Averatec 4265 at staples

I checked out one of the new 4200 series Averatecs at Staples yesterday. I thought it was pretty good. Screen was decent but there was some heat on the hand rest and the keyboard had some flex. Of course every laptop there had some heat on the keyboard or hand rest since I guess they are on all day long.

Question being any thoughts on this model or Averatec in general? I especially haven't seen anything on the battery life of this guy. But for $1000 you get 1.6 sonama, 512mb, 80gb (5400rpm), and a DVD+/-R. I might just go buy one just to experiment.

http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/SKU.asp?BCFlag=False&PageType=1&SKU=605193

 

I think Averatec offers great value, I wouldn't hesitate to buy.

Brian

www.BargainPDA.com | www.DigitalCameraReview.com | www.NotebookReview.com | www.SpotStop.com | www.TabletPCReviewSpot.com

 

you'll be the pioneer in buying this notebook...there are no reviews because it just isn't widely available yet, but Averatec is always big on value and I'd love to hear from somebody that actually owns this notebook what they thing, so maybe you should take the plunge and let us all know [ ]

DigitalCameraReview.com | BargainPDA.com | TabletPCReviewSpot.com

 

We still don't have them at the staples I work, in montreal.

 

Bestbuy.ca and futureshop.ca kepts putting the Averatec 3250HX on sale at the price of $1,099.99 CAD. Bestbuy.ca even at a time to further reduced the price to 999 CAD.

I guess they are trying to clear the stock before putting the new 4000s on shelf.

 

Staples at US is now selling the Averatec 4255 (P-M 1.6GHz) for $999 + TAX ($1199 - $100 (instant) - $100 (mail in)). The build quality is really good.

I am waiting for the Averatec 4155 of AMD Turion 64; its list price is about $100 less than the above 4255 model with better 64 bit processor and supposedly better processing speed.

I can't wait to see a full comparison review of these two models : 4255 vs 4155 - the best systems to compare head to head between Pentium M (sonoma) and Turion64. The two models have exactly the same DDR RAM, 80GB HD and built by the same company, the ultimate speed difference can be easily controlled by the CPUs and the chipsets. Also, the two CPUs in 4255 and 4155 are clocked at 1.6GHz.

 

I think I'm going to buy a 4265 this afternoon and report back. If i don't like it I'll just return it.

I'm also considering a sony or fujitsu s series.

 

I just went by the closest staples (not the one where I saw it orginally) and they didn't have any 4265.

no restocking fee, 14 day return policy. There are at least 10 staples around here so I'll try another one after work.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by xzjn9p

 

whats the return policy from staples? is there a restocking fee?

 

Ok I bought the 4265 and here are my first impressions

nice screen, good weight, OK keyboard but not great. the touchpad is not the greatest. Great price and good features.

here's the bad thing. the thing gets hot. I'm typing with it on my lap right now and its not very comfortable. The HD area is under the right wrist rest area and both my right hand and leg are getting toasted.

bottom line I think its worth the money for the features but since I'm not really financially restricted I think its going back to staples.

 

I just purchased the Averatec 4265 and have been pleased with it so far (just few hours playing with it), but just now I read the user manual and it says the battery is only good for 300 charges. I'm a student so I use and charge my laptop everyday. So in 300 days I'll have to buy a new battery for this laptop and the warranty only covers the batter for 6 months(180 days). I called Averatec's customer service and they confirmed this. I'm returning mine tomorrow. I'm not going to buy a new battery every year. That's ridiculous.

 

dt34..anyone,

You can order the notebook online from Staples,free shipping over $50.00 anyway. If you want to return it to the store instead of calling up and going through the hassle of a return through online and the mail,as long as it is within the 14 days from date "received" (not shipped ,like Dell's) you just walk into Staples and return it,no problem. It's so quick and easy. You'll get your notebook typicaly in 3 working days anyway ordering online from Staples. Just the convenience of being able to bring back to a store makes it so simple.

