HP Stream 14 $199 Windows 8.1-Based Chromebook Competitor Spotted

It seems that HP will soon be launching the Microsoft-partnered low-cost HP Stream 14 notebook running Windows 8.1 at $199, as it has been listed by the company in support pages with complete specifications and images.

Last month Microsoft, while announcing its partnership with PC manufacturers to bring inexpensive Windows OS-based laptops to counter Google's Chromebook offerings, had said that the HP's 'Stream' will be launched soon, a low-priced notebook with a $199 price tag, but it did not provide any further details about the device.

While it isn't known that how soon the HP Stream 14 will make it to the market, the notebook is still listed with full specifications as we file this report.

The HP Stream 14 will have a 14-inch 1366x768 pixel display; a low-power AMD processor; 2GB of RAM; choice of 32 or 64GB of built-in storage, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connecitivity, USB ports, HDMI-out and an SDXC card slot - specifications that are very similar to most Chromebook offerings in the market today.

The company is also throwing in 100GB of OneDrive storage for two years on Windows 8.1-based HP Stream 14, according to the data sheet, first discovered by MobileGeeks.

Microsoft is clear with its plan to target Chromebook in with its Windows OS-based laptops at $199 and $249 price points, and is reportedly also countering Google in the low-end PC segment with reduced licensing fees for Windows OS and Windows Phone OS. In February, the Redmond-based firm was reported to have slashed the price of its Windows 8.1 OS licences by 70 percent, aiming to get a strong hold in the low-cost PC segments. It was noted that the manufacturers will now be charged only $15 instead of the usual fee of $50 to get the Windows 8.1 licence and sell it pre-installed on devices costing less than $250.

In April, Microsoft said it was giving away its Windows licences to makers of smartphones and small tablets for free in order to make more of an impact on those fast-growing markets and counter the massive success of Google's free Android platform.