Averatec's thin and light 2200 12-inch widescreen laptop

After busting out what they claim to be the lightest 17-inch widescreen notebook available with their 7100 series, Averatec is slimming down the opposite end of the spectrum, with their new 2200 series of 12-inch widescreen laptops. The 1.3-inch thick, 4 pound units are fairly budget-oriented, with a range of AMD Sempron and Turion 64 processors, but the 12.1-inch screen boasts a 1280 x 800 resolution, and there are plenty of other niceties. Along with the standard 802.11b/g WiFi, the notebook has three USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, a 4-in-1 memory card reader, 80GB HDD, and a dual-layer DVD/CD burner -- not bad for a such a little laptop. Prices aren't bad either, ranging from $899 to $1079, with up to 1GB of ram and XP Professional in the high end.

[Via Mobile Tech Review]

[rammo @ Apr 26th 2006 8:56PM]

dell 710m??

[briano @ Apr 26th 2006 9:04PM]

i saw this at costco for 799, turion 64 1.6


is averatec a good product?

[The Duke Meister @ Apr 26th 2006 9:15PM]

Just bought an Averatec 4100 at Costco. So far it's a sweet computer with a gorgeous screen and nice features. Very happy with Averatec.

[Jake @ Apr 26th 2006 9:15PM]

Averatec gets pretty good reviews. I might consider one, I need a new laptop soon, and they seem extremely affordable.

[TZK @ Apr 26th 2006 10:09PM]

Avertek is catching the eyes lately. Though, i am waiting for that hiptop'ish UMPC.

[umijin @ Apr 26th 2006 10:31PM]

LIGHT?!

No way. 4lbs is heavy for this size laptop these days. Apple's 12" G4 PowerBook is the same weight - also not light.

Light would be closer to 1kg or 2.2lbs. Panasonic's two 12" W5 & T5 Let's Note laptops are around 1.2kg or 2.6 lbs.

THAT is light.

[TheWeb20Dev @ Apr 26th 2006 10:55PM]

64 bit processors in laptops.....interesting.

[Brandon @ Apr 26th 2006 10:57PM]

Just a little bit of grammar check for you...

"not bad for a such a little laptop"

Not sure if you were going for the Mario accent or just a innocent mistake. Either way, keep up the good work.

[blinddude @ Apr 27th 2006 12:09AM]

Just a little bit of grammar check for you...

"Mario accent or just a innocent mistake"

Shouldn't it be "just an"? ;)

[jorellh @ Apr 27th 2006 1:40AM]

Thank you so mucha for to playing my game.

[Reese @ Apr 27th 2006 2:34AM]

Anyone know of any really good small laptops. The Fujitsu p1510 (http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=P15) is almost perfect for my needs but nicely equipped it runs $2600. I am a college student and already have a full service desktop... I really just want a really cool toy laptop to take around campus but $2600 is a little steep. Any suggestions?

[wide @ Apr 27th 2006 6:14AM]

Does anyone have a link to an actual review of this machine?

[Geqxon @ Apr 27th 2006 7:18AM]

umijin, are you serious? You call 2 kilograms heavy?

Go to the gym and grow some muscles, please.

[Brian @ Apr 27th 2006 7:23AM]

I dont know if having a Laptop less than 4lbs is a very good idea, afterall, I want to know I'm carrying it.

[mike @ Apr 27th 2006 7:44AM]

See any costco price, take it to "we sell for less Sams Club". I already did the same with two other from this company (was SOTEC, then Averatec). But support is 50/50. From great on-telephone international service,to "we do not sare that information with consumers or third party agents (about chipset info for software compatibility).
Also, no choice but non-selective boot straight from disk, their way, no options.

[icerabbit @ Apr 27th 2006 8:31AM]

Averatec products sell at a sweet pricepoint. Have owned two.
Used to recommend them, but not any more because their service department scores 0/10.

1st system had curved keyboard pushing the lcd panel.
2nd system we've had 4 RMAs on a 4200series model (slow, 1hr15min batt life, 1x DVD burning, 2 dead pixels, ... out of the box). We've had to factory reset the new machine more than once before we could mail it in. System was returned to us once with a dead dvd drive, once with the dvd drive sticking out 5mm outside of the case, ... Each time with 3 weeks turnaround! They only use ground shipping till you reach advanced customer care (=3rd RMA). Battery was never replaced even though under warranty and promised 3 times by tech support. System comes back with stripped screws & screws missing, ...

