HP Stream X360: Cheap in the right places

[@VincentW2]

I used to have a regular HP Stream and it was a very nice machine. Amazingly light and pretty fast for what it was. Put a 64gb sd card in it and it was perfectly fine storage wise.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Thanks for sharing your experience Vincent.

[@sp0el]

The problem with Celerons/entry-level-CPUs devices is how poorly they age. I was asked to clean Acer Aspire with an AMD C-70 (2012 model?) earlier this year, and the performance wasn't enough to browse more advanced Internet websites - our local ebay rip off or KZbin would simply freeze. This one is more capable, but still far from e.g. 2012 3317U from my old 2w1. With people working from home or searching for cheap laptops for their kids (as you never know if the school building will be opened the next day), it is important to stress, how in the long run even a 6th gen i5 in a used laptop would be a better buy than e.g. Celeron 4100 in a modern device.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

I agree completely, older 4th, 5th and 6th gen machines are still perfectly fine. 2nd and 3rd are servicable but are often hard on battery life.

[@jacekjagosz]

I bought this one for a family member, and it is a stellar device. I was very light, keyboard and screen were good enough, and on Windows 8 it ran quite well. Touch screen is really nice for casual web browsing. For web browsing it is an awesome choice, especially for such a small price. Unfortunately I think its days are numbered until it gets too weak for modern web. But until then it was a great buy and I want to see more like those, cheap devices that don't suck.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I think it has a few more years of life left before it can no longer keep up.

[@jacekjagosz]

@@LaptopRetrospective And in my experience it run a lot better on Windows 8.1 than on 10, so that might be a good option for people who find it too slow.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Or Linux. 😉

[@jacekjagosz]

@@LaptopRetrospective I love linux and have been using it myself for many years. And it is perfect for light laptops, because even with weak specs they work decent. But I couldn't convince any family member to use it :/

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Just skin it to look like Windows. 😉

[@emdotrod]

The HP Stream chassis is pretty good for a small notebook. It's kind of underpowered yeah buat it has a solid build quality and it can do basic tasks just fine for its time.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

I'd still take this over a Chromebook. 😂

[@emdotrod]

Chromebook sucks. I used HP Pavilion 11 (which shares a lot with Stream 11 including the specs but it has a hard drive instead of eMMC) for 2 years and swapped the drive with an SSD and it works just fine and smooth.

[@nickb3968]

I've got several streams in the house, they are made much better by Ubuntu Mate, but Windows 10 was a good improvement over 8 as far as Streams go.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Thanks for the distro suggestion for them.

[@zen608]

This laptop was amazing, i really wanted one in 2015. It is still a great laptop granted you limit your browsing to basic websites. Honestly thinking of getting one even though i have 5x more capable machines just for the fact that this laptop was amazingly built + windows 8.1

[@LaptopRetrospective]

It's a cool little fellow in its own right.

[@torchatlas8128]

This was a really good breakdown of the laptop, and I did not expect it to be repairable at all, lol. However, I've heard a used business laptop (especially ThinkPads) are far better in practically every way compared to these cheap laptops. So, especially because you've covered older ThinkPads on this channel before, I was wondering why you seem to recommend this laptop? Perhaps Streams are not as bad (compared to alternatives) as I've heard?

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Not every region in the world has access to ThinkPads. So while I generally prefer them, they aren't always available to all, nor do they meet everyone's needs.

[@torchatlas8128]

@@LaptopRetrospective Ah, I see. Makes sense.

[@jackf1684]

The new Surface Laptop Go seems pretty good and cheap in the right places. 400 nit 10 point touch display, backlit keyboard and "precision" touch pad, plus a gorgeous design plus a i5! But also cutting in the right places. It has an aluminum display housing with a poly carbonate bottom base, only an HD+ display at 1536 by 1024 3:2, and only a 720p webcam with no facial recognition but they do have the fingerprint reader as standard on the two higher end configurations.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Yeah it seems like a good set of compromises. I'd go look at one of Windows Stores were still a thing...

[@jackf1684]

@@LaptopRetrospective I was kinda in awe when I found out they were closing. 1. They even existed? 2. They existed long enough to be closed down?

[@LaptopRetrospective]

My city had one for years.

[@claudiaw9246]

I've always had a soft spot for the HP Streams, but I find the eBay prices on this model are shockingly high (probably what the original retail price was in 2015). At those asking prices, you'd be far better off getting the most recent version.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Yes, I did note that they seem to hold value and that was before COVID has been inflating prices of laptops that would be good for student use.

[@claudiaw9246]

@@LaptopRetrospective I guess my definition of holding value for a five-year-old device is selling for half the original MSRP, not as much or even more, ha ha. Paying US$250 to US$360 would be highway robbery, IMO. That said, they are probably available for much cheaper on Craigslist. Despite COVID, there are still lots of deals to be had. (I'm not allowing myself to check, because I want to avoid temptation!)

[@MrKillswitch88]

Cheap Thinkpads are better deals and sometimes Dell Precision can be had though for the same money I've landed two Alienwares though they needed a bit of work to get going right. Those with $200-350 on hand to burn will be very happy with a M6700 or a M6800 if they don't mind the size and likely to last another couple of years before total obsolescence.

[@aaroncheah2088]

Looks like my old HP Mini 311.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Probably some similarities in chassis and parts.

