Sharp Actius MC24 Reviews?

I just bought an Sharp Actius MC24 online at bestbuy - $729.00 (with the 200 dollar rebate). Total of about $818.00 after tax and shipping. Does anyone have any reviews on the Actius? I can't seem to find any except one review... Any Actius MC24 users out there? What are your opinions? The one review I read was pretty negative, but I'm wondering if there are any others.

 

http://www.bensbargains.net/ktalk/1113495520,78791,.shtml

one positive review

 

Hi Macoy, I haven't received the Sharp Actius MC24 from Best Buy yet, it should get here on May 3rd. It seems that Best Buy raised the price, it used to be $929, but now it's back up to $999.

I read the review on Bens Bargains, I know they have a Sharp Actius MC22. But the Bens Bargain review talks about how the $1300 Sharp that his uncle bought could connect to a computer and serve as a hard drive, I think that feature is mostly on the Actius MM10 or MM20 notebooks.

I've read one negative review of the MC24 on C-Net...

 

hello, I am also thinking about to buy one. well, as you are the user, how do you feel about it?

I have one question. what is the make of the frame? With just cheap plastics or with metal material?

 

Here is the Actius MC-24 review from cnet.com:

Pros:
slim and light

Cons:
works for a month then dies

Full user opinion
I bought this computer because I loved my old Sharp GP22W but it was too heavy to carry to law school every day with my casebooks. I pre-ordered the MC24 and was looking forward to it despite the fact that it didn't come with Outlook or Word (it comes with Outlook Express, which doesn't have a calendar function, and Wordperfect Office, which isn't as bad as it used to be). The computer release date was delayed from 1/25 to 2/4, which should've tipped me off, but my system arrived on 2/8 and worked for about 5 weeks then crashed.

I tried to reboot several times but the system kept freezing. I ran the disk recovery but it did no good. I sent it in for repair and they replaced the HDD and sent it back within 2-days--not a bad response time. However, as soon as I booted it up the same problems started again. Customer service told me it was a Windows issue and to re-image the hard drive. Fine. Only the service center forgot to install the recovery program on the replacement hard drive [this model does not use recovery disks; they pre-install the recover on the d: drive]!

When I called customer service to report this they didn't know what to do with me and said they'd call me back in two days [it was a Saturday and no one was around]. Three days later, nobody has called me so I call them and they tell me the best they can do is send me a refurbished system. Considering how well they fixed this 5-week old system the first time I can only imagine what piece of crap they'd send next. Now all I've got is a thousand dollar paperweight. Despite my fondness for my old Sharp I will NEVER buy a Sharp again.

 

http://shop.dealofday.com/sys/products/item_id:B0007OK4UA/search_type:AsinSearch/locale:us

Rating: - Very poor wireless

This laptop is compact and stylish but not much else. Beware of the wireless ability especially. It contains an RALink RT2500 internal 801.11b/g card. Places in my house where my old Dell laptop got excellent or good reception, this one got poor or bad. Where my old Dell got poor, I could not get on my wireless network at all. I ended up returning it for a Centrino laptop, which have much better Intel wireless cards.

 

I will probably buy this one instead.

***************************************

Averatec 3250HX AMD XP-M 2200+ Notebook is slender in design but powerful in components. Its processor will bring you the ultimate efficiency for your everyday computing needs. The integrated DVD+CD-RW combo drive it makes mobile computing a breeze by eliminating the need for heavy external drives. More Info

Mfr. Part Number: AV3250HX-01
Processor Type AMD XP Mobile Athlon
Screen Size 12.1"
RAM (Preloaded / Maximum) 512 MB
Hard Drive 80GB
Optical Drives DVD +/- RW
Graphics Shared Video
Average Battery Life Up To 3 Hours
Product Weight 1.9 kg
Audio Type PCI
Battery Type Lithium-Ion
Cache 600KB
Fax/Modem 56K V.90
I/O Ports See The Features Section
Included In Box AC Adapter, Manuals, Power Cord
Network Card 10/100, 802.11g High-Speed Wireless
Other Software See The Features Section
PC Card Slots 1 x Type II
Pointing Device Touchpad
Preloaded Operating System Microsoft XP Home
Processor Speed 2200+
Product Dimensions 24.4(W) x 2.5(H) x 27.7(D) cm
Removable Storage No
Screen Type TFT
Speakers Info Not Available
System Bus Info Not Available
Warranty 1 Year Parts & Labour

 

did you receive your MC24 yet? How did you find about it?

 

Yep, I received the Actius in the mail today. UPS was slow though, so if you order by BestBuy, just get the standard shipping, the supposed "2-Day" shipping took almost a week. Go figure.

I didn't open it, I just returned it. Getting a full refund was quick and easy, I thought Best Buy would hassle me about it.