Most noteworthy are these Averatec policies:
>> Pixel policy = 2 dead pixels side by side before they'll replace the panel
>> System exchange / " Lemon " = Only after 3 mandatory RMAs which takes about 3 months if you live on the east coast, for a refurbished machine ... which would mean one that has been through their bottom of the barrel service dept 3 times. I don't think so.

So, if you buy Averatec, I wouldn't recommend it for a primary machine and I would buy from Costco or Sams so you can exchange it. We got it from Staples and they would not exchange it.

[Robert Preseau @ Apr 27th 2006 8:53AM]

Reese,

I've got a Gateway MX3210. If you've already got a powerful desktop, this should get you through the day. It's got a 14" screen that's brighter than any I've ever used. Dimensions on it are 13x9.7x1.5. RAM leaves something to be desired at 256mb but if you're just looking to kill time and play on the internet, this will do it real cheap. I got mine for $440 at OfficeDepot.

[Reese @ Apr 27th 2006 10:10AM]

Rob,

Thanks... but I'm actually looking for something in the sub 10 inch range. I want it for casual use and have no plans on ever typing a paper on it.

[abigsmurf @ Apr 27th 2006 11:17AM]

�530 for an ultra portable laptop seems a good deal to me. Let me guess, 2hr battery life?

[deslock @ Apr 27th 2006 12:32PM]

> 12. Anyone know of any really good small laptops.
> The Fujitsu p1510
> (http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=P15)
> is almost perfect for my needs but nicely equipped
> it runs $2600. I am a college student and already
> have a full service desktop... I really just want
> a really cool toy laptop to take around campus but
> $2600 is a little steep. Any suggestions?

As long as you can get away with 512MB RAM, the P1510 is reasonably equipped for $1449. That's without an optical drive, but since you have a desktop maybe that'd work for you? Also, if you don't need TabletPC or if you can get it through your school via MSDNAA, you can save another $50.

You can also find good deals through Fujitsu's outlet store; I picked up a P1510 for work for under $1000 (with 512MB RAM).

I have a Panasonic W2. It's a sweet Windows/Linux laptop. You could probably get one used for about $1000.

The iBook G4 is $899 with educational pricing; it's an excellent little machine. However, I'd wait until Apple releases the MacBook and get one of those instead (rumor has it coming out within a month).

Also, you can periodically get Dell's 700m on the cheap with coupons via http://www.techbargains.com.

[William C Bonner @ Apr 28th 2006 12:57PM]

I had been considering picking up an Averatec after looking at them at Costco and Best Buy and liking what I saw. The max memory that was listed in any of the configurations I could find was 512MB. I called Averatec customer support to find out how much ram I could put in the unit, as I really wanted 2 Gig, but was willing to go with 1 gig. The averatec customer support guy told me that the machine had one memory slot, and could handle up to 1 gig of ram, but that replacing the ram in any of the averatec units would void the warranty.

If he had said that non-averatec ram was not supported, I might have still considered buying the machine, but voiding the warranty was beyond what I wanted to deal with, especially for a company I had no past experience with.

[David @ Aug 1st 2006 4:55AM]

As anybody here purchased an Averatec 2200 series notebook yet? Any feedback?

[Leah @ Aug 7th 2007 5:26PM]

I purchased an Averatec 2200 Notebook less than a year ago.... and I must admit, it has been the worst purchase I have ever made.
Certain keys on the keyboard have already stopped functioning, and the mouse pointer gets stuck in an up & down position (making it impossible to select anything to the left or the right of the screen). In addition, the battery life went from lasting for 3.5 hrs to a measely 50 minutes. As well, I find it impossible to get service on this product--the customer service line provides very little assistance when addressing issues with the computer.

Would I buy an Averatec again? Absolutely not!

[adenusi patrick @ Nov 27th 2007 10:41AM]

I have used the Averatec 2200 for about one year, it is good and sleek. I have not had any issue with the laptop. I use it everyday for several hours.

I am about buying two more units for my children.

[Gabrielle @ Mar 11th 2008 12:32PM]

Bought one over a year ago and except for over heating, the thing works great. No problems with it at all.

[vpetrov @ Aug 2nd 2008 3:30PM]

Averatec laptops are junk. Made with cheap and unreliable components they hardly serve their guaranteed 12 months. In my AV3250 the battery died after 7 months and the external DC port broke after 12 months. Purchase of an Averatec laptop was waste of my money and time :-(

[Audrey @ Nov 26th 2008 8:28PM]

Anyone know what printer is capatible with the Averatec 2200 Series? I cannot find my booklet.