Customer Reviews

Averatec AV3250H1-01 12.1" Laptop (AMD Athlon XP-M 2200+, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just recently purchased this notebook and am very pleased with it thus far. First thing I did was remove Microsoft Works and installed Office 2003, along with removing Norton anti-virus and installing McAfee in its place. The computer handled the removal and installs very well. At home I use a wireless router to connect to the internet. The built-in wireless works well, but the connection quality was weaker than both my PDA (Ipaq) and my roommate's Compaq Presario from the same distance from the router. The battery life was about 2.5 hours with the wireless internet connected while ripping a few CDs. For $829.00 I find this to be an exceptional value compared to other laptops this size and weight and would recommend it to anyone looking for a budget laptop with nice features.

I have a very similar version of this laptop with less RAM. I love it!! You absolutely can't beat this laptop even with the ones that cost more than $1000. The build quality is better than Dell's. It's light and thin, and the power adaptor is tiny compared to other laptops. Remember that some other similar laptops might have heavier adaptors. The cord is also long enough. My friends with Sony's always have to sit close to the outlets because the adaptors have short cords.

I've had this computer for 3 months now, and while the size is perfect for bringing everywhere, it's bad when you want to go wireless. I've been in many places with free wifi and my connection signals have always been poor. I've sat besides other people with their Centrino powered computers, and their signals were so much stronger. In some places, I could not even get a decent signal while others were surfing comfortably. The batteries are clearly inferior, so if I were you get a different brand. If not, go for the Centrino powered. Believe me you'll be grateful you did.

I purchased an Averatec 3250 at the end of 2004 to lug with me on a 3-month around-the-world trip, primarily to stay in touch via email, do my personal expenses/pay bills, download and upload digital photos, create my travel website and maybe watch a movie from time to time. As such, I wanted something light and something inexpensive (due to risk of loss and/or damage). Well, I didn't lose or damage it, but the lightness was certainly appreciated!!! Wireless was anywhere from fair to excellent, but it's hard to tell if it's due to the computer or just crappy networks in all these other countries. I didn't have another laptop for comparison. Fortunately, most of the international flights have power ports, so for the times I wanted to use the laptop on the plane, I didn't have to worry much about how long the battery would last.

Now that I'm back in the states, I've taken some mid- to longer-range flights on aircraft without powerports, and BOY OH BOY is the battery life bad. Watching a movie via Tivo-2-Go (basically a stored MPG), the battery gave out after ONE HOUR. If I were watching a DVD it would probably have been shorter. Doing basic wordprocessing, the battery gave out after about 80 MINUTES, not much better. Fortunately I have an extra battery, but that cost $100. Still, my only real complaint about this product is poor, poor battery life. If you can deal with that, then this is an EXCELLENT choice.

Pros:
This is a very light laptop, with all the extras you will need, for just under $1000. DVD-RW, 80 GB HD, Athlon 2200, wireless. Fast and reliable.

Cons:
Battery life and initial wireless drivers. Once you update the drivers, the wireless works great.

[...]

I bought this Averatec Notebook about a year ago from Circuit City for around $900 after rebate. We were looking for a lighter laptop, one that you really could take places without feeling weighed down. This little guy really fits the bill.

It feels like a toy after lugging around our Sony Vaio, you really need to do a side by side "lift" test to see what a difference a few pounds can make. The Averatec boots up extremely fast, the fan always turns on for the first 10 seconds or so, but after that rarely runs. The keyboard has adequate feel, but if you "use it, don't abuse it", you shouldn't have any problems. We have Office 2003 installed, it runs like a champ, don't have any performance problems. The only issue we had was with getting the wireless connection working. After downloading the user manual from the Averatec website, I found out that this laptop has a button (above the regular keyboard) that you have to push to activate the internal wireless connection, probably to help save battery power. (Maybe this is standard in all notebooks with internal wireless connectivity, but our Vaio has an external card, so it was new to me!)

Overall, we are very happy with this notebook, it is fast, affordable, lightweight, and extremely portable, my wife can actually fit it in her purse.

I bought this laptop for $799 with rebate. So far it has out performed my expectations. It is fast, small, light and has all the features a road warrior like myself needs. I have had several laptops, mostly IBM T series and while IBM makes an excellent laptop...they are extemely heavy after you have carried them all day in your briefcase. This laptop is perfect and it does everything I need it to do on the road. Some have complained about the small screen...but THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I BOUGHT IT!!! If you have ever tried to open a large screen laptop in a coach seat on an airplane you know what I'm tlaking about. Thanks Averatec...for figuring out what we business travelers really require.

I found this deal at www. Headlinedeals.com and ordered the product on Dec 9th as a gift for my wife. It was delivered a few days later. Unfortunately my wife didn't like the product when it was fully revealed out of the package. It is a bit bulky in a 12.1" size. The LCD with a very wide trim edge compare to my 13.1" PIII6000. I wanted to return it to Amazon, but only to find it is a product from Tech Depot and I can not return it to Home depot either!
I call Tech Depot for RMA number, only to find the following message from them a few more days later:
We have received your request to return the following product:

Avertec AV 3250H1 Athlon XP-M 12.1 TFT

Please be aware that your request appears to be out of policy for one or more reasons. (Only new, factory sealed product is returnable)
For this reason, the request was submitted to management for an exception approval. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their attempt.
Reason: RD - Refer Direct. Please Contact Manufacturer-which means that vendor name request that all return be handle through them. Please call 408 294-4336


I will call that number later. Anyway, as a longtime customer at Amazon.com, I wished that Amzon.com had not sell this product on the website with hidden policis.

I would rather spend more money at store at Bestbuy or Circuit City because they have better policy regarding return or refund.

I recently bought one of these from Amazon.com. It appears to be a really nice unit, but it has 1 glaring problem. The internal wireless network adapter is non-functional. I was unable to get it to connect to my existing 802.11g network using Windows XP's zero configure support, but I was able to identify it as being a Ralink mini-PCI card, and downloaded (using the internal ethernet adapter, which works fine) current drivers direct from Ralink. No Go, either with Windows zero configure or using the proprietary software from Ralink. I eventually disabled the internal card and got a SMC PCMCIA 802.11g card, which works like a champ. Problem solved. NOTE: You must completely uninstall the Ralink driver software if you are going to use the SMC card, otherwise you get intermittent hard crashes -- the machine completely shuts down and reboots spontaneously, every couple of hours or so.

Fast, slim, light and convenient. I miss a parallel port though. CMOS battery went within 2 weeks. Get AVERATEC or Amazon to commit to a warranty - notice that none is posted.