AVERATEC 3270-EH1 Review (w/pics)

I don't know if regualr posters are allowed to post in this forum, and if we're not, I apologize. Also, I didn't see this model reviewed on this forum, but if it has been, again, I apologize.

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1 Review:
By Philip Kiser

I just purchased an AVERATEC AV3270-EH1 notebook from Circuit City for $799 after rebates. This review is meant to tell you about vital statistics and features of the notebook without being filled with ultra-technical details. I would also like to apologize in advance for the poor quality of the pictures, my digital camera is not terribly good, and then photo bucket went and resized them. Grr.

Here are the stats on this model:

Model #: AV3270-EH1
Processor: AMD Mobile Sempron® 2800+
Processor Core: 1,603 MHz
Memory: 512MB DDR RAM
Hard drive: Hitatchi Travelstar 80GB 4200RPM HD
Screen Size: 12.1” (Standard 4:3, 1024x768x32 max)
Graphics Core: VIA/S3G Unichrome Pro IGP
Video RAM: 16/32/64 MB Shared (scalable through BIOS)
Sound: Vinyl AC’97 Audio (WAVE)
WLAN: Ralink 802.11g MiniPCI Wireless Network Adapter
Optical Drive: CD/DVD-RW combo drive.
Battery: AVERATEC 3260 series 6-cell Lion

On the outside:


The AVERATEC 3270 is housed in a sleek magnesium alloy casing. The computer not only looks nice but is very functional. Weighing in at under 4.5 pounds and being merely 1 inch thick, the AV3270 is undoubtedly the lightest, thinnest computer in it’s price range. The only persistent problem is that the casing scuffs easily, especially in a packed carrying case.



The front of the computer holds the SD card slot, the external volume control, and the headphone and microphone jacks. The case latch is made of a cheap plastic, and doesn’t hold very well under stress, but serves it’s simple purpose of keeping the computer closed in your luggage or carrying case. The volume control dial is a handy addition (the buttons on my Gateway 7422GX are located under the lid), especially since it is hardware volume control, rather than merely a windows volume control tie-in. The 3-in-1 card reader will be useful for those of you who do the whole “digital photo” thing. (This review is probably the only thing I’ll ever use it for, though.)



The left side of the case (this picture is of the left side, but it was accidentally taken upside-down and then I flipped it) features a Type II PCMCIA card slot, a 10/100 Ethernet port, a V.92 Fax/Modem jack, and a standard VGA monitor port. I have not yet had a chance to try out the PC card slot or VGA monitor connector, but the Ethernet and modem jacks work quite well.



The right side of the case features 3 USB 2.0 ports, the DVD-RW combo drive, and the AC adapter connection (not pictured). The USB ports are standard USB 2.0 ports and are nicely spaced. The optical drive is capable of writing to both CD-RWs and DVD-RWs, giving it great flexibility. The optical drive is quite loud when running, but does work very well. The AC adapter connection is fairly uninteresting. The plug stays in good, what more do you want?

Input:


The keyboard on the AV3270 is full-featured, but it’s crammed into a relatively small area. As you can see, the number and function keys have been compressed substantially, along with the Return, Shift, Backspace, Tab, and special character (,.;/‘[]-=) keys. The arrow keys seem out of place and are miniaturized as well, and I cannot fathom why there is an extra backslash key in the bottom right corner. The power button is of an odd shape, but is easily accessible, as is the WLAN on/off button.

The touchpad is an excellent model, with dual scroll zones and a nifty tap-to-click feature. The only major problem I have uncovered is it seems to be incompatible with Mozilla Firefox. It also is poor for gaming, but you probably didn’t buy this computer for FPS games. (Or perhaps you did have DooM3 in mind, in which case I may now commence laughing at you.)

Output:


Near the touchpad and below the keyboard are the speakers and the power/WLAN/Battery LEDs. The speakers (one on each side) are mediocre at best, producing very little sound on even high volume levels and not even particularly great sound at that. Furthermore, you’re hands will usually cover them while using the keyboard, which is probably a good deal of the time. The Power and WLAN LEDs are a pleasant blue, but the Battery LED, along with all of the status LEDs near the power button (drive access, caps lock, etc.), are a hideous lime green color, which is not quite so easy on the eyes, especially at night. A minor gripe, I know.



Finally, we move to the screen. It’s amazing how big 12.1 inches can feel, even after heavy use of my Gateway 7422GX and it’s 15.4” widescreen. The display is generally sharp and clear, but it has problems if viewed from the top at any significant angle. It isn’t the nice glossy screen of my Gateway, but boy is it bright. I found maximum brightness to be a bit too much in all but the darkest of environments. The resolution goes up to 1024x768, which is high for a screen of this size, adding to the crispness of the picture.

