Is your child asking for a tablet to take to school? If not, s/he may be asking soon. My daughter began asking in 5th grade. In fact, the school sent home an electronic device contract for my daughter and I to sign that stated that if she brought an electronic device to school, it would only be used for reading and that the school is not responsible if it is lost or stolen.
The note supported my what daughter had been telling me, that many of her friends were bringing tablets to school. I have seen many cracked screen devices in my time.,.and the thought of sending my child with a tablet to school made my shudder.
With my daughter’s persistence, I finally relented in sixth grade. With the new array of low-cost tablets available on the market these days, I feel that an economical tablet is a great way to teach tech responsibility (before a cellphone) to children while minimizing my risk should the tablet become broken or stolen.
Such reasonably priced tablets include the Dell Venue Pro 8, the HP Stream 7, HP Stream 8, and the Asus MeMo 7 & 8 Pads. All are priced below $250.
An Economical Tablet Option
I recently tested out the HP Stream 8. It’s a decent tablet. Now granted, it’s not a Lenovo Yoga tablet, Samsung Note 8, or iPad Mini (all of which cost much more), but for the money, it’s a great starter tablet for kids.
There are two clear benefits that make the HP Stream 8 stand out above other similarly priced tablets in this category:
1. Office 365 comes included for one year – great for students
2. 200 MB of no-contract, FREE data/month comes with it for the lifetime of the tablet
These are pretty substantial benefits. I love that elementary students can work on their Microsoft documents (Word, Powerpoint, Excel) at home or school. And the fact that the tablet allows for some Internet connection independent of WiFi is great too.
According to About Tech MobileOffice, a 200 MB plan covers…
1,000 text emails, 50 emails with photo attachments, 150 emails with other attachments, 60 social media posts with photos uploaded, and 500 Web pages viewed. Streaming media and downloads of apps or songs would increase the usage over 200 MB.
This gives kids lots of flexibility, yet limits them to 200 MB. Once they use it, there is no more data available, they just need to wait until the next month to get more.
Surprisingly, the HP Stream 8 is very responsive and fast. The INtel Atom Z3735 processor is quite zippy. I downloaded 4 games at once and it only took a couple of minutes for them all to be downloaded. Web pages pull up quickly.
Microsoft’s Solitaire Suite – TriPeaks is my latest fascination.
Features of the HP Stream 7 and HP Stream 8:
- Comes with Windows 8.1 32
- 32 GB of internal memory storage
- 2 MP front camera, 5 MP back camera
- Weighs less than 1 pound
- Includes a micro SIM slot to store more than 32GB of data, games, pictures, etc.
- Features a fast Intel Atom processor for games, fast downloading ,and web surfing
- 1280 x 800 multi-touchpoint touchscreen display
- Includes one free year of Office 365 with 1 TB of personal storage on Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud
HP Stream 8 Specific Features:
- Intel Quad-core Intel processor
- 200 MB of free 4G data/month for life (offered through T-Mobile)
- stereo speakers
HP Stream 8 Pros:
- 200 MB of free 4G data is a definite plus – your child could send emails to you after school to coordinate pick-up
- Your student could work on his/her documents at school and pick-up where s/he left off once at home
- 32 GB is a lot of space, but you can expand it by adding a SIM card, the tablet can grow with your child’s needs
- The price point is very reasonable at under $200
- The tablet is fast and responsive
- The HD screen is beautiful, great for viewing pictures, movies, and games
- It’s fairly lightweight
HP Stream 8 Cons:
- The battery doesn’t last through the day. You need to turn it completely off to save battery power throughout the day
- I prefer a physical button on the front of the tablet to turn it on or off. There is only a power button on the side.
- In areas with weaker WiFi, it doesn’t connect as consistently as other tablets I’ve used
If you prefer that your child cannot connect to the Internet and the free 200 MB of data does not interest you, the HP Stream 8 without data or the HP Stream 7 is a great way to go. The HP Stream 7 is extremely well-priced at under $100 and contains many of the same features as the HP Stream 8.