I returned it for several reasons: 1. I still have my Dell 600m that I didn't sell. 2. I think the Actius MC24 is too new, maybe they haven't worked out all the bugs yet. 3. I'm holding off for maybe the Averatec 1000 series coming out this May, 4. The box that the Actius was shipped in seemed kind of dented, I didn't want to risk it, and it seemed like there was something shaking when I lightly shook the box.

Well, anyways, the Actius MC24 is onsale for $699 now at BestBuy, probably totaling about $770 after tax and shipping. They don't allow in-store pickup for this item.

Did you buy your Averatec yet?

 

I was expecting a review written by the only actual user of MC-24.

I did not buy the 3250 yet, maybe later this summer.

 

a

 

Sorry about my last post... I wasn't sure if I remembered my login... I figured I'd be able to edit it if I got it right. We should be able to log in without having to do it in an actual post... or be able to edit posts... Anyway...

I recently picked up the MC24 and like it quite a bit for the price. You have to remember, it's not a top-of-the-line notebook. I had the Averatec 3270 first and had ongoing wireless problems with the RALink WLAN card in it... since I wasn't able to resolve it... I returned the Averatec. Shortly afterwards, I read in some forums that getting the latest driver from RALink would have fixed the problem (not the one posted on Averatec's site). Since I already returned my Averatec, I was looking for something else in the same class. The Actius MC224 was pretty much it. Unfortunately, as you've seen... it's almost impossible to get any info on this notebook (just the same press release from Sharp over and over again).

Here are my thoughts on the MC24:
SIZE - I like the size of the MC24. It's small and thin. I was looking for something that I'd be comfortable grabbing with one hand and not fearing that it would snap in half or bend causing damage to some internal components. It's small and light enough that picking it up with one hand is no problem.

BUILD QUALITY - You get what you pay for. What I mean is that while the MC24 is solid, there are some things I'm not thrilled about. The lid latch is plastic (no idea why they went with plastic... how much could a little metal latch cost?)... For some reason.. and Sharp is not the only one to do this... the intake for the cooling fan is on the bottom of the notebook... Now... with a notebook this size, you'd imagine it's meant to be used on your lap... but of course, you're blocking the fan intake when you do that. I don't understand why any of these companies put the fan intakes on the bottom of notebooks. There's a little "chrome" guard around the trackpad and trackpad buttons... but it's actually that cheapy chrome-looking plastic. It would look better if they just stayed with the same color as the rest of the notebook. Not really big gripes... just some short cuts to keep prices down.

PERFORMANCE - The MC24 is a pretty snappy performer with it's Athlon XP M processor. The XP M processors are not exactly the best when it comes to power consumption... expect about two hours out of a charge. Unfortunately, the fan has only one speed. I prefer systems that can step the speed of the fan up or down. With the MC24, when it needs to be cooled down, the fan comes on full blast (it's not overly loud... but certainly can be heard over a television and easily in a quiet room). I'd much rather a fan that can come on at a nice, almost inaudible, speed when low level cooling is required. The Averatec does have speed stepping for the fan (it actually has a BIOS selection to calibrate the fan to make sure it's running at the right speed for each "step"). The MC24 has a 60GB drive and 512MB of memory... both decent for a machine in this class. The wireless performace from the RALink WLAN card exhibited the same problem on the MC24 as it did on my Averatec 3270... but having read suggestions for fixes (after I had returned my Averatec). The two machines use the same wireless card. I went to RALinks website and downloaded the most current driver. My wireless seems to be working fine now (I wish I had figured that out while I still have my Averatec). The native (and max) display resolution on the MC24 is 1024x768 which is fine for a display of this size. Colors are vibrant and the display is bright. I would be happy with a greater range from the most dim setting to the brightest setting. I like to keep my displays on a fairly dim setting when on battery... just to squeeze out what last minute of power I can. The change from the lowest setting to the highest is hardly noticable. The onboard graphics solution is nothing amazing. This is not a system to be playing games on. If you want something to browse the internet, send email, use office applications (Word, Exel, etc), and instant messaging, this little guy will be fine.

CONCLUSION - If I had been able to get the wireless to work on my Averaec while I had it, I would have kept it. I'm not sure if I prefer the Sharp MC24 over the Averatec 3270 or not. The Averatec does have the newer Sempron processor which is based on the Athlon64 architecture (less the 64 bit part). While the fan on the Averatec did have stepping speeds, it seemed to run more often and even the lowest speed was quite audible. I like the buid quality of the Sharp MC24 a bit better. It has a little door for the PCMCIA card... the Averatec's is just open. The other ports on the Averatec are also exposed... Sharp has covered all of them on the MC24 for a more "clean" look (as well as protection). All in all, both the Averatec and the Sharp are decent machines for their respective prices.

