Stream 7 owners

[Ryan ODonnell]

What do you guys think of the device? I need your opinions (its for my brother, he wants one as they are only ?99!)

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

I absolutely love mine.
Build quality is very good.
Screen is very good considering the thing costs $99.
Full Windows 8.1 in my back pocket.

Search these forums for more discussions about it. It seems to be getting universal high praise from most of us who own one.

 

[k72]

I love mine too. It feels sturdy, even while I wait for a case to be delivered. The screen is BEAUTIFUL! It is so super fast and smooth. It has not lagged or hung up so far at all, even running several apps/programs. Obviously it's not one to run major programs on, but for everything I've needed so far it's been great. I added a little Bluetooth keyboard and once the case comes (so it can be propped up while I use the keyboard), it will be like a mini laptop. I've already been doing a bunch of homework on it and it's been fine. I have Foxit reader installed so that I can edit PDFs and it runs smoothly as well. I am planning on putting the desktop Kindle application on it so that I can use it for textbooks (something the app doesn't do but if you can have the desktop, it doesn't matter).

I had an 8 inch 3:4 tablet before with Android, and was a little worried about the change in size, but I don't even notice it. Everything fits quite nicely and I can hold the whole tablet portrait-wise in one hand even with my stubby little fingers (With no case). I like the size especially for reading at night. I haven't had time to watch any videos yet other than a short YouTube, but that was crystal clear and looked great.

Literally the only glitch so far (which may or may not be relevant to the discussion) was when I tried to activate the Office subscription (which was the main reason I bought the tablet). I was tethered to my cell phone and the connection snagged and I couldn't activate my subscription. I panicked and called two different Microsoft support techs (what a fool I was) and a few hours later after being told lots of dubious fixes, I factory reset the tablet (I had only had it for a few hours, so it didn't matter), waited til I was near a good internet connection, and everything activated no problem.

So yes, we recommend it.

 

[Darthbobcat]

I absolutely love mine.
Build quality is very good.
Screen is very good considering the thing costs $99.
Full Windows 8.1 in my back pocket.

Search these forums for more discussions about it. It seems to be getting universal high praise from most of us who own one.

You, sir, have a large pocket.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

You, sir, have a large pocket.

Just regular blue jeans.

 

[Celandine]

Mine arrived last night. So far I'm loving it. I own a RT, but chose to set it up as a new PC but to keep the same Metro apps. It was pretty much a breeze after that as everything from my Microsoft account transferred over. None of the apps were actually installed so I went through and decided, based on memory and what I would be using the device for, what I wanted to keep. I think right now, I'm at 19.1 gb from the 23 or so of usable memory.

I picked up a 64gb micro card and decided to put all my music/movies and docs on it to save memory.

First impressions: Runs very smooth with no glitches thus far. Screen is wonderful! Havent tried the cameras yet. The desktop screen is usable though fonts on screens (control panel, etc) are a bit tiny. I've adjusted to it as heck, I have a full PC that fits in my hand! I'd definitely get this as a gift for someone who is a bit tech savy and wants more than an Apple or Android experience.

 

[rkin92]

I got a sweet deal on mine... it was $25 off at the Microsoft store for 81 total.
Its a surprisingly fast device, I haven't used it on battery yet though (i hope this wont hurt it).
Only issue that I have is some backlight bleed, but it isnt that bad to me and idk if I want to swap it out yet. (and I dont know how) It only really shows with black colors, but other than that I see no defects with the screen.

 

[anon(8776042)]

Any chance to use it for notetaking with a capacitive stylus like JotPro?

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Any chance to use it for notetaking with a capacitive stylus like JotPro?

For just short, random notes, a capacitive stylus would probably be fine. However, I've noticed that the screen is slightly less responsive compared to the higher end devices that I own, so taking notes in a class, for instance, would probably be very frustrating.

 

[anon(8776042)]

For just short, random notes, a capacitive stylus would probably be fine. However, I've noticed that the screen is slightly less responsive compared to the higher end devices that I own, so taking notes in a class, for instance, would probably be very frustrating.