The HP Stream 8 sells for $174 plus free shipping. on Amazon. You can also buy the larger HP 8 Stream 8 without free data for $149. The HP Stream 7 sells for $99.75 plus free shipping from Amazon.
The free data option on the HP Stream 8 will cost about $30 more, which I believe is worth the extra money. Note, that if you shop around for the best price, ensure you are getting the HP Stream 8 tablet with 4G data…not the 5801 model, which does not include the data option.
WIN IT!
We are super excited to give away a HP Stream 7 to one of our lucky winners! Now you can try the HP Stream for yourself…or for your child…a perfect economical tablet to take to school!
Contest ends on Sept. 2nd at 12:00 am. Continental US Residents only. Must be 18 or over to win. Good Luck!!!!
* I was given a HP Stream 8 to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own.
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I would give it to my child for sure; thanks for the chance 🙂
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I would use the tablet for myself, but I would let my son use it too! I would share it!
I would use this myself for my girls have phones and a pc. I have a tracfone and that is it.
I would use it myself because my daughter is only 6 months old.
I would give it to my son.
I would give it to my son
If I won this giveaway, I’d give my ten year old daughter the HP Stream! She’s entering fifth grade and loves being on top of the latest trends, and I know she’d love this. Thanks so much for sharing about this awesome tablet (great Christmas gift idea!), and for the opportunity to win.
Jenn Foreacre, x@jenn.nu
I would use it myself.
I would use this, but also share it with my kids.
We have two Kindles already. We share them pretty equally so if we won another etablet, it would mean more options and less fighting.
I would keep it for myself. If they are nice I might share 🙂
I would give it to my daughter. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.
Erin
I would give this to my daughter it sounds perfect!
I’d give it to a friend.
I’d love to keep it but will more than likely give it to my teen son.
I would probably give it to me nieces. Thanks for the chance!
I would give it to my mother for her birthday.
Thank you so much for this opportunity! I’m going to give this to my son…but I’m sure he will share with me. 😛
I would gift this to one of our grand kids.
thank you
I would give it to my son!
I would keep it.
i would kep it for myself of course!
danielle marie xdanimarie(at)yahoo(dot)com
I would give it to my stepson. Thanks!
I would use it because they took my iPad. 🙂
I would keep it for myself because he stole the one I had.
I would share with my grandson
would use it for myself for school, work & in general to plan things and get organized
I would use it for myself!
addictedtorodeo at gmail dot com
Ashley C
I would keep it for myself but if asked nicely, I’d let others borrow it 😉
Honestly, my stepdaughter is more tech savvy than I am. She’d probably have to give me a tutorial but I’d share with her.
We’d probably all use it for school work together!
The whole family would use it.
Fess up…if you won, would you give the HP Stream 7″ to your child or use it yourself????
giving it to me father..hell never go to sleep afterward
I think I would use it or give it to my parents. My daughter has the best electronics of anyone in the family!
I’d give it to my middle son.
I would like to give it to my brother
I would use it myself
I would use it
I would give it to my boyfriend. He needs a new tablet.
I would keep it. My laptop is on its way out.
I would keep it, but definitely share it 🙂 I need something like this and so does my oldest daughter.
deannankeller@yahoo.com
I would be nice and share it with my girls. Thank you!!
crystalfaulkner2000 at yahoo dot com
If I won I would give it to my daughter
I would keep it for myself!!! Ive never had a tablet so it would be amazing!!!!
I would keep it for myself.
I would give to my oldest soon!!
I would keep it myself but allow my grandson that lives with me use it when necessary. I don’t know if a child really needs to have a tablet at his age but it would be great to do facetime or skyping with his dad.
I would likely just gift this to one of my children for Christmas
I’d keep it. I just started taking college classes towards a general studies degree.
I would give my daughter my current one.
It works great!
For me. The kids took over my kindle fire so this one would be for me
I would give it to my daughter she has autism and could use a tablet to better communicate her needs to us.