Now... I can't say all that with out making this comment. It seems there is nothing in the PC world that comes close to the build quality of Apple's iBook in the $1000 price range (of course Apple's PowerBook is an excellent machine as well... but that's not the price range we're looking at). The iBook is like a brick... it's solid, cleanly designed, and it looks great. I have an iBook that's about a year old and I was actually considering getting a new one instead of a new PC notebook... but the only real change in the iBook from the one I have to the most current is a little speed boost. It really didn't seem worth upgrading just for that. But I love that machine (and OS X as well). If you're in the market for a $1000 notebook, the iBook should really be on your "check out" list. If you're a person who must use Windows for system compatibility or development you may want to stay with a PC notebook (although, you'd probably be looking at something more advanced than any of the notebooks I'm talking about here)... but for the most part, you'll be able to do everything on the iBook that you can do on a PC notebook. The iBook also has a dedicated graphics solution which will give you much better graphics performance than either the Averatec or the Sharp. I'm not trying to push the Mac here... but just want you to consider all the options in this price range. I actually started this just trying to get some info out there on the Actius MC24 since I know I haven't been able to find any. As I started going over all the problems with Sharp and Averatec machines, I realized the iBooks doesn't suffer from any of them.

Anyway... all that said... hope ya find this helpful. I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

 

i bot laptop mostly cuz of the $50.00 3 yr warrenty and that i would get 100 points towards the purchase of a battery which cost 129.00 (you must enroll in points program before purchase and you get the points 30 days after purchase)and shipping was around 15.00 purchase at sharp
http://store.sharpsystems.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=8

pros. computer is very pretty. has nice screen but not as good as the "bright" screens. keyboard is easy but backspace is a reach that i am sure i will get used to. i found irritating with my last computer was getting it fixed and the cost of a new battery so i think getting a manufaucure extended warrenty and an extra battery a good deal. battery will cost 29.00 after i use my points.

cons. speakers suck,

the complaints others have about the fan, and the wireless range dont affect me as i have a wireless card i use instead of the built in wireless and use the computer in a truck for GPS navigation.

Overall i dont think this laptop is for most people. i feel that my 5 year old laptop had much of the same features as this one.

i wanted somthing small that i could count on for a long time and i feel this will do nicely.

summery
very pretty, 3 yr manufacture warrenty for $50.00. not for DVD or gamers. simple, easy, basic, just what i needed.

comment
if you are looking for somthing small and light weight you are going to have to consider giving up either features or a lot of cash. and then if you willing to spend that extra cash the cost of getting it fixed after warrenty,will shock you if you dont have extend warrenty and even if u do they still may not cover your repair.

hope this helps u out

 

Overall summup in 1 line: Not bad; not great, either.
Pros in 1 line: Speedy; stable; great screen; feels good to type on.
Cons in 1 line: Noisy fan; awful speaker sound and capacity; wireless is abysmal; support second rate.

Here we go. First, I should say, I like the machine a lot. It suits my needs; it types well; everything I've plugged into it works (so far). Had it for about 5 months now and all's well.

However, as indicated in the summary lines, there are some significant shortcomings. In order of importance (to my mind):
1. It's a shame to call this a wireless capable machine. Putting it RIGHT NEXT TO my router still did not develop a strong receive signal. I'm using the pcmcia port and have a linksys card in it; that works great. I feel this is a real ripoff. I emailed Sharp (using their closed system facility) and they never replied to the complaint. Told them I'd be writing reviews, too, so I guess it's the design, not just my machine.
2. The fan is noisy and the machine heats up enough to keep it on about 90% of the time you're working. So, it's a noisy little machine.
3. The sound is tinny and small. Raise the volume and it's badly distorted. with earphones it's fine; so, if I want to watch a movie in my bed for some weird reason, all's not lost.
4. Called Sharp several times with problems. As is often the case when you've a new machine, it's not clear if the problem's the machine, or your software, or peripheral hardware. They guys at Sharp are courteous, and no help. I felt the underlying attitude was that unless something was clearly wrong with their machine (like, maybe, the screen was busted), then it was not their problem. I also don't think they know a lot about the machine, really. Since the machine is pretty terrific on the operational level, I got through the initial difficulties ... but no thanks to Sharp.

On the positive side, as mentioned in the summary line, there are very nice things, and they really make the machine a good deal (to me, that is). These are:
1. It's SOOOOO nice to be on a speedy notebook after struggling along on about 500Mgh. It really is snappy and responsive.
2. Haven't had a single operations problem. The Kodak Easy Share wouldn't load, but after visiting Kodak's site, I'm guessing it's more their fault than Sharp's. I've got OpenOffice suite, Corel Draw, Norton's antivirus, Word Perfect 12, old DOS programs, you name it, I got it. All work flawlessly.
3. The screen is absolutely lovely; bright, clear, sharp (Sharp; ha ha), totally steady; I love it.
4. The dialup modem performs beautifully.
5. Finally, with all that's good, if the keyboard was stodgy I'd be unhappy; fast typists will love it.

Hope you find this helpful.

Tony D'Ambrosio

 

Hi, NJ.Joey. What info did you get re. the RAlink wireless card on your Actius MC24? Windows update shows me updates to the card, but when I load/install them the card becomes non-functional. I'm running XP. Anything here?

Thanks,

Tony D'Ambrosio

 

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