Averatec intros ultra-light 1000 series, wide screen 4200 series
posted April 30th 2005 4:46PM
Averatec is adding a couple of portables to their lineup: the 1000 series is an ultra-portable 3.6 pound, 1-inch
thick notebook with a 10.6-inch WXGA screen, Pentium M, 512MB RAM, 60-80GB HD, combo drive, 802.11b/g and 10/100
ethernet, and a combination 4-in-1 memory card reader supporting SD, MC, MMC and MS Pro. The other sibling of the new
arrivals is the 4200 series, with a 1 1/4-inch thin profile housing 13.3-inch WXGA screen, either Pentium M with
Centrino or Celeron-M 360 processor, 512MB RAM, 80GB HD, multi-format DVD burner, three USB 2.0 ports, S-Video out,
802.11g and 10/100 ethernet, also with the 4-in-1 media card reader. These should be rolling out for purchase sometime
in May — no official word on cost but knowing Averatec, expect them to be pretty aggressively priced. Oh, and they'll
be coming in a bunch of crazy colors, as well.
[Thanks, Paul Alan Levy]
Averatec seems to be going right at Sony's best models with these T/TR and S-series fighters. I'd like to see how the quality stacks up -- I have not been terribly impressed with what I've seen of Averatec's older models.
Averatec is by far the worst laptop manufacturer out there. I know many people who bought laptops from them for college and most didnt make it through the first year.
I must disagree. I've used an Averatec for the past 2 years for business and personal use. I've never had any quality issues (other than easy scratching of the lid). I'll definately consider Averatec when I upgrade next.
I am curious as to how Averatec will price the new 1000-series.
The price is 1,500,000 Won in Korea which means about $1,500.
I'm typing this on an Averatec. They're cheaply made, yep, but at the price point I figure I can afford to replace it more often. I'm happy with my purchase, though the 13.3" widescreen seems ideal -- the smallest-possible widescreen that still permits a standard 19mm key pitch. I can't for the life of me figure out why that form factor is so rare; it seems to me to be the sweet spot of screen size, portability and ergonomics.
Re: #2, my Averatec has held up just fine for about 2 years. You DO realize that only a few companies in the world actually manufacture notebooks, right? The rest just rebadge them.
I was almost bought an Averatec notebook based on the specs that it did have. Then I went (9 months ago) to the store to actually see one and it had the same old LCD technology that my old notebook had. You basically had to look at the screen at 90 degrees or you would see everything dark and discolored. The specs were amazing for the price, but the screen ruined the whole package. After a little pondering, I decided to go for the HP, I only had to send it in once for servicing :) Next time around it's Dell or Toshiba.
That photo came from our article which we published after meeting with Averatec on Thurs. The 1000 series unit will list for $1,199 and the 4200 will be $999. They should be available in about 3 weeks.
I love my Averatec, which I happen to be typing from. I've owned two different models over the past 2 years and have very few complaints. For the money, they are incredible. As with anything, your mileage may vary, I guess.
I bought an Averatec Laptop in December. After a bunch of rebates it was around $700 (MSRP $1000) It works perfectly, it's great for the price. :)
I love my averatec. One thing that is great about the 6100 series is that there is a very large user accessile panel on the base where you can get at the memory, processor and network cards. Not many other laptop manufacturers give the user as much access to the laptop without having to open the entire case.
"You DO realize that only a few companies in the world actually manufacture notebooks, right? The rest just rebadge them."
This is something of a myth. More than a few companies manufacture notebooks. Only a few of the *second-tier* sellers do, but all of the first-tier sellers make their own notebooks. IBM/Lenovo, Apple, HP, Panasonic, Sony, Fujitsu, Dell, Toshiba... for better or worse, these companies all make their own notebooks.
If you start getting into stuff like Sager, Averatec, Asus, Acer, ABS, Sotec, etc. then yes, you're talking rebadges from just a few manufacturers. So I guess it's not totally inaccurate to say that, in the grand scheme of the 200 or 300 or however many laptop brands there are, only "a few" companies actually manufacture them. But in terms of the actual market, I'd say probably about 95% of all laptops sold are made by the company that branded it.
I think when people say a laptop's "cheap", though, they're comparing it to one of the top-tier brands, not to one of the other rebadges. The top-tier brands are still the most popular, after all - laptops have not been totally commoditized yet.