Heart [ ]

Karma, It'll Get You!

P.S I wanted to mention that for me the 4255 was barely warm after 12 hours. The models turned on all day at Staples were only warm,nothing coming up to the keyboard or any excess heat. The AMD model had a bit more warmth but barely and also not through the keyboard,which actually is really nice. The keyboard surprisingly was really comfortable. I think because the keys were prety large. My concern is the DVD drive. I don't think It's going to hold up. People keep mentioning the cracking of hinges or elsewhwere . I don't see off hand why it would happen but so many people do mention it with all the models. Everything else was pretty solid for the price. I personally had no interest in the Turion model. Not all Staples stores will carry every model they advertise. They are put in certain stores for reasons that would take me to long to explain. That's why the policy of ording it onlne but returning if neccessary is so much easier being able to take it to the store for instant credit back. I did buy it last Thursday and returned it Friday because of the DVD player "Only". It was too flimsy. Other than that I loved it and was disappointed.

Heart [ ]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by macoy

 

i guess this hasn't been asked, but how do you know what color lid are you going to get? especially ordering from staples online and what not.

i certainly don't want to buy one and find out that it has a pink lid. [ ]

i wonder if averatec is planning on just releasing the blue color lids from what i see from one of the users has shown in one of the threads.

would be interesting to know.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dt34

 

Does anyone know how much shared memory can be allocated to the video card of the 4265 ? I know the chipset supports 128, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's enabled.

 

Well I took the plunge and bought a 4200 series. With a $100, rebate and $30. on line coupon it was a great deal for $970. + tax I have had it three days and I only have two negatives - one is the touch pad it sucks -- period. No 2 - the wireless network card is great but it keeps conflicting with other networks so each time I have turn the laptop on I have had to reconfigure it --
But it's light and fast so I totally recommend it.[8D]
<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by xzjn9p

 

hey... i was just wondering if anyone could maybe post a mini review on the 4200. I know that there has been a lot of talk about them, and a few people have actually gotten them. the main thing that i am wondering about is the battery life. i'm thinking of getting one, but no stores carry them around here. any help would be appreciated

thanx
Chris

 

I did a battery test on mine last night. It lasted about 3 hours with wi-fi and screen on 100%. It does have a battery saver button on the top, though I have no idea what it does.

I mentioned earlier that I thought it gets too hot. I still think it gets too hot but I might keep it anyway. Its not as bad as my old m700 compaq work computer. I was playing with a sony s360 at circuit city yesterday and it felt around the same hotness underneath. Though the s360 was noticably cooler at the wrist area. The 4265's fan is pretty quiet I might add.

 

heart,

you mentioned the keyboard is good. what size are the comma and period keys? are they undersized, like the ones on the 3200 series? thanks.

 

they are normal sized. I also like the normal size pgup, pgdn, home and end

 

hey...does anyone know what speed hard drive comes with the 4200?

 

5400 rpm according to this teardown:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.notegear.com%2FContent%2Fcontent_view.asp%3Fspage%3D1%26gotopage%3D%26TNum%3D229%26kind%3D2%26SearchString%3D%26Search%3D&langpair=ko%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

 

Can anyone that splurged on the 4200 confirm that its a 5400 RPM HD?

 

Just wondering if anyone had feedback about the battery issue mentioned earlier - about the 'only 300 total charges per battery'. I am getting a new laptop, was looking at the Averatec 4265, but that seems a little ridiculous.

Side question since you all seem to know a lot about this stuff - I have a very old IBM thinkpad and was trying to upgrade the RAM (I now run XP and the comp is SO slow). Any suggestions on how to track down a RAM upgrade for an old thinkpad?

Thanks very much for the help!!

 

Go to www.crucial.com and enter your model number. They will tell you the type of memory it takes.

 

"only 300 total charges per battery"

this is nothing new .. most manufacturers just don't tell you .. go over to dell site and look at the latitude X1 or inspiron 700m = they both have the 300 batt charge in batt spec's details

 

Thank you both for the responses - that's pretty interesting stuff to know. Much appreciated!

