HP’s Stream Mini is a tiny Windows desktop computer with an Intel Celeron processor, 32GB of solid state storage, and a $180 price tag But if you want a little more power, there’s the HP Pavilion Mini.
Like the Stream Mini, this model measures 5.7″ x 5.7″ x 2.1″ and weighs just about 1.4 pounds. But the Pavilion Mini features a faster processor, more memory, and more storage.
The $320 HP Pavilion Mini features an Intel Pentium 3558U processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB, 7200RPM hard drive.
It has 4 USB 3.0 ports, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, DisplayPort, and an SDXC card slot.
There’s an M.2 available under the hood in case you want to add your own solid state storage (since this model uses a hard drive), and the system has 2 SODIMM slots for up to 16GB of RAM.
HP will also offer models with up to an Intel Core i3 processors and up to 1TB of storage.
The company says this low-power system (with a maximum power draw of 45 watts) can support multiple displays and/or quad HD screens. While the system lacks an optical disc drive, if you want to use it as a media center PC you can always connect a USB DVD or Blu-ray drive (or just use it as an internet media streaming device).
Not the bargain the cheap version is, but manages to look worse. There are people in this world that can’t just buy the machine you actually recommended, and HP will be glad to take their money.
Why did they wait until the doorstep of Broadwell to launch a unit based on an older chip?
The Stream Mini is definitely the device to buy. This version would (from an average user’s perspective) probably be slower performance, being that it runs from an HDD, versus an M.2 SSD on the Stream Mini.
The Pentium 3558 is barely faster than the 2957U in the Stream Mini.
At this pricepoint, you could probably buy a Brix 2955U, and configure it with a hard drive AND a solid state.
I think this looks decent.. nothing wrong with the price either.. I think the stream mini is just a little too dependent on cloud connectivity. Those kinda specs belong in a tablet or netbook. not a mini desktop..