No. IBM, Compaq, Toshiba, and especially Dell all outsource their laptop to a few Taiwanese Laptop magnufacture companies. That's not a myth but a fact. I believe Dell buys their laptops from Quantas and Compal (why do u think their Latitude and Inspiron lines are so different? Two different Taiwanese OEMS). Even Apple iBooks and Sony PS2s are either designed or magnufactured in Taiwan. This page has some basic info on Taiwan's NB dominance: http://www.argox-usa.com/taiwan_powerhouse.htm
What is Averatec? They are simply a marketing-only US company who rebadges laptops made by major Taiwanese motherboard maker MSI. In fact, Averatec brands their laptops in the Chinese market as MSI Averatec due to MSI's name recognition in China.
gorgeous price.
just get extended warranty.
If you have a colored laptop, people look at you funny. I know cause I had an Orange iBook. I could have had 2 heads and people would have dealt with it better!
The laptops are pretty sweet. I really think avertech is a good company, they made a solid product at alot less price.
I agree with # 14.
A lot of top tier notebooks are contracted out.
That's not such a bad thing as there is a lot of expertise concentrated in a few manufacturers. The mian difference is in the design & quality of components used.
One word about Averatec's quality: GARBAGE. I'm now on my 4th Averatec 3200 series since Feb of this year. The previous 3 had to be returned for a failed touchpad (#1); bad battery (#2); broken power button (#3). Thank god Sam's Club has a no-questions 6-month return policy, as I'm taking back #4...it indiscriminately shuts down on its own -- this time for a full refund -- and shop for something other than Averatec.
I'd buy this if I need a new laptop. I bought an Averatec 3120 in 2002 as a replacement for my Sony Vaio 505 (or some #). The fan was designed poorly, so I had it replaced under warranty. DVD drive died after warranty but I might have done it in with a bad DVD. All-in-all, I'd do it again since the price was excellent. The Sony was way more pricey and I had to replace the HD after warranty.
I've had 1 problem with my averatec 5110HP- the DVD-rom drive failed almost exactly 1 year after I bought it. My only complaint is that the LCD resolution isn't as good as my sister's compaq (1024x768 on the averatec vs a res that exceeds 1600x1200) but for $750 (I never did get the $50 rebate) for a centrino that came with 40 gigs, 512 megs and a dvd burner (and XP Pro) I couldn't complain.
Having a better idea of what I want in a laptop, I might not necessarily buy an Averatec in the future, but if I don't, it's likely because of 1 or 2 features I really want that was lacking and not due to quality issues.
To #18, it sounds like you've had some really bad luck with your Averatecs. I will agree with you that Sam's Club has an EXCELLENT return policy. After owning mine for 4 months I spilled a beer on my 3200 series which destroyed the keyboard. Took it back to Sam's and got every penny of my money back, no questions asked! I bought my 3270 from them right after that just so I can have that excellent return policy.
#19, did you install the power trio? If so, that's why your laptop was shutting down.
And #21, congrats on ripping off Sam's Club. When they discontinue their policy, we'll know who to thank.
#13, someone else already pointed out some of this, but you really have your manufacturers / rebadgers mixed up there. Asus rebrands and Apple doesn't? That sure doesn't seem to jive with the fact that Asus is a Taiwanese manufacturer who makes many of Apple's iBooks and PowerBooks... and sells some of the computers they manufacture themselves, like my S5N.
Dell doesn't manufacture anything themselves - they wouldn't be able to sell it so cheaply if they did. Heck, there have been stories on Engadget about what computers Dell rebadges... For instance: http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000913038231/
People that use UQXGA, HQVGA, or whatever it's called instead of 1280x1024 should be shot in the head with a dead pixel.
What's apple's 30" screen then, BFGA? Pretty soon we'll have XQZHDUGA or something like that
Found some higher resolution pics :
http://www.clubic.com/t/screenshot125804.html
http://www.clubic.com/t/screenshot125803.html
Averatec is from company TG Sambo, and is one of the biggest computer companies in korea
of course they make themselve and not some taiwanese cheap shit does
Averatec is just the line of TG Sambo (laptop line)
and is about to released so check out the website and dont brag about taiwanese makeing and shit
http://www.trigem.co.kr/
Its has been mentioned a few times that many brands come from a few Taiwan manufacturers.
