For the longest time, there have not been many set-top Windows boxes for the living room. There are your streaming sticks like the Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV Stick, or the Apple Mac mini, or the good ol’ Windows-based home theater PC (HTPC) rig, but HP has introduced two compelling Windows set-top PCs that are geared for the living room, and are actually quite affordable too.
HP Stream Mini, in a youthful blue-colored box, is powered by an Intel Celeron 2957U processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics, clocking in at 1.4GHz. While the RAM is at a measly 2GB, in the box there are apparently two SODIMM slots and is said to be upgradeable to 16GB. The included 32GB SSD is also not soldered onto the board, and theoretically users could upgrade the SSD to have a larger storage. At this point however, it is still unclear whether it’s a 2.5-inch SSD, or an mSATA drive. But HP is positioning the Stream Mini to be a streaming set-top box, and has included a 200GB OneDrive cloud storage free for two years.
Stream Mini’s other specifications include a 3-in-1 memory card reader, a Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 3.0, one headphone/microphone combo, one HDMI, and one DisplayPort.
HP Pavilion Mini, in “Snow White” color, steps it up a notch by including an Intel Pentium 3558U or Intel Core i3-4025U processor, 4GB or RAM, and all the same goodness from the Stream Mini, like the Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 3.0, one headphone/microphone combo, one HDMI, and one DisplayPort.
Just like the Stream Mini also, the RAM is user-upgradable (if you’re comfortable with unscrewing the box). The Pentium SKU comes with a 500GB 7200rpm hard disk, while the i3 variant has a 1TB 5400rpm drive. These drives are also upgradeable, so with a bit of know-how, you could even swap it with an SSD.
Both boxes are rather compact; they only only measure 14.49 x 14.57 x 5.23 cm and weigh 0.65 kg. HP said they’re also low-powered, consuming only 45 watts of juice. There are these HP Connected Apps to complement the experience of the Stream Mini and Pavilion Mini, available for both Android and Windows Phone (weirdly, iOS only gets the HP Connected Drive and Snapfish apps). On the product pages, Stream Mini is said to come with a keyboard that has volume controls, while the Pavilion Mini is bundled with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Both run on Windows 8.1 with Bing, which contributes to their low-cost price tags.
But here’s the good news. HP Malaysia is already offering the highest end Pavilion Mini on its local online store. At RM1,199, it may appear to be a bit on the pricey side, considering the version we’re getting here is slightly different — though it has a Core i3 processor, the RAM is just 2GB (not 4GB) and the hard disk space is at 500GB (not 1TB). It is uncertain whether HP Malaysia will bring in the Stream Mini or not, but since the Stream laptops are already here, the Stream Mini box may also be available soon. For more information about the HP Pavilion Mini and to purchase one, head on over to: http://h20386.www2.hp.com/MalaysiaStore/Product.aspx?pdetail=P357703.
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