Here are some side-by-side comparisons with my 8.5 lb., 15.4” Gateway 7422GX:


When closed the difference is particularly obvious, however it should be noted that my Gateway is sitting on a fan base, since it never moves anymore and gets insanely hot under stress.


The difference is just as pronounced when the units are both opened. Note the difference in the sizes of the keyboards.

On the inside:


Now that we’ve seen how the AV3270 fairs on the exterior, how does she hold up in performance? “Meh” is perhaps the most appropriate description. The Mobile Sempron 2800+ is a powerful, energy-efficient processor, and this aspect shows. The machine boots up in under 45 seconds (albeit I have run a great many optimizations, most of which can be found in this great thread) and shuts down in under 15. It comes out of Standby nearly instantly (it’s ready as soon as the LCD is on). Performance on everyday tasks, such as word processing, browsing the internet, and listening to music is outstanding. The processor uses a scaling power system powered by AMD’s PowerNow™ technology, which saves greatly on battery life and heat output. My only complaint here is that some things (such as 2D graphics) cannot awaken the processor to it’s full power, and this can cause odd and unexpected performance issues (like Flash animations and Java applets running slowly). In order to reduce heat (and increase battery life), you should run the fan calibration in the BIOS (press “delete” at the AVERATEC screen during boot-up).

The hard disk drive is a Hitatchi Travelstar 80GB 4200RPM hard drive. Nothing spectacular, but it’s functional and doubtlessly all of the space you’ll ever need for productivity, music, and simple games.

The RAM is 512MD DDR (with 16, 32, or 64 MB dedicated to VRAM), which provides excellent multitasking performance for a notebook of this size. The RAM is not, however, upgradeable (at least according to AVERATEC - and remember, they have the power to void your warranty), so you seem to be stuck at that 512. Still, that should suffice, sine you won’t be playing any big 3D blockbuster games on here.

If you’ve been wondering why I’m stressing this as a productivity laptop, here’s why: The VIA/S3G Unichrome IGP sucks. I do not mean that it is slow compared to a GeForce 6800 Ultra; I mean that it gets blown away by a Voodoo 2. The video memory is scalable in the BIOS all the way up to 64MB, for what it’s worth (which is very, very little). But the performance is absolutely abysmal no matter how much VRAM you give it. I told you I wouldn’t bore you with ultra-techinical details, but have a gander at this:


92 3DMarks. That’s not on a scale of 100, folks. That isn’t even on a scale of 1000. Try 5,000. 92 out of 5000. That, for all of you non-math-majors out there, is less than 2%. To compare, the Gateway 7422GX mentioned above got a score of 2502 3DMarks. And I may note that I was forced to use 3DMark ‘03 for this comparison because 3DMark ‘05 refused to run on the AV3270; apparently, the Unichrome IGP is not a Direct3D 9 compatible card. (For those of you wandering, the Gateway got an 848 on 3DMark ‘05.)

Allow me to summarize: You will not be able to play modern games like DooM3 and Painkiller. Older games like Unreal Tournament 2003 should be playable with decent graphics settings, and older-still games like the original Unreal Tournament and Half-Life get excellent frame rates on high settings.

As for the network adapter, I’m not terribly impressed. My Gateway, when set up in the same location, can pick up the routers from both of our neighbors; the AV3270’s network WLAN card sometimes has difficulty picking up our router in the next room. The wired Ethernet jack seems to work just fine, but that really defeats the point of a high portability laptop.

Finally, we move to the battery. I haven’t done BatteryMark tests, but in use I’ve used it on battery enough to get a good idea of the battery life. The standard battery gets about 2 hours of battery life playing Unreal Tournament ‘99 continuously. When doing simple productivity tasks, the battery lasts easily over 3 hours. For maximum battery life, be sure to run the battery calibration in the BIOS.

To conclude, the AVERATEC 3270-EH1 is an excellent laptop if you need an ultra-portable computer for school or work (unless your work involves 3D gaming). Good battery life, decent power, a very light weight, and a slim profile make this notebook PC a great deal. And for $800-$1000 dollars, you can’t go wrong.

