averatec AV6130HS remarks

Hey guys,
I just found the AV6130HS on the Sams Club site for $1300. This is the most powerful model so far from Averatec. Does anyone have any experience with this laptop? I would appreciate it if you sare them with me because I am thinking of buying one but have no idea of battery life and overal quality.
Thank you.

e-Machines laptops rock

 

This laptop is a brand new release, I wouldn't expect to see reviews out there for it right at the moment, although maybe there's someone out there that purchased it and could give a first impression...

 

I too am looking to purchase this notebook (6130HS-20) as I recently saw it on Sam's site. I am curious about the FSB though as even Averatec's site doesn't list it. Seems like a hell of a deal for the price. But I can't bring myself to purchase it till I know more details. Tried calling the customer service to ask. But the guy who helped me had no idea and no way to reference it. Any help would be appreciated. [ ]

 

Nevermind, got a reply via e-mail from their tech support. They say the FSB is 800 as I figured.

 

I've searched around quite a bit and the only place that I've seen it is Sam's thus far. If you have a Microcenter near you I would try them and see if they may carry it soon. As they are known to carry Averatecs on a pretty regular basis it seems. I think you can get a one day pass at Sam's last I heard. Not really sure of the details with that though. Good luck though man and I hope you find one soon. [ ]

 

I want to buy this model with graduate student funding, but it's not possible for me to buy from Sam's Club. Is it available yet anywhere else?

 

Actually, the Av1630HS is gonne from the Sams Club website. Now they have some new brand TwinHead which doesn't lok bead itself and the prices are compatable to the AV.

e-Machines laptops rock

 

Bought the Averatec AV6130HS yesterday at Sam's Club for $1300.
I like the keyboard. Keys are a little firm, but I like that
as I type hard. The other big plus for me is a full size
backspace key. Screen looks good. Plays DVDs fine without stuttering. I have made a music CD and ripped music from the CD onto the laptop without problem. This is a widescreen so it is good for looking at spreadsheets, financial data etc. The place where you rest your wrists becomes quite warm, unlike my HP at work.
I plugged in my DSL line and very quickly got on the internet.


JTC
Averatec AV6130HS

 

I tried 2 local Sam's clubs and neither had it in stock. I also came home to find that they had removed it from their site. I decided to go back to Sam's to check out some Hp notebooks that were on display there. And ended up going with an Hp that was roughly the same spec wise. I'm still kinda curious what the deal is with the 6130 though. As it seems to be hard to find outside of their site.

 

Does anyone have any info on battery life yet? This notebook looks like an awesome deal, but I travel lots and I needs decent battery life.

 

Circuit City is also selling this now
it's online item only for 1299. looks like a HELL of a deal!

College Virtual Tours

 

I have used the Averatec AV6130HS for the last 3 weeks (approx 1 hour per day) and I have been happy. As far as battery usage it is not great. I would guess that I got about 2 to 2.5 hours off the battery. As stated earlier I bought at Sams for $1300.

JTC
Averatec AV6130HS

 

review:

http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/print/5470/

just ordered my 6130H1 on newegg.com for USD 1253, no tax, s&h included. the differences are smaller hd, 40gb, and no dvd-rw. i believe all the rest are the same.

 

cpkyle: Have you burned any dvds yet? If so, what was the result? Are you on a wireless network? If so, how's the connectivity with the integrated wireless LAN?

Thanks.

 

Had my AV6130HS for a couple of weeks now.... generally love it... am a 22+ yr PC consultant with *many* laptops under my belt.

So far, the only weak spot is battery life... but this isn't a system for someone who wants long battery life. It's calling is Desktop functionality and speed in a mobile package. It even uses the Desktop version of the P4 chip, with 800 Mhz FSB. No wonder it runs a bit "warm"... this is normal for systems not running the weaker mobile chips. I usually run mine without the battery, when plugged-in, so not to burn up it's 300-charge battery life.

