Averatec notebooks, good value for the basic user.

Hi all.

I am new to your forum.

I recently have discovered the confusing world of laptops and have started out on a trial basis with the Averatec 3210V which is a Athlon Celeron 1.3 ghz processor in an ultra light and slim case. As far as basic functionality for the less demanding user, at $599.00 USD / $899.00 CDN. it does the trick, but I have been warned that Athlon processors run very hot in laptops and are almost prone to failure of the thermal variety by a competing brand salesman. Is he pulling my leg?.... It does seem to run very hot underneath, but is this more of a nuisance that are indicative of all Athlon processors or should I be concerned?.

Now, I realize this brand may not be familiar ( Averatec / formerly Sotec ) but the thing runs pretty darn good and sits on my lap at only 3.96 lbs. I do wish it had a 3.5 floppy though and a DVD/CDRW combo drive. It only has a DVD-rom.

I am thinking I maybe should be looking at the Acer 243LC or the new Sony FRV25. About twice the money both of them, but a few more useable functions putting it closer to a desktop replacement....

Can you suggest any other lower priced models of particular good value?

thanks in advance,

Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

 

Where can you buy them for that price?

I've never seen hard facts to back that thermal theory, thats' just specualation.

 

In general I find that if you pay over $1000 for a laptop you can get a machine with a better quality build. There's a big difference between a Dell Inspiron 1100 and say an IBM ThinkPad T40. The T40 can be twice the price of an Inspiron 1100 but the quality (as far as performance, feel, style and construction) of the T40 over the Inspiron 1100 is worth the extra money if you have it. If you're on a budget and need the functionality of a mobile computer then a sub $1000 notebook should suit fine.

The salesman you speak of is probably only half pulling your leg. It is true that the Athlon processor will run hot, but so will an Intel PIII chip on an older laptop. The new Intel Pentium M (Incorporated into Centrino processors) will be much nicer to your lap in terms of keeping temperature down. If you cann afford a P4M or a Centrino notebook it's definitely the way to go for a light, wireless and cooler running machine. The Dell Inspiron X300, Fujitsu S2000 or ThinkPad X31 are worth looking at.

 

Hey there,
Recently I purchased an Averatec 30150h, got it for $800... It's the best bang for the buck a could find, it travels excellently, it's speed isn't awesome but sufficient none-the-less, mine has the combo drive which is great (the 3150p has built in wirless 802.11b whichs is nice), i get battery life of about 2.75 hours which is about normal but considering i tend to put it through the wringer i'm impressed. gaming is sad on it though, but then again it's ridiculous to try and get desktop gaming performance out of a laptop. It does beautifully with dvds, it's got a great screen (nice an bright). It came with win xp home and the software advertised, not lke most that come with gig's of crap with dell or ibm advertised all over it. Needless to say, I'm quite satisfied with my purchase, I'd recomend it to anyone lookin for a decent notebook that doesn't abolish your paycheck.

some tests:
halo on pc? nope
quake 2? yep
half-life? ya, but not incredible
morrowind? nope

photoshop? oh yeah
macromedia studio (flash, etc)? just dandy
ms office? like a charm

powerdvd? beautifully

p.s. one note on temperature.. when running on battery it can get pretty hot, not scaulding but it still it is hot, it's pretty much just warm when plug into the wall. oh yeah its battery charges in about 15-30 mins, if that.

Brandon

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by [email protected]

 

Hello,

Brand new to this forum and this wonderful website. Looking to buy my first laptop and have been deep into studying most brands and reading reviews and comments for the past 2 weeks. My head is spinning.

My business use will be to take it on the road occasionally and use it as my portable voice-over recording studio...going in and out of a USB port with separate audio gear - not using the laptop's audio. Also want built-in wireless capability, a fast hard drive (for recording software), 512MB RAM, at least a CD burner/DVD-ROM, etc.

Have really fallen for the AVERATEC 5110P, selling for around $1400. It has everything I want, except perhaps a fast hard drive. Operates with an Intel Centrino proc, has 3 USB 2.0 slots, a DVD/CD combo burner and all the proper things we look for in units costing more.

Actually saw it in person at Office Depot a few days ago. Nice, very nice. BUT what's Averatec? Desperately looking for user comments and they're hard to find. Have seen a couple of positive reviews and user comments about customer no-service but not enough to form an opinion to purchase.

Would greatly appreciate your experiences with Averatec. Might it just be too early to ask?

Almost pulled the trigger today and bought a Dell 5100 with a Pentium 4. Reading user comments on CNET gave me cold feet, though. Also weighs 2 or 3 pounds more than the Averatec 5110P. Cost is about $1100, equipped my way.

Would appreciate feedback.

Thanks very much.