--------------------
Gateway 7422GX: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1024MB DDR RAM, 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+, 512MB DRR RAM, 64MB (shared) S3G Unichrome

 

I picked up this little guy at Staples with a $50 instant rebate and $100 mail in (bringing it down to $800). I soooo wanted to like this thing. I had bought an iBook about a year ago because I couldn't find a PC notebook that had the same small/tight form factor at a reasonable price. When I saw this Averatec (and read quite a few positive reviews) I figured I'd try it out. To comment on the previous reviews mention of the scroll pad not working in Firefox... that's a driver issue... you need to download an EARLIER version of the Synaptics touchpad driver (Google it... you'll find a version from other manufacturers... but it'll work fine... this isn't just with the Averatec... it'll happen with most machines if you put Synaptics latest driver on for some reason). So far as the wireless... forget about it. It was horrible at connecting to my home network. I've got about five notebooks... and whether they're using a PCMCIA wireless card, airport express, or Centrino... they all connect flawlessly. The Averatec would connect occasionally... very occasionally... and then it would not stay connected for very long. I downloaded what I thought was a new WLAN driver from Averatecs site (the new one was dated 4/15... and I bought my machine about a week after that... so it was safe to say that wasn't installed on my machine). As it turns out... the one I downloaded was the same one on my machine. I went back to look at Averatec's downloads... and they were all dated 4/15. It would have been nice if they put actual revision dates vs. basically putting the date they posted them. Anyway... I returned the notebook the next day solely for the wireless issue. I thought about exchanging it... but I've seen others with the same problem. The wireless is one of the most important features for me... without that, it's pretty much useless. I have to say... that is one benefit you get when you go with Apple or Intel's Centrino solution... you know the hardware will be recognized and operate properly (provided the hardware isn't actually faulty) vs. Bill and Ted's excellent WLAN card (I have no idea who makes the WLAN card in the Averatec). It's a shame really... it would have been the perfect pricepoint... great size... decent performance for my needs (e-mail, office apps, web browsing, IMing, etc)... they should have just gone with a better wireless solution.

 

Doh! All you needed to do to get the wireless up to snuff was download the latest drivers from Ralink; I'm certain that's been discussed in the AVERATEC forums.

--------------------
Gateway 7422GX: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1024MB DDR RAM, 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+, 512MB DRR RAM, 64MB (shared) S3G Unichrome

 

I looked around quite a bit and wasn't able to find anything... now that I know who makes the wireless... I can see a number of postings on it. Oh well... live and learn I guess. I suppose I can always go out and pick it up again. I'm just not sure how I feel about the company at this point. This was a significant problem... and the drivers posted on Averatec's site were not the current ones. The 3270 is still pretty much the only PC notebook that meets what I'm looking for (something reasonably priced that I can not worry about too much should something happen to it)... another plus is that it falls into the same size range as Apple's iBooks and Powerbooks so there are lots of custom cases out there that you could use for it.

 

I just purchased one of these Averatec 3270 computers from Staples from the internet; received it yesterday. The first thing I noticed was that there was no restore disk. A card or leaflet in the box (which I am unable to locate now) said that the whole restore system was on the hard disk, and that I could restore the system from the hard disk if I need to. I didn't like this, but I thought I could live with it. I know that in the past my hard disks only last about three or four years; I don't know what I will do without a restore disk. I later looked somewhere, either on the Averatec site, or in the manual, about obtaining a restore disk. It appears that I cannot even purchase a restore disk, so if the hard disk stops working, you may lose all the programs that come with the computer, not unless you have the hard disk backed up somewhere. I will get back to this later.

(I purchased an HP computer some years ago, and was told by a sales clerk at Staples that the restore disk was included, only to find out that restore "disk" was actually a partition on the hard drive. Sure enough, after about three years, the hard disk quit working; I had no restore disk, and HP wanted, I think, $45.00 for them to send me one. I couldn't believe my ears. A serviceman installed Windows XP on my system, using the same serial number I already had, but I did not have any of the programs that came with the computer.)
When I first turned it on, several messages appeared, one of which was something concerning some kind of Phoenix software; I arrived a message asking me if I wanted to purchase the software, continue the evaluation, or if I wanted to exit. Not knowing anything about this software, I thought I would try to find out it later, as I first wanted to get the computer set up. I had some trouble trying to get the built-in wireless adapter to connect to my Wireless-B network. I put in another adapter, but it still would not work. After about an hour, I called Averatec; the gentleman I spoke to had me to do several things, but it still was not working. He told me to try a full restore, and if that work to return the computer. I read the online manual, and followed the directions about F4 to do a full restore, and waited for more instructions. I got a screen with some options, the option to restore did not work, so finally I rebooted the computer and received a message stating that the computer was not set for any restore point, or something to that effect; I don't remember exactly. Anyway, after it rebooted, I received another Phoenix software message; I don't remember exactly what it said; I was more interested in getting the computer to work. I think of the options it gave, I pressed "dismiss".

Anyway, I found that the network was now working. I still don't know what happened to make it all of sudden start working. I noticed that the date and time in bottom right hand corner was wrong. I think the date was set for January of this year. Anyway, I corrected it. Now every time I boot up I get a message saying: "The evaluation period of Recover Pro has expired. To purchase a liscense, please visit www.phoenix.com for more detail." I went to the site and tried to find out something about this, but to no avail. If its there, its hiddden somewhere. I also tried to find out the prices of Recovery Pro, but could not find it listed anywhere.