Well, this is incorrect, most of them HP, Apple, IBM, Dell, ACER and a few others come from a company called QUANTA. They are one of the biggest notebook producers in the world and located near Shanghai/China
Have just come back from Comp USA where the averatec 1050 was on display and ready for sale for $1379.00.
Critique: the 10.6" screen has no gloss to it just about the same as the old averatec screens, the keyboards keys were awkward raised when they should have been level with the palm board, the colored top was horrible they are only selling one the marroon all white would have been better, the worst of all was the finger pad was not working right the curser was all over the place could not adjust.(Broken within the 1st hour? No broken out of the box) What a piece of crap. Was told by averatec's sales dept that no one but Comp USA has picked up this unit for sale yet here in the US. Good thinking!!!!!
I'm planning to buy a small notebook but the thing is don't want a noisy one. Has anyone some additional informations about av1050?
Just picked up the AV1050-EB1 from Compusa yesterday ($1095.11, after tax, $150 rebate, $6 CA Small Electronics EWASTE Fee). Not noisy at all. BUT kept trading in until I got a 'good' one.
First machine: Left trackpad button occasionally creaked. I didn't restore before returning to Compusa.
Second machine: Flaw on cover (noticeable dent on edge closest to speaker) & dead pixel on screen (not near dent location). I restored before returning to Compusa. Restore took approximately 15 minutes (easy), but I could not shut the machine down unless I finished the initial set-up.
Third machine: So far so good.
Total weight: machine + power brick & cord = 4.3 pounds
Wish it had a physical volume wheel like my Toshiba Satellite Pro M15-S405.
Wish it had bluetooth or IR. Can anyone recommend a bluetooth adapter that actually works.
Keyboard: I keep hitting the 'shift' key when I try to go for the ' / ' key
I'm just happy that I won't break my back carring this machine around school/travel/whatever.
I'm really jonesing for the 'red' version, but I don't know when that will come out.
Hope this helps.
NEW COLORS, soon!
Just got an email reply today from Averatec Customer Service:
"We will offer several colors including green, pink, red, blue, white,
and orange. These colors will only be available thru our website and we
should have them up there in about two months."
What's this stuff about the display? I see those shiny ones in Staples and sure, I say, "Hey, wow! That really looks great!" Then I try using one and wonder how to get rid of all the reflections. Way back, some griped about viewing angles; I usually work sitting in front of my computer. And yes, I've had an Averatec 3150 for well over a year now. I even wrote a novel on it. I bought it for $700 after rebates and it doesn't owe me a dime.
The other colors sound exciting, can't wait to see them.
I've been reading all this, and I'm still undecided. I want a convertible tablet pc and Averatec has one. It I can afford. Which is why it might win out in the end.
I am awaiting the release of the 4100 series with the 64-bit AMD Turion. Where is it!? Where is it!?
http://www.averatec.com/notebooks/4100series.htm
Any one know where I can buy Averatec parts? Need a keyboard for C3500? Please help. Thanks!
Any one know where I can buy Averatec parts? Need a keyboard for C3500? Please help. Thanks!
I just need to say that DO NOT waste your money on Averatec notebooks. I bought an Averatec 3250. After 25 days, the wireless card went out(doesn't function at all) so I bought a LINKSYS wireless card, but now (the 4th month)the PCMCIA adapter does not function , so I can't use my new wireless card anymore! Worse than that, the battery lasts less than an hour! Furthermore, recently my screen goes all white! I can see my money being burned before me!!! So, if you're considering to buy a laptop, spend couple of hundred $s more and get a better brand that will last longer!
I also have a 3250HX. My wireless card isn't dead, but it picks up considerably less signal than other Averatecs' cards. It helps to restart the computer, though. I think this happens because Averatec has two different kinds of wireless cards in their laptops, and which one they install is unpredicatable (it doesn't seem to depend on the model).
I also had to send mine in to be fixed because the power jack died. It was still under warranty, which is good for me but doesn't say much for the company. Their customer service made the same mistake several times on my address. I saved a lot of money on my 3250 but lost it back in the amount of time I spent trying to get the thing fixed and delivered properly. It's a good computer if you can get one that works consistently. Buy at your own risk!