So I read a rumor about a month ago that new HP ultrabooks would be coming out by/for Christmas 2014. The key to this new concept is that they would be CHEAP… CHEAP… roughly on a par with Chrome netbooks in price… maybe about $250 or $300… but would run Office. These would be ideal for me. I really don’t need anything but MS Office, and the old laptop is about to die (and go to laptop heaven, or possibly hell. And I really need something very small and light.
But now… I can’t find any info about this. Does anyone know if this is actually going to happen? Has anybody else heard anything? If I could just wait for these new ones, I could save so much money on what I need… but will they exist??
It’s $250 (marked down from $400). It has a Core 2 Duo processor, which is at least a generation or two old, but it has an SSD which should perk things up. I’ve never used it, and have no opinion other than it has a low price. You would also have to buy Office if you don’t have a spare license.
I have a Core 2 Duo laptop (from Dell) at home and it works just fine at Office, web surfing, video watching.
From this article, it seems Microsoft is reducing the price of Windows (or perhaps offering a cheap stripped-down version) to make $200 Windows laptops a reality:
p.s. Here’s a leaked information about a $200 HP laptop, from 2 weeks ago. I don’t think it has been verified or officially announced.
I did look at RitterSport’s link, and I think that if I didn’t need something really light, that would probably be perfect. I was hoping for something lighter than about 5 pounds (which that is), small and light enough to fit into a large purse, but I guess that one can’t be completely ruled out…
I’m so tempted by the Lenovo Yoga… I know people who just love this one, and I tried it out F2F at Best Buy and really loved it too… but, well, it’s about $500, as we can see right here.
I wish I knew more about when the HP Stream 14 was actually supposed to come out-- that would be VERY helpful. Ideas? Thoughts? Theories??
Actually, I’m trying to get that laptop mentioned in an above post… (RitterSport’s link) but the whole experience is reminding me of why I don’t buy things from Newegg. Inexplicably suspended accounts, half hour wait times on the phone… I’ll let everybody know if it actually works out.
The linked HP book was using an AMD processor, but I also saw an announcement for Intel’s M processor, using less than half the power of current processors, and eliminating the need for cooling fans but still processing as fast.
The important point is, of course, these processors are PC-compatible. Thus, they run the same software as full-blown PC’s, including things like Windows or OSX and Office. The iPad, for example, does not use the same processor so software written for a PC or Mac won’t run on an iPad. That’s the biggest, most important difference - compatible processor that can keep up.
If Microsoft had any sense they would price their products so inexpensively that nobody would use something free instead, like Open Office. If they priced the windows for phones and tablets so cheaply, like $10, it could compete with Android and other cheap platforms and multiply the number of devices, which is happening, to make up the lost revenue. Free is very attractive when compared to expensive, particularly when they are virtually identical. The Microsoft stamp of approval is worth $10 for a wearable and $25 for a laptop or desktop and $50 for a small server.
With respect Second Stone, I think you are overlooking something. Computers and phones are tools and the best tools are the ones you can use again and again.
Microsofts core market is business. From the mom-and-pop corner shop to Walmart, every business wants stability and reliability. Windows and Apple deliver that especially when bundled with Office. Computer networks are crucial and Microsoft delivers a known quantity for hardware and software engineers.
On a personal level I love playing with open source programs and try to avoid the mega companies, but bad experience in my business with Open Office taught me to use what everyone else had - MS Office.
And I really need something very small and light.