Burns CDs and DVDs nicely. SD/MS/MMC reader is nice. I love the big touchpad and the dedicated scroll area. Keyboard arrangement is really nice, especially with INS and DEL keys down where they should be. The Fn key and Ctrl keys are reversed from Dell's layout, but I'll get used to it.

The Built-in G wireless works nicely, but may seems to have a shorter range than some of my other laptops. It is still performing at full 54 speeed, but signal strength shows mid-range where others have shown higher.

The power supply is big, but doesn't get very warm.

The screen is good, when viewed front-on. It's still readable from side angles, but loses a lot of the brightness.

BUT... the most important part is yet to be seen.... SERVICE. I'm of the opinion that most products are pretty good and usually operate as advertised. The real difference is how things go after you have a problem. Anybody out there with experience with Averatec's support? I bought the 3yr extended service contract with Sam's club as insurance. I was happy to see that they have downloads available on the website, with recent drivers etc. I was also pleased to see that my unit arrived with all of the most recent drivers already installed, even the most recent firmware for the DVD.

 

Just found this laptop available on 4Infinitech.com

http://www.4infinitech.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1889

 

cpkyle,

There's another thread on this site that discusses the 5400 series Averatec and someone mentioned an issue with powering down and someone else mentioned booting up issues.

Anything to report on that line?

 

Isn't the Averatec 6128 offered at Staples WITHOUT a DVD burner? It looks like it is $1149, but offers rebates of $150, which would make it the same price as the Averatec 6130 at Walmart, BUT you don't get the DVD burner, the way I see it.

Am I missing something here?

Also, it sounds like the biggest plus with the 6128 is a better looking display in some eyes.

If these things are accurate, I will go with the Walmart model, keep the DVD burner, and deal with the lesser display.

 

Yeah, the DVD burner is important.

How big is the hd on the 6128?

 

I noticed last night that it was gone from Sam's again. Does anyone know of a distributor to Canada besides the ones mentioned already?

 

There aren't a lot of companies that seel the Averatec brand in Canada. Mainly it's just Futureshop, Staples & Sam's Club that I know of.

-Vb-

 

There's a Sam's club in Canada? I'm in Edmonton, I don't remember seeing any out here, where do I find a local sam's club?

 

I went to Walmart and they had two of these in the box for $998, plus their website lists it for the same price (includes a case, as well).

I would have bought it, except for some of the comments here about the display. Instead I bought an Acer TravelMate 2502 (3.0 P4; 512; 40g; DVD Burner) for $1139 from Newegg.com plus $15 shipping (no tax).

Not sure which way one is better, but I went with my gut.

Can't believe how much computer you can buy for a grand....

 

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

 

I'm looking for the HN model. The HS doesn't have a DVD burner, just player. Does the Travelmate have firewire? I guess I could look it up.

I called up Averatech and they told me BestBuy in Canada carries the 6130. I tried to get in touch with them on the phone (their website doesn't do ecommerce) and didn't get anyware. I called both Sams Clubs in Massachusetts and both electronics dept left me on hold for over five minutes, so I hung up.

4infinitech.com carries the HS model for $1400. They said they may be getting the HN model in a week or so and will call me back then.

 

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

 

I just bought the 6130HS-20 at bestbuy in Edmonton. This was the first time i had seen a retailer carry the big screen ones in Canada so I though I'd give it at try. The first thing that I found was that the screen is HUGE!!! The pictures don't do it justice, and previous to this I was running a sony vaio with a 12.1" screen. Its like getting half a screen more! It does run a little hot, but the performance is blazingly fast! I'll keep updates coming as I break it in.

 

The stickers are all on the laptop when you get it out of the box but they're easily removed. I haven't had any residual sticker glue issues. Particularly if you use the laptop for a while first cause it runs hot enough to soften the glue. As far as I can tell, the cd is only a recovery cd that incorporates a windows image, but its not a full out windows xp install disk. By the way, I had occasion to call the averatec tech support line yesterday, and it was excellent especially since it was a sunday.