Ben

 

Does anyone know if a Averatec 4155 or 4265 will be available
in Kelowna or Vernon. We will spend our hollidays there for 5 weeks
Mike

 

bought averatec about 5 days back from staples for 1K bucks. So far everything seems to be working OK except the windows media player button after windows update upgraded the media player to ver 10 the button stopped working. Does any one know how to get it work again? Averatec tech support sucks the guy told me to reinstall windows! I also notice if you pick up the notebook while the DVD drive is reading you get a crackling sound. I guess the plastic is too thin and it touches the drive when you pick up the notebook pressing down on the keyboard area. I will try it for another 7 days and may end up keeping it if nothing else goes wrong between now and then! So far good notebook for the price! Battery lasts about 3 hours with battery saver on. It run a bit cooler than my dell latitude 610 and fan is less noisy as well. Screen is very good, keyboard ok, mice pad ok too but could be better. Notebook seems a bit frail since it is so thin and light and plastic encasing is soft as mentioned above. I might just as well keep it!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by simonscg

 

my 4265 arrived this AM ...
i'm pretty sure it has a 5400rpm drive based on HD test.
using video editing hd test the read/writes are 35/32MBS..
the same test on my HP AMD64 3700 80gig 4200rpm is 25/23 ..switching the C drive on HP to a 100gig 5400rpm = 38/32MBS ...

so far doing a little video editing with 2 external drives = 100gig 1394 drive and a 60gig USB drive .. it works excellent .. no stalls on the video playback...

wireless had no problems finding my network .. accessing video files over wireless network has a playback rate around 17fps = about the same on HP ...

i find the mouse works better if i touch it very lightly .. i find it about the same as the HP = so-so to OK ..

i would say the HP & sony 360 are better built .. IMO the 4265 outperforms the sony 360 at least in video editing = using same files i find the 360 hangs now & then while editing more then one stream ...

from what i can see the 4265 is only using 16mgs of ram .. have not found where i can set it ?

i bought this on a ?? was looking for something lighter then the HP zv5000 for holidays .. was going to buy the 3270 but i would have to buy 1394 card and well the sale at staples $999 and they said if i didn't like it return it for 100% refund !!! ... will be doing some very intensive video editing next week on it though i did not buy it for that purpose = just want to see what it can do ...
so far i do like it

 

The internal HD is a Western Digital 80GB, 5400RPM drive with 2MB cache (WD800UE).
Their is a better drive, WD800VE, that comes with 8MB cache.

See the site:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=99

Still, I'm impressed by Averatec to use such better-than-average HD for this low-priced product, Averatec 4265.

 

OK, I’m brand new to the form. I have owned an Averatec 3360-EH1 for a while, but am trying the 4265 this weekend. Before getting the 3360 I had a high-end Dell Latitude (less than a year old) and gave it to someone else in the office because it was a boat anchor to lug around.

I love the 3360, but couldn’t resist trying the 4265 when I say it at Staples earlier in the week (BTW - how the heck was Staples the first to get this new jem - it usually is several generations behind everyone else). Here are my initial impressions.

The screen is wonderful. Averatec doesn’t need to apologize to anyone for this bright, sharp screen. The key board is much better than the 3360 (and even though I have huge hands, I really like the 3360 keyboard).

Performance is on a par with the 3360.

It is not built quite as solid as the 3360, but anyone calling the 4265 flimsy is just looking for something to criticize.

The mouse pad is better than the one on the 3360. I use a Logitech optical wireless mouse, so the pad isn’t too important to me.

If this were the end of the story, there would be no question that I’d keep it.

BUT, it’s the heat problem that is causing me to pause. I bought my 3360 (instead of a 3200) because I didn’t want the heat from the AMD chip, and the 3360 runs very cool.