Ok thanks
I was looking for a economic device to take notes in class. Surface Pro it's not on the range of prices I considered, and the dell venue pro 8 which could fit my interests it's very expensive here in Spain. From the spanish dell web you can get it from 289€ + shipping costs. Total is 319€ = 398 $.
Compare 389 dollars with the 149 dollars on the american dell web... whereas the hp stream 7 is 129€ in Spain.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Have you looked at the ASUS VivoTab Note 8? It's a great little tablet for note taking. I'm not sure on the price though.
Also, the HP Elitepad 900 is a 10 inch tablet with a pen. It's pretty good for taking notes too.

 

[Richard Moore]

I got a sweet deal on mine... it was $25 off at the Microsoft store for 81 total.
Its a surprisingly fast device, I haven't used it on battery yet though (i hope this wont hurt it).
Only issue that I have is some backlight bleed, but it isnt that bad to me and idk if I want to swap it out yet. (and I dont know how) It only really shows with black colors, but other than that I see no defects with the screen.

I got the same sweet deal too. I haven't noticed any backlight bleeding and the battery is still on it's original charge from Saturday afternoon.
While I was in the store trying to make my decision, I was able to grab another tablet there and hold them side by side and do similar things like open an app, open IE, or just scroll around. I found the Stream 7 to be snappier than the 8" Toshiba I was comparing it to. Not a scientific comparison, but enough for me to know that there are no performance issues with the Stream 7.

This is great media consumption device. emails, youtube, netflix, games, web surfing, and such. If that's what you're looking for, than this is the perfect device for the price.

 

[AceCat23]

I used it to sign a document for work... It worked just fine for me. but not for a whole paper or class worth of note taking

 

[Funky Cricket]

I notice it will randomly lag on screen presses in the desktop for hold for left click, nothing bad, but I've seen it. I'd be nervous about trying to use it for note taking, I just don't think it is well built for that application. On the plus side though, it's played every game I've tried for my kids as I've set it up them for Christmas. I'd get one for myself if I didn't have a surface pro 1 already.

 

[unnaked]

Mine had wi-fi gremlins, received from Microsoft Store. It would either show limited connection or get no connection at all, and I tried many fixes including a full reset, HP's Support Assistant, updated the BIOS, even reinstalled the wireless adapter from an SD card, no go. Wound up getting a replacement from HP, supposedly sent overnight, yet FedEx says more like 5 days. I was impressed with it nonetheless, great screen, very responsive and fast for a $100 tablet, runs real software unlike my RT tablet. The Stream 7 looks like a great buy if you don't get one with the wi-fi problems, but if you do, don't hesitate, exchange it rather than waste your time as I did with various fixes - none of them work.

 

[wagnerj1971]

Mine had wi-fi gremlins, received from Microsoft Store. It would either show limited connection or get no connection at all, and I tried many fixes including a full reset, HP's Support Assistant, updated the BIOS, even reinstalled the wireless adapter from an SD card, no go. Wound up getting a replacement from HP, supposedly sent overnight, yet FedEx says more like 5 days. I was impressed with it nonetheless, great screen, very responsive and fast for a $100 tablet, runs real software unlike my RT tablet. The Stream 7 looks like a great buy if you don't get one with the wi-fi problems, but if you do, don't hesitate, exchange it rather than waste your time as I did with various fixes - none of them work.

Damn, I think I got also one with no WiFi ... Just doing an hardreset, hope dies last!
After a hardreset everything works fine!!

 

[marcos86]

I had serious issues with the wifi, at start wlan card was inactive and I had to reboot (sometimes several times) the tablet to make it work.
I fixed it with the latest drivers found on drivermax (the ones on hp website are old, hp c'mon!). Here they are http://1drv.ms/1Ix0BN7 ready for manual installation

 

[horseybob]

Mine was purchased in November. love it. sold 2 other people on it, as it can do things their android/kindle can't, while doing everything that their android/ kindle can.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Hello,

I got mine for $75 with a year of Office 365. Also purchased a BT keyboard and case - I have a very portable computer.

For the price - a solid deal!

Mr. V

 

[Budniu]

I bought HP 7 Stream for 99 euros in Ireland Microsoft Store. Device is really good for me, because he have 32GB memory ROM, not 16GB like other devices in this price.