 

Hello,

I was wondering for the people who have bought the 6100 series from Averatec. Do they give you the original Windows XP Home CD? Instead of just a recovery CD. I noticed all those stickers on the display models in the stores, are they on the laptop when you open it for the first time?

 

No, I was wrong. The HN does not exist. It is the HS after all (with the DVD burner) and I did purchase the 60gb version from 4infinitech.com for $1400. It arrives later today and I'll post something here in a few days after having played with it a while.

I've been told that XP Home is crap, so I'll be buying XP Pro soon and wiping the drive and starting from scratch. Even though this freaks me out a little (I've installed 95, 98, NT and 2k multiple dozens of times, and every time it takes HOURS) I still think it'll be worth it down the road.

 

Well, it came yesterday and I'm loving this machine. It's quick, big, bright, and fast. And did I say BIG? And the speakers are loud enough to be too loud if you're listening to a cd.

Not too heavy, although after a bit of cdrom use (copying and unzipping a 522mb file to the hd) it runs a little hot. However, I've been using it on my lap for the past hour or so and though I can feel the front of the keyboard is warm, it's not that bad.

I'll be testing the wireless connectivity two days from now, and I'll try to remember to report in then from there.

Michael

 

See my remarks at the following thread. This is a very impressive machine for the money. Clearly, Averatec could have charged way more. This is a solid, well-built machine, with all the standard features one expects in a powerful portable, or as a desktop replacement. The battery life could be better, but I generally use it for business so that was not deciding factor for me.


http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5756

redjr...

 

Michael,

Last night in my hotel room, I was never succesful in getting either a wireless connection, or hardwire connection to their local LAN. I kept getting the message, "TCP-IP not enabled for this connection..." whenever I'd try and 'repair' the connection. It worked fine a few hours earlier on my home network - both wirelessly and hardwired. There must be something simple I'm overlooking, but I looked at every conceivable option and couldn't find anywhere to 'enable' TCP/IP. Even a 'properties' on the bridge showed that TCP/IP was enabled. Any ideas?

I'm using the new Netgear portable wireless router in hotel rooms and it worked great last week with Sony VAIO notebook. (same hotel this week) The 6130 is still very new to me, < 48 hours old, so I'm enjoying playing with it and enjoying the big screen and fast performance.

redjr...

 

It's not just the battery, it's also the wireless card. There's not much you can do about the battery when you have a processor that sucks up all the energy it cna get (it's not a mobile processor) and perhaps some more energy saving features, like dimming the screen if you don't touch the kb for 5 minutes (ala imac powerbook).

The built-in wireless network tranceiver, on the other hand, is almost useless. I'm sitting 5' away from a wireless hub and I've been dropped twice. I had to buy an orinoco wireless card (with antennea) to overcome this deficiency.

And that's not to say I'm not happy with my laptop. I'm quite happy, just... well, those two little things make me wish I had another laptpo just for everyday use that had a CRANKING internal network card and a processor/battery combo that allowed me ten hours of battery time.

Hey, we can all wish. And one day soon there'll be batteries you can buy that will have much more life in them.

 

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

 

One of the only things stopping me from buying this laptop is the potential heat issues. I intend to use it as a true desktop replacement and leave it on for very long periods of time. Don't care about the heat from a comfort standpoint, but I don't want it to overheat and blow itself out.

How hot does it really get for you guys? Went to Circuit City today and touched the Pentium 4 laptops on display and felt hardly any heat...and they had to be on for at least 5 hours. Went to Sams to feel the Averatec and it wasn't even on, which of course didn't make me feel any better.

~$1300 for this is really a steal, though. And although I'd probably get Sams extended warranty, I'm still a bit worried about the heat.

 

The only time I've noticed the heat is when I've had it on for ten hours and could feel the heat rising up form the left-side of the unit (presumably the hd). I wouldn't leave it on 24 hrs a day like my old desktop but I would definitely consider using it as a replacement FOR my desktop. Since I got this baby I haven't sat in front of my desktop for more than on hour all tallied.