Initially, the 4265 was intolerably hot on the right side of the keyboard and palm rest. Then I noticed the fan wasn’t running. I rebooted, entered the BIOS settings, but didn’t change a thing. I did save any changes as I was exiting, and like magic when I booted up the fan was running.

The heat is much better with the fan. In fact, it is tolerable. But it still is an annoyance. So I will have to live with the 4260 a little longer to decide if all of the great advantages of the 4265 outweigh this one negative.

I have looked at many other notebooks. Until recently I was in charge of all notebook (and desktop) purchases for the office (law office – I’m an attorney). There is nothing else out there that interests me. I want a work horse that is easy to carry around and easy and comfortable to use. The 3360 really fits that need profile for me. But the 4265 is just so much sexier – and the screen and full size keyboard do make it a lot easier to use.

Bottom line – the 4265 is a slick (and elegant) workhorse that is a breeze to carry around. I know of nothing better if that combination is what you are looking for. The more I use it the less of a problem the heat seems to me.

(I want to be clear and say that the heat of the 4265 is not any worse than a ton of other notebooks on the market. It is when I compare it to the 3360 that it becomes an issue)

 

Has anyone who has purchased this 4265 from staples experienced annoying grinding noise and feel from the cd-rom? When i was in the store and playing with it, I felt and heard the cd-rom grind abnormally when pressing even slightly on the left half of the laptop. i'm assuming the casing is touching the cd-rom some how while it is spinning. I felt the same grinding even then typing on the keyboard with normal pressure, when hitting the keys on the left half of the keyboard.

I am just wondering if this was just this particular one that they had displayed at this location, since no one has particularly complained about this issue. To me it seems like this is pretty big issue considering the noise and the grinding was felt even with normal typing on the laptop...

 

hey!
so has anyone else realized how crappy the touchpad is!!??? I just stopped by Staples to play around with it, and it was driving me insane. It had only been out there for like 2 weeks too. I haven't really heard much people say much about it, but that alone would keep me from buying. I need it for school, and that touchpad just wouldn't do me any good. So I was wondering if anyone else has bought one and had the same problems. Was there just something wrong with the one that I was messing with at Staples? Or do they just go bad really fast or just plain suck in the first place? Any help would be appreciated.

I was also wondering if the lid actually latches down... The one at staples was locked up, so it couldn't close down all the way. I was basically just wondering if it closes down securely, or if it will just pop open at any given time. Any help would be awesome!

thanx!

 

I downloaded the newest synaptics driver for the touchpad and I thought it helped quite a bit with the feel.

As for battery I got about 2 hours with max brightness, wifi, and playing a DVD. That's probably worst case scenario.

I still think it gets too hot and mine is going back to staples tomorrow.

 

so has anyone else realized how crappy the touchpad is!!???

actually if i go in and adjust the touchpad it works very well but the problem is i have to adjust it every time i start the computer as once you shut it off it doesn't remember the settings nd goes back to default .. once adjusted the tap works excellent , you can have different areas of the pad respond to tapping BUT i have to say i'm tired of having to adjust it every time i turn it on .. tech support could not help with problem = they said send it in for repair ...

there is not a latch on the computer .. IMO it does close securely - i have no problem with it ..

i do have a problem with the graphic card for the LCD .. it only uses 16mgs of the shared RAM ... works good on most software but not on software that uses extensive graphics ... also that is a total of 16mgs to be shared between 2 monitors when you connect a external monitor = 16mgs just doesn't do 2 monitors very well .. tech supports says that's the way it is !!!! though at 1st they tried to tell me i could change it in the BIOS but they could not show me where or could they find it = perhaps if enough owners complain they will include a way to change shared memory in future BIOS ...

does any other owners have have the mouse/pad problem of not remembering your settings ?? and is your's only giving the graphic chip 16mgs of the RAM ..

BATTERY = well i'm just not getting very much .. maybe 2 hrs in max batt mode ?? and that's not any entensive CPU's use ... i'm still testing different settings ....