[@juanignacioaschura9437]

I've always liked the HP Stream 11 line-up (both normal and x360) because of its looks and no-nonsense specs. As another user commented, the fatal flaw they have is the power plug issue. And as others mention, it indeed ages like milk because of the Atom-based Celeron and Pentium chips (Pro models come with Pentium). But actually, the main issue is either the 2GB of RAM (though some newer variants have 4GB at least) and the non-expandable 32 or 64GB of eMMC storage. Kevin Purdy of iFixit posted an entry on his personal blog wherein he gives insructions on installing GalliumOS on this device (since they use a post-BayTrail Atom architecture, Linux is not as easy to install) and give it a new lease on life: thepurdman.com/install-galliumos-linux-on-hp-stream-11/ I once spotted a pink Stream 11 over on Marketplace for USD100 and over on eBay I found an auction going at GBP88 for a purple one with the N3060, 4GB of RAM and 64GB eMMC. You can also pick up some gray Streams, and the latest one has the N4000 Celeron (2018) or the Atom x5-E8000 (2020). The colours are quite cheerful, I gotta say. Maybe someday I'll bite the bullet and buy one for the sake of having something whimsical to carry around and do quick photo editing on (using Linux, obviously), instead of carrying my T430. Only the 13 and 14 models of the Stream have internal connections to allow the installation of more storage, with the Stream 11 you're stuck with the eMMC as is, so keep that in mind. I wish HP would release a new Stream 11 with a Renoir-based Athlon APU and Dual-Channel 4GB DDR4, and a M.2 2242 drive. I would love to have one of those (But I'm sure I'm being quite optimistic, as AMD keeps offering Carrizo silicon, unfortunately). Only grab the Stream 11 if you're paying 100-ish USD. Over 125, you can score a better deal on used 12" EliteBooks and ThinkPads of the X series. New, the Streams cost around USD170/200, which isn't bad, but I'd still go the Refurbished Corporate Laptop route.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Excellent points. Thanks for taking the time to comment with all this information.

[@aaroncheah2088]

Any reviews on Fujitsu U1010 or U2010 in the future?

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Fujitsu's are unheard of here in Canada. I'd love to talk about them, but I have to find them first. 😂

[@aaroncheah2088]

@@LaptopRetrospective I have a Fujitsu Lifebook U2010 in need of screen replacement. It has turned dark in the middle. Still usable for basic tasks. Would u be interested in it? Comes with the VGA LAN combo adapter and charger plus the box.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Hmmmm, possibly. Feel free to drop me an email sometime. Can be found in the about section of the channel.

[@jackf1684]

I really like the idea and execution of this, I see a lot of laptops now with unnecessary features like Asus' "Screenpad". Then there's lenovo with their *STUPIDLY EXPENSIVE* thinkpads, I see 1,800+ dollar Thinkpads with the 250 nit 1366 by 768 display and 8 GB of soldered RAM! They're like Apple with their RAM prices but thankfully not Dell when it comes to memory channels.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Buying anything new right now is a tough ask. You have to really want it.

[@jackf1684]

@@LaptopRetrospective Pretty much, I'm looking for a new laptop to replace my current one and I still haven't accepted that 1. 2020 Laptops QC is kinda crap 2. Online Shopping is kinda broken due to the pandemic

[@LaptopRetrospective]

I'm old fashioned. I like to touch it before I buy it. Those days are long gone with Windows stores closed.

[@MrKillswitch88]

I honestly hate how the modern thinkpads are designed when already they had weak cooling. What does it for me is not having sodimm slots and almost no storage options beyond one or two SSDs.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Business consumers aren't really bothered by it sadly and that is the main market for those machines.

[@MrKillswitch88]

At least there is three usb ports lol instead of mutations in the form of dongle hell sprouting out the sides when anyone wanted to hook up anything. Edit: This HP is built very similarly to some Dell Inspirons of the same size and the grommets love to separate from the plastic, as for the SSD that is a real killer of budget laptops using the emmc type.

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Yeah the soldered on eMMC isn't great but it's a compromise.

[@MrKillswitch88]

@@LaptopRetrospective I'd rather be stuck with a 2.5 sata drive or a small capacity ssd that is removable as a compromise with the choice of upgrading later. This is why I stick with older machines as they have more options.

[@arthurbttf]

I have a red one and not a single day goes by that i don't want to break it in pieces

[@LaptopRetrospective]

What's your biggest frustration?

[@arthurbttf]

@@LaptopRetrospective CPU specially as discord barely runs and google meet runs fine only if I'm idle, websites take their time especially if dark mode is on I've upgraded it with an SSD and 8gb ram, but the SSD made no difference as Linux still takes 30s+ to boot, maybe it's just bad luck All in all, I'm watching all your Thinkpad videos, trying to figure out what I should replace it with :)

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Lots of great ThinkPads to replace it with out there.

[@syllchachi3204]

Any tips if this piece of shit doesn't work anymore?

[@LaptopRetrospective]

What isn't working?

[@syllchachi3204]

@Laptop Retrospective nothing is working... just a black screen, no sounds and only caps lock is blinking...

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Interesting, have you looked to see what the caps lock key blinking might mean? Sometimes things like that are related to a diagnostic.

[@syllchachi3204]

@Laptop Retrospective yes, but every site I visited talks about a red and a white led... but I only have white that blinks twice..

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Hmmm interesting. Unfortunately I don't have this device anymore or I'd try to replicate the issue. Best of luck to you finding a solution.

[@trvthnvkenation]

God, why did I buy this terrible laptop

[@LaptopRetrospective]

Hmmm, I'm sure you thought it was a good idea at some point. Do you remember what first attracted you to it?

[@pauldusa]

when you talk specs,, u not say size of ram, size of ssd drive,, so really you not say Nothing useful, Very poor video, a whole bunch of nothing, Really

[@LaptopRetrospective]

It is clear you didn't watch the video. 0:49 RAM is clearly stated, even type verbally and on the screen. 1:10 SSD Drive is stated verbally and on the screen.