Averatec's new 6500 15.4-inch mainstream laptop

Korean manufacturer Averatec tops off their line of notebook computers with the new 6500 featuring a 15.4-inch WXGA screen, ATI Mobility Radeon x700 graphics, 1.73 GHz Pentium M, and 512MB of DDR2 RAM. It also packs in a 80GB drive, dual-layer DVD, 802.11g, and a vast selection of USB, FireWire, memory card, and A/V ports. This 6-pound, 0.87 ~ 1.4-inch wedge ships with XP home edition and can be yours for about $1,450 green which sounds about right, although not at the ultra-low end of the pricing spectrum we've come to expect from Averatec.

[Christian @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

How is this different from any other mainstream PC laptop, about 100 of which are released on any given day? This smells of a paid advertisement. Engadget, please don't stoop to Slashdot's level. Keep content and ads separate. If this isn't an ad... what's Engadgety about it?

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Maybe the fact (or at least the implication) is that Averatec is branching out their product line from simply the rock bottom budget tier to include offerings more middle of the road and work horsey like ?

Just a guess...because if it were a paid ad I would expect them to say something overtly positive about it, the reaction seemed rather bland to me, kinda like the laptop itself...

[Pattmyn @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Averatec...*shudders*

Majorly bad experiences with mine, I hope to get it back from its two month long vacation at the Averatec Service Depot soon.

[Devin Lussier @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Christian, you must be a new Engadget reader because if you weren't you would realize that Engadget covers any new laptop releases and many desktop releases as well regardless of maker.

Anyways, I have to say I've been pretty impressed with Averatec, but I don't know if they've done enough to keep me away from that Intel iBook Apple has promised. I'm up for buying a new laptop next year since my current one is now 3 years old so it'll be a tough decision with so many options out there.

[dalton @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

As an added bonus, it will spontaneously combust after only 10 hour of use!

Well, that's what I've come to expect from Averatec computers, anyway. Although, to be fair, mine came with a "mobile" Athlon processor, which might as well have been made out of lava.

[Thomas Ricker @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Christian, uh, not paid advert. We don't do that.

[Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Dont do it! Don't buy an Averatec. These people have a very simple meathod of making their laptops cheap - and thats by not providing any customer service. You may think thats not a big deal, but CustoServ includes drivers - which they never update. Ever.

I spent two months and had to send complaints to the BBB before they even considered updating the GFX drivers on their 6100 series (which had been out for a year - and they never updated the drivers for once).

[TZK @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Christian: Shut up.

Avertec is a great, inexpensive solution.

[tnywg @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Averatec, previously Sotec, is a Japanese company, not Korean.

[Frangible @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Averatec isn't a manufacturer. I can't remember who actually OEMs their notebooks but it's a very common one.

[daniel @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Yup, Averatec is from Trigem, which is Korean; not Japanese.

[onelove4all @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Own one since Aug. Descent machine.
Looks a lot like Gateway PC or the Toshiba m.

Bit noisy but it's supposed to be a no cost PC.
Otherwise it's a great quality PC from a reliable PC maker. It's a Pop brand in Korea. This company Trigem is the first I believe to sold the first consumer dual processor back in early 90's.

I think Averatec is just another brand name that Trigem made to OEM for American Averatec brand. Bit like Sony sells their PCs with "brand name" VAIO.

Gateway and its looks like you cheaped out so... why not a different brand for a change~

BTW, this small thing has a sub woofer on the bottom.

[Richard H @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

If it were an Acer it would not be Japanese; it would be coming from Taiwan. But it's really a Trigem coming from Korea so naturally we call it an Averatec. Got it?

[Pattmyn @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

Oh, the irony. My Averatec literally went up in smoke today...the DAY IT GOT BACK FROM THE SERVICE DEPOT. So full of hate...

[Elliott Back @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

To me, this looks a lot like Sony's FS 790 Vaio series of notebooks, especially since it's so white...

[Windows Update Advisor @ Dec 19th 2005 2:06AM]

This one look exactly like my 1st notebook, an unbranded taiwan product which I replaced few months later for a Compaq ;)