i WANT to buy this .. but scared of the quality

I have read just about everything on the net about these little computers.. and my conclusion is that it is either great . .or really bad . .just depends on your luck it seems

I went to MICRO CENTER today and looked at it again the 32225HS and i love looking at it and i like the feel of it .. and at the same time scared to death of it

I have hard that the fan screws up , that the wifi just will stop working and that the LCD is easily cracked...

I dont know . does anyone here actually have one and can say something good or bad

 

You should buy from a place that gives you a week or so to try the computer, and if you do not like it, you can return it. I am not sure of stores' specific policies, but I am sure you could find out.

 

Re: 'Sanboy: that the wifi just will stop working...'

I just bought my Averatec. Wifi drove me crazy for about 20 minutes. Went to turn off machine, knowing how that might sometimes help if only with my own frustrations. I hit the wrong button - next to the on/off is a toggle button for wifi power. The wifi antenna light came on the front left panel, the wireless signal picked up instantly (network signal bottom right of screen). Literally just took the press of a button. It has been GREAT since (w/ excellent signal strength from a D-Link router).

I wonder if others had problems from the same issue.

I am happy with the notebook. It is was a notebook should be; very small/light and functional w/ a great price to boot.

 

Buy it, it's a good value. I like everything else about it too. My only concern is how hot it gets, you'll have a scorched lap if you have it there too long.

 

i bought a small swivel stand called Targus coolpad and that helps with the heat when you got it on your lap

 

Dosent the battery only last about an hour in those?

Inspiron 600m
Pentium® M 1.4GHz // 14.1 inch SXGA+ // 512mb RAM // ATI 32MB Video // 30gig HD // DVD/CD-RW // ??? External Hard Drive // Burlwood Cover (gotta have that) // Wirelessly Connected // XP Home

 

no this one does not plug in or have a fan on it. It is just a swivel stand that keeps the laptop about 1/4-1/2" in up off your lap, table, etc.. in order to keep air circulating under the laptop (where the fan is). It works pretty good.

see it here: http://accessories.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=A0108307&brandid=200

 

I just got the 3200H a few days ago. After putting 512 RAM in it and XP Pro, I was much happier. However, I've noticed that it gets excessively hot for a laptop. I used to have a Dell 5100 and it got warm, but nowhere near as hot as this one. I'm honestly concerned that the heat will damage some of the internal parts. I may look into that stand 3120v mentioned. Also, I experience a very strange problem while using it last night. Basically, for no apparant reason, certain programs I was running just stopped working/responding. Mostly it appeared to affect the messenger program I was using and the internet explorer windows. The strange thing was that the Task Manager couldn't even manage to close the applications. I even tried restarting it a number of times as well as a few shutdowns. I can't figure out if a program I installed recently caused the problem, or if it was the overheating. I even tried turning the wireless off and that didn't appear to help either. Has anyone had this problem?

Other than the issue above, I absolutely love the laptop. The size is incredible, and everything seems to be in the right place. I love having the usb ports on the side instead of in the back, and think the on/off switch for the wireless is pure genius. I'm still getting used to the small keyboard, but really like it. The speed seems to be great for what I'm using it for, and the wireless was incredibly easy to setup. I haven't had any problems with it at all. Hopefully I'll get the issue above fixed and then I'll be 100% satisfied.

 

Heat really isn't a big problem for the internals of laptops. The processors are rated to go up to 200 degrees without decreasing the life substantially, and the hard drive (located under your right wrist) is the most sensitive to heat of all the parts on the laptop. For this reason it's fortunate that it's located as far away from the CPU as it can be.

It also doesn't heat up if you don't have it plugged in all the time - just charge it up and disconnect the AC. The computer will switch into a low-power mode (Make sure you're on Max Battery power profile) and the system won't heat much at all.

 

I had a 3225 and liked it except for the heat and short battery life and the way the battery wiggles when you carry it like a book. It was fast and good and light and had a nice screen for the price.

Unfortunately, I put it in my briefcase and when I pulled it out the screen was cracked like a windshield on a car. I called the geniuses at avertec and they explained that the soft cabinet they put on it is feature! I have had 8 laptops over the last 20 years and never a cracked screen. Handle with care, like you are carrying eggs.

 

Heat is certainly something to pay attention to. The CPU may be rated for 200 degrees or whatever, but typical DRAM is only rated for 70C. I'm sure other components have similar operating temperature limites...

It sounds like the thing is a bit fragile, that's too bad. Otherwise it's a very attractive sounding system.

old: Sony PCG-GR300P 1.13GHz PIII-M, 512MB
new: Asus M6Ne 2.00GHz P-M, 2GB

 

3150 HS here, love it. It gets way too hot for my liking sometimes though, but I've had no problems with it whatsoever.

 

I want to be as fair as possible about these comments as they may influence someone for or against these nice units. So I'll try the best I can. I have a 3280 EH1 model (not sure since it also says 3260 and 3270 on paper labels on the back) and I picked it up at Sam's Club. My first impressions with this unit were good: light weight, good clear screen, good features and a relative good price ($849). Although the design is very stylish, I find that there is a problem with overheating or let me just say, getting very hot as overheating would imply shutting off which it doesn't. A cause for that maybe the fact that the fan window is "below" the unit and since I usually place it on my lap, it sometimes get's totally covered. Another problem I found was that the Wi-Fi disconnected more often than usual and I had to "repair" the connection, essentially reset the IP address. I suspected that I was out of range for the wireless device but a desktop PC a little further back was OK and it uses a wireless PCI card. Finally, and the problem that has me seriously considering returning the unit was the fact that the DVD burner does not work. I can play the DVDs but it won't write them and I am using DVD-R. I contacted Averatec Technical Support and they went through some routine diagnostics which did not solve the problem. The tech as a last resort wanted to Reformat my Hard Drive, essentially a factory reload of the OS which I declined (actually I said that I had inadvertently uninstalled the Phoenix mirroring software included--no recovery CD's are available for my model) and he suggested then I ship my unit back to the factory for a two week delay so they could reload the software. I have been around computers most of my professional life to know that that is a typical runaround so customers would hesisate losing the unit for so long, but, it is possible that the DVD drive has a defect, so I don't totally discard that idea. In short, and after reading all your comments (especially the case-cracking issue and how it was handled) I think I will return my unit and go for a ThinkPad which are built like tanks but they cost a bit more. I use my laptop for my consulting business and it may be worth investing on a road warrior after all. That's too bad as I was really-really liking this unit.

GranPicasso.