I would share with my son for his abc mouse
Well…. my son has a Kindle Fire and the plan is to get my twins each a tablet for Christmas… Since I have twins, and since there’s only one to win… this would go to ME. 😉
I would use it for myself cause my kids dont take care of anything.
I would probably keep it for myself!
I’d totally keep it for myself )
use it for myself
I’d use this myself if I won!
I would keep the HP Stream 7″ for myself.
I would totally use this for myself.
I would use it myself. It would be nifty.
I would probably use it!
I have three sons under the age of 7. If I won this tablet, there is no way in heck, even if I wanted to, that I could use it myself. The kiddos would definitely be the ones using it the majority of the time! Thanks for the opportunity! 🙂
I’d use this for myself.
I would use it myself, looks pretty cool.
I’d Use It Myself!
I’d give it to my 7 year old who started 2nd grade.
I would keep it!
I would give it to my nephew
I would give it to my son.
My children are raised so I would use the tablet daily for myself.
I would give it to my son.
I would use it myself.
I would give it to my son he would love it.
I would give it to my son to take with him to college thanks for the chance to win!
I would give it to my son. He started high school this year and this would really help him out.
I would keep it for myself.
I would use this tablet for myself . I am currently a senior at college and I don’t own a laptop or a tablet . It would really help me with all the online readings and fir online research.
I would use it myself. I love technology, and I would love to try out HP’s version on the tablet
I am the only one in my house without a tablet so I would keep it for myself.
I would use it for myself
I would give it to my daughter.
Both…we could share it.
I would give it to my granddaughter.
If I won, I would give the HP Stream 7″ tablet to my daughter.
abfantom at yahoo dot com
I would give to one of my daughters
I wou
We would probably end up sharing the tablet if we were lucky enough to win! 🙂
I would give it to my child since I just received one.
I don’t know even if I want to keep it for me my sons always seem to take everything of mine..so maybe if I hide it, it could be mine.
Well since my 3 year old has taken over my kindle, this would be all mine! 🙂 Thanks for the chance! 🙂
It would be a shared/family device. It would be mine but I would allow my children to use it.
My Daughter would get it if I won
I would use this for myself
I would give it to my dad so he can connect to the internet anytime!
If I should win I would give this to my oldest granddaughter. She has been wanting one.
I would let the kid have it. She could use it.
It would be a Christmas gift for my son.
I would give it to my son who would it for school
I would give it to my Dad. He keeps stealing my Kindle to read and my laptop to play solitaire.
I must confess, I’d keep it myself. I don’t have a tablet.
I would give it to my son so he would stop using mine.. 😉
I would keep the tablet for myself.
As much as I would love to keep it, I would give it to my sister. She needs it more than I do right now.
I would give t to my husband!
I would use it myself
I would use it but share it with my boys.
I would use it some but mostly for the kids
my instagram ID is gmrich22
My Grandkids already have tablets so this one would be for me.
I would give it to my kids to enjoy for reading, homework and of course some fun time! They would love it and have a blast. Thanks for the chance. Good luck everyone.
I would give it to my kid. She has asked me for 2 years to get her s tablet for b-day’s or Christmas but I just haven’t had the cash.
i would keep it and give my daughter my old one..she just needs something simple for games.
I would gift this to my nephew, who’s just at the age where he’s learning to use the computer. This would be the perfect tablet for him!
I don’t have children at home so I would give this to my daughter in law who has been wanting one for quite some time.
I would keep this for myself
I would keep this for myself!
Oh we would share it. 🙂
I would use it for myself.
I would use is myself.
I would keep it and share it with the boyfriend (I currently don’t have children of my own, just my three nieces who I help with) We have been wanting a tablet for a while and It would be awesome to have one to share
I would keep it for myself
I confess, I would keep it for myself.
I would give this to my son.
I would 100% use this for myself 🙂 Oops!
I would keep it for myself as I am going back to school at this old age and could really use it!
Laurie Emerson
I would use it myself!