Uploaded April 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Even though I wasn’t really in the market for a laptop a little over a year ago, the price was right, and I wanted something a bit more contemporary than my aging, but trusty, Dell Latitude E6500.
While officially branded as a laptop, I would certainly lean toward considering it more of a netbook—let me be clear, however, that’s not a bad thing at all.
In fact, for quite some time I was on the prowl for a decent netbook style laptop reminiscent of those that were once available with Windows XP. I wanted something that was lightweight and not too big, good battery life, and something that could do all the things a bigger, more expensive laptop could do without all the bulk.
The HP Stream originally shipped with Windows 10 in S mode, a barebones version of the OS that only allows programs from the Microsoft store to shore up security. One of the first things I did was switch to the full version of Windows 10. Doing so is free and easy, but you can’t go back to S mode. That was no problem for me, as I needed to be able to run programs from outside the walled garden of the Store.
I also needed to make some adjustments through the registry editor to disable Cortana and the built-in web search functionality that is shoehorned into the start menu search by default. I also turned off the lock screen to make logging into the computer just a little quicker.
The performance is actually pretty good, with the computer being able to keep up with running office and productivity programs, checking email, and browsing the web. YouTube and other videos play smoothly at HD resolutions like 720p60 and 1080p60.
The keyboard, while nothing fancy and not backlit, does the job and isn’t all that bad the more I type on it. The touchpad’s two finger scrolling is nice, but the left click (which you accomplish by clicking the lower left corner of the touchpad) is finicky on my computer. Sometimes it’ll confuse it as a right click and sometimes it won’t recognize it at all. The speakers are also decent, and the HP audio program can help improve the audio through EQ and other settings. Coming from mostly older laptops with worn out batteries, the battery life is quite good, even with the high performance power mode selected.
The only major gripe I have with the Stream is storage space. The meager 64GB of eMMC memory goes fast, and with the constant updates to Windows, storage is quickly eaten up. I really don’t have that many programs or files, but as it stands, I currently have only 15GB remaining. This can be easily worked around by using an SD card with the built-in card reader and changing the locations of the folders for Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, etc. I’ve also seen some pretty small and low-profile flash drives that I’m sure will work even better and faster.
I was considering upgrading to something bigger and more powerful, but for what I need a laptop for, it’s been more than adequate. Microsoft Word runs just fine, playing music through its built-in Bluetooth is convenient, and checking email, surfing the net, and watching TV shows and movies is both smooth and responsive.
Finally, Windows Update even reports that this computer can run the free upgrade to Windows 11! I haven’t made the jump just yet, as I’m not quite ready to get reacclimated to another OS, but it’s nice to know and something I’ll likely follow through with at a later date.
Even though I wasn’t really in the market for a laptop a little over a year ago, the price was right, and I wanted something a bit more contemporary than my aging, but trusty, Dell Latitude E6500.
While officially branded as a laptop, I would certainly lean toward considering it more of a netbook—let me be clear, however, that’s not a bad thing at all.
In fact, for quite some time I was on the prowl for a decent netbook style laptop reminiscent of those that were once available with Windows XP. I wanted something that was lightweight and not too big, good battery life, and something that could do all the things a bigger, more expensive laptop could do without all the bulk.
The HP Stream originally shipped with Windows 10 in S mode, a barebones version of the OS that only allows programs from the Microsoft store to shore up security. One of the first things I did was switch to the full version of Windows 10. Doing so is free and easy, but you can’t go back to S mode. That was no problem for me, as I needed to be able to run programs from outside the walled garden of the Store.
I also needed to make some adjustments through the registry editor to disable Cortana and the built-in web search functionality that is shoehorned into the start menu search by default. I also turned off the lock screen to make logging into the computer just a little quicker.
The performance is actually pretty good, with the computer being able to keep up with running office and productivity programs, checking email, and browsing the web. YouTube and other videos play smoothly at HD resolutions like 720p60 and 1080p60.
The keyboard, while nothing fancy and not backlit, does the job and isn’t all that bad the more I type on it. The touchpad’s two finger scrolling is nice, but the left click (which you accomplish by clicking the lower left corner of the touchpad) is finicky on my computer. Sometimes it’ll confuse it as a right click and sometimes it won’t recognize it at all. The speakers are also decent, and the HP audio program can help improve the audio through EQ and other settings. Coming from mostly older laptops with worn out batteries, the battery life is quite good, even with the high performance power mode selected.
The only major gripe I have with the Stream is storage space. The meager 64GB of eMMC memory goes fast, and with the constant updates to Windows, storage is quickly eaten up. I really don’t have that many programs or files, but as it stands, I currently have only 15GB remaining. This can be easily worked around by using an SD card with the built-in card reader and changing the locations of the folders for Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, etc. I’ve also seen some pretty small and low-profile flash drives that I’m sure will work even better and faster.
I was considering upgrading to something bigger and more powerful, but for what I need a laptop for, it’s been more than adequate. Microsoft Word runs just fine, playing music through its built-in Bluetooth is convenient, and checking email, surfing the net, and watching TV shows and movies is both smooth and responsive.
Finally, Windows Update even reports that this computer can run the free upgrade to Windows 11! I haven’t made the jump just yet, as I’m not quite ready to get reacclimated to another OS, but it’s nice to know and something I’ll likely follow through with at a later date.
