue” color, with gradient finish on the palmrest. The keyboard sports white chiclet-style keys, while the trackpad is made of a single piece of plastics, with click buttons integrated in it. The notebook is quite light for a 13.3-incher. It weighs in at 3.4 pounds. Thickness of the device is 0.8″ at the thickest point.

The 13-c010nr has stereo speakers, a webcam, three USB ports with one of them at faster 3.0-standard data transfer speed, an HDMI video output, multi-fromat memory card reader, Wi-Fi wireless connection and Bluetooth.

Overall, not an exceptionally well-specced machine, but if you’re on a very tight budget and 13.3″ is your sweet spot for the screen size, this notebook will be probably your only choice. And to sweeten the deal, a free 1-year subscription for Office 365 Personal software suite is included in the price.