 

hey,

thanx for the replies on the touchpad. i was wondering (EZXIT) where you went to customize the touchpad settings. i messed around with the one at staples quite a bit, but I never found anything about 3 different tap sensitive areas to adjust. if you could tell me where I could find those settings that would be great, and i'll probably go back in tommorrow and see what results i can get. also, if anyone has anything else to say on EZXIT's complaint about the computer not remembering his settings that would be great to know.

anyways, thanx a bunch for the feedback guys...i'm still looking and researching this laptop down to the bone!

thanx!
Chris

 

for advanced touchpad adjustments = control panel - mouse -DEVICE SETTINGS - settings then expand TAPPING , expand tap zones - enable tap zones then choose your settings for top right, top left , bottom left , bottom right ..also look at TAP zone size and you might make them slightly larger ... you might expand pointer motion and adjust edge motion , constrained motion, slow motion, sticky borders , pointer refresh rate ...

intel has a new driver for the graphic card that gives you a few more settings/keyboard shortcuts .. does not adjust shared ram ..

 

If anyone is looking for a good neoprene laptop sleeve for the the 4200 or 4100 series try the Sony VGP-AMC1. I just bought it for my 4265 and it fits like a glove.

 

i'm now able to get the batt to go 3hrs + ( around 3hr still have 12-18% batt remaining) by dimming the LCD 3 notches and running in max batt mode .. my 4265 isn't dimming the LCD when i unplug it from AC though i did set it in the bios .. it does dim if i don't touch the touchpad for 10 min ...

i have no problems doing basic video editing in max batt mode ( CPU runs 1/2 speed) though on effects it does not play back 29.97fps ..at full CPU no problems on effects ..also i've been running dual monitors (extended desktop) for editing and it works good ..

i can capture video over 1394 to C drive while at same time surf the web, continue editing using video clips that are on the C drive , which my desktop 2.4 PIV will drop frames on same task .. so i do find it a fine performer ... no problems running multi external 1394 & USB 2 hard drives ..

my main problem is it not remembering my touchpad settings .. when i do have the touchpad set up using tap zones it works very good !! tech support has said to either exchange unit thru staples or send in for repairs= i'll do the exchange ...

 

The Averatec is OK for a budget notebook but the DVD drive is flimsy on all and wont hold up internally/externally. Some kept askingabout the HD's. They are all 5400RPM's or more depending.

GM

 

hey EZXIT, i was just wondering what program that you use to video edit with... Is it adobe premier? or is it some other program?

thanx!

 

"what program that you use to video edit with"

i use sony Vegas 6 & DVDa 3 .. also installed sound forge 7, combustion 3 , Acid pro 5 on 4265 ... they all work very good .. on some compositing using combustion i could not see some layers ( requires much more grahic card RAM ).. i had never planned to use the 4265 for combustion or for editing ... i will use it for editing on the road ...

no problems burning DVD's +/- ...

 

Hm... I really want to buy this laptop , but it is sold out everywhere. can anybody give a link where it is still available?
thanks

 

The reason why it is sold out is because it is so new. Not all stores have received them yet. Staples was one of the first.

 

Just talked with the dudes at Averatec wondering about the 4100 series running AMD's Turion processor. They said it should be available mid-July, but I thought someone on here mentioned that they had seen one in a store already...can anyone confirm?

Also it sounds like battery performance might be significantly lower for the Turion chip when compared with Intels Centrino, check out this link...
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/03/15/amd_turion_bench/
For a broader look at the hype around the Turion, check out...
http://www.amdboard.com/turion.html

Cheers!

 

hi i'm a newbie on this forum , you will excuse my bad english ,(i'm french)
Averatec is arriving on the french market right now,and i'm very interested the 4200 series
in this way ,i have few question
does the averabrite screen is the equivalent for X-black technology by sony (ultra brite)?
does the integrated graphic card permit to play any games(not talking about farcry or doom like , but older video games)
the hardrive is a 4200 or 5400 tpm
thaks you for all your answers