Averatec Laptop - Opinions

[Sid59]

Staples Link

i can get a decent deal on one of these badboys.

The hardware isn't too bad, except the craptastic 8MB video card. But that doesn't matter to me.

the main functions of this laptop will be:

traveling to university (laptop is under 5 lbs)
writing papers
checking email and doing email from university

it will NOT be used for games or anything.

basically this the best price i could find for a portable notebook. I really wanted to keep it under 1000 and under 5lbs. My only other option was the lowend iBook but that quickly shoots up when you configure for airport and other things. I also wanted a centrino based laptop, but that's money i don't have.

OPINIONS.

 

[ElFenix]

no integrated wireless makes little baby jesus cry

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
no integrated wireless makes little baby jesus cry

yeha i know but 3rd party wireless G cards aren't that expensive.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Sid59

Originally posted by: ElFenix
no integrated wireless makes little baby jesus cry

yeha i know but 3rd party wireless G cards aren't that expensive.

its not the expense, its the antennae sticking out... you'd probably treat the notebook better than i do mine, though. only real concern of mine is with the gfx, the prosavage probably doesn't have the best driver support.

 

[Manzelle]

I work at Office Max and we carry the same model...I have been thinking about buying it but I would like to know more about its upgrading capabilities...

 

[Sid59]

i don't think laptop wireless cards have antennae sticking out.
point taken on the craptastic video card. but i don't need it to do much.

upgrading?
only the memory to a max of 640MBs.

 

[Abhi]

This one has wireless... right?Link

It says IEEE 802.11b ...

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Abhi
This one has wireless... right?Link

It says IEEE 802.11b ...

yes

 

[Southerner]

I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. I was looking for something tiny to take to client sites for diagnostic purposes, but to my surprise it's taken over most computing functions from my desktop. You wouldn't believe how nice it is to go to a client site, start Quickbooks' timer, close the lid so hibernate kicks in, then finish billing in the car before leaving. Huge time-saver.

Anyway, they come stock with 256MB RAM, which wasn't enough for me. Mine's maxed at 640MB right now, which was a $95 upgrade at Crucial. Overall it's good enough for anything except gaming, so I'm not gonna complain much. The touchpad mouse buttons are a little stiff, but functional. The F11-F12 keys require pressing the ALT key, but that's the trade off with a small form factor keyboard. Battery life on mine is just short of 3 hours.

Overall, I like it. I wish it had a serial port, but I wouldn't be willing to move up in size for one. Re: wireless. There are models that have 802.11b built in, but I'd much rather have 802.11g if I were going to go wireless. To me that wasn't a loss at all.

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Southerner
I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. I was looking for something tiny to take to client sites for diagnostic purposes, but to my surprise it's taken over most computing functions from my desktop. You wouldn't believe how nice it is to go to a client site, start Quickbooks' timer, close the lid so hibernate kicks in, then finish billing in the car before leaving. Huge time-saver.

Anyway, they come stock with 256MB RAM, which wasn't enough for me. Mine's maxed at 640MB right now, which was a $95 upgrade at Crucial. Overall it's good enough for anything except gaming, so I'm not gonna complain much. The touchpad mouse buttons are a little stiff, but functional. The F11-F12 keys require pressing the ALT key, but that's the trade off with a small form factor keyboard. Battery life on mine is just short of 3 hours.

Overall, I like it. I wish it had a serial port, but I wouldn't be willing to move up in size for one. Re: wireless. There are models that have 802.11b built in, but I'd much rather have 802.11g if I were going to go wireless. To me that wasn't a loss at all.

excellent portability review for what you do. glad it works out. I think imma get it. now to coordinate with the guy.

 

[Manzelle]

Originally posted by: Sid59
i don't think laptop wireless cards have antennae sticking out.
point taken on the craptastic video card. but i don't need it to do much.

upgrading?
only the memory to a max of 640MBs.

Only the memory can be upgraded? No CPU or HDD upgrade?

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Manzelle

Originally posted by: Sid59
i don't think laptop wireless cards have antennae sticking out.
point taken on the craptastic video card. but i don't need it to do much.

upgrading?
only the memory to a max of 640MBs.

Only the memory can be upgraded? No CPU or HDD upgrade?

most notebooks, you cannot upgrade teh CPU. hdd can be upgraded but not like hdd replacement for a desktop.