Redjr, I'm not a networking expert, especially in WinXP (which though it's easier, I'm very new to, and never used wireless before).

I would blame the wireless on the weak internal card (which as I write this continually drops and regains the signal from a wireless hub only 12' from me, direct line-of-site across the room).

But if you're not able to get even a wired connection, it could be their network. I have had no problems with wired connections since I got it.

Michael

 

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

 

redjr,

Where'd you get your XP Pro? I'm going to do the same thing, but can't bring myself to pay the $300. I found an OEM copy for $140 which requires a complete wiping of the hd.

BTW, is there a 120gb drive available? Also, how about better batteries? I could buy a second regular battery, but thought perhaps someone has a stronger one that would fit in here. Sure would be nice to have 3 hours of power...

MM

 

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

 

Hmm. That's too bad. The coolers I was looking at all have fans on the bottom (so the laptop can sit on them).Perfect for vents on the bottom and exhausts from the side, but for this averatec it looks like it would be blowing air into the exhaust. :|

Ah well. Still gonna check it out though. Thanks for the response!

 

Everything's on the bottom, thus when it starts to warm up the heat sort of exudes out from everywhere underneith.

 

Thanks for the replies! I think I may try this one out now later this week. I'll post up some impressions when I do.

One last question, where are the vents and exhaust on this unit? I think I also might invest in a notebook cooler, because I tend to occasionally leave my cpu on sometimes while at work to download music.

 

For the users with networking problems, see if you can get an upgrade to XP Pro.

My 6130HS would connect ok, but some nights would drop a few times an hour, but then stay on for long periods of time. The speed would also fluctuate from 11 to 54 (max). This is with a netgear router.

However, after I upgraded to XP Pro (which required a new audio driver btw, easily obtainable from Averatec's website) my connection has been maxed at 54 continuously, and has yet to drop (easily 30+ hours of connectivity since I upgraded).

Not sure if it's a direct correlation or not, but the upgrade has been great for the network connection.

 

They loved this computer in this review: http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/print/5470/

I'm picking one up at Future Shop in Vancouver today for $1699(Canadian)..... sounds like a great deal!

Has anyone had any problems with Averatec computers and/or their service department?
Thxs

 

Interesting how they didn't mention the wireless performance. Though this is the first article that I've seen with benchmark numbers.

Thanks!

 

hi,
I just bought the 6130hs from sam's club and so far it's a fast little machine. I didn't like windowx xp home so I installed XP Pro. I put a dvd in the drive and it's smooth as silk. This is the first time I have ever bought a notebook and it's a pretty solid construction.
-andrew

 

jedisolo,

I think you'll be happy with the machine. I've only had mine for 1 week, and am very pleased with the overall performance, quality of construction, attention to detail, and general 'fit n' finish' of the puter. I absolutely love the two-tone silver and platinum metal-flake finish. It seems like a well-polished machine.

If you have a wireless network, or access point at home, be sure and press the button next to the power button. It turns on the wireless transceiver. Nice touch to be able to toggle it on and off. But you have to know it's there! However, it is a little weak, and I was unable to get it to connect reliably with my wireless router. I may either install an extra access-point in my great room, or resort to using my D-LINK wireless card. It works beautifully. Since most of us don't read manuals unless we absolutely have to, it was easily overlooked. I struggled for an entire evening wondering why I couldn't get connected. Duh!

Enjoy..

redjr...

 

Which is a good notebook cooler for this machine?
-andrew

 

I was thinking of getting a small desk fan and pointing it to the side of the unit, blowing air under the laptop as it sits on its little rubber feet.

I was wrong when I posted back a couple of weeks ago when I said the air blows out the bottom. It is sucked in from underneith through two small fans and exhausts out the back.

So a small laptop cooler with fans that blow up would actually be very good.