I called Averatec about this and was told that I need to purchase this software in order to be able to restore the system. I asked if I am being told that in order to do a full restore, I have to purchase software for this computer? The gentleman answered "yes." I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Who in their right mind would market such a thing that, in order to get it to work properly, they have to purchase more software from another firm! I asked him how much this software costs, and he told me I would have to contact phoenix. Not having resolved the problem of having completed a never-started trial period, I tried calling phoenix to find out more, but received a recorded message, in effect, saying that I would have call back Monday. I filled in and sent them an email form, only to be told that I would receive an answer sometime on the next business day, Monday, which will be too late, not unless I receive a message very early Monday. I am leaving and will be gone for over a week, so I I am thinking of sending this computer back Monday as I haven't gotten any satisfactory answers from anyone concerning this. I thought after all of this that it may have been because I changed the date from January to May that I keep the evaluation expired message.

Nothing in any of the advertisement and reviews I read before purchasing the computer said there was no restore disk, much less mentioning that one has to purchase more software in order for the restore to work, nor that you cannot even purchase a restore disk for this computer. To me, this is very deceptive. Every offer to sell something like this that requires you to purchase more in order to get it to work properly should have it plainly and boldly stated somewhere where it can be easily seen in the advertisement. Is everyone else who purchases this computer simply laying out more money in order to get their computer to work?

I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions? Are the pluses of this computer worth keeping it, even if I know that more than likely, sometime the hard disk may stop working, and no system restore disk, plus the fact that I am being asked to lay out more money (amount as yet not known) for software just to be able to restore the system? Have I misunderstood something, or this the way it actually is? And then I have the problem of time; if I am going to return it, it should be done Monday morning before I leave. I don't know how long Staples allows for one to return something like this. I will try to contact them tomorrow.

Ron

 

I did return my Averatec 3270 and went with a Sharp Actius 24MX. I did use the restore on my Averatec with no problem. The program you're being asked to pay for is something that will keep track of changes on your system and make incremental backups. You can always restore your system (using F4 during boot) to do a restore to the original factory settings without purchasing anything. I do think they should provide recovery CDs though... they only cost a few cents... and you don't have to worry about being totally screwed if something happens to your drive.

 

Hey Ron,

Yeah, that "Pheonix restore" is not necessary in order to do a system restore t factory defaults. I just uninstalled it; hadily got rid of that error message. Also, if you have any future netwroking issues, you should try updating your Ralink WiFi drivers.

I do believe that the plusses of the computer far outwieght the few negatives. I've been very happy with mine, and use it frequently in my classes at school, or just to browse the internet or chat while watching TV. I personally think it was a great investment of my $800, although I'm glad I have a better computer for gaming.

And...yeah, I wish it came with restore CDs, but very few computers do anymore. Some of the "mortgage-your-house-to-afford-it" brands like Fujitsu and Alienware still come with recovery CDs, but then again, those are quite expensive. Plus, I've had to use the on-harddrive restore on my parents HP Pavillion 700 a couple times without problems, and at least you don't have to make your own recovery media like on my Gateway!

--------------------
Gateway 7422GX: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1024MB DDR RAM, 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+, 512MB DRR RAM, 64MB (shared) S3G Unichrome

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by lowlymarine

 

I've had my averatec for about a week now and I'm considering returning it. Performace wise, I think it's great for desktop stuff as I plan to do. It can edit photos with photoshop without a hitch. I've burnt a few CDs on it without a problem. It has weak 3D performace, but I didn't get it for that. The case seems rather sturdy and well built over all. The battery is a tad loose, but not bad at all(just up and down, the hooks hold it fine)

Some negatives; it doesn't have firewire(which I'd like for video editing) or TV Out. Battery life is ok, should be fine for one class in school(though I always have wifi enabled here) Screen isn't the extreamly sharp, but it's not bad...

My problem is the harddrive seems to be making some odd noises. A few nights ago, I heard like a beep then a loud click. It resembles what some of my other drives have done, so I assume that's what it was. Since then, I've gotten similar noises, and today I got almost like a metal on metal grinding sound for a second! I really like this thing but I'm afraid it'll mess up when I really need it... Any ideas? Is this common? Should I exchange it?

 

OK...I had my own little mini review but when I tried to submit this, it used a search option for some reason("You must enter key words") Whatever, I mostly had one question...

I have the 60 gig model. I really like it, but I'm a bit worried about the harddrive. Every so often it makes odd noises. One day it sounded like a beep then loud click. I've gotten similar noises, but not nearly as bad. Then today I got what almost sounded like metal on metal. It never locked up, never froze, it's been fine. The machine is barely a week old. Should I exchange it?

 

Mine made odd beeping/clicking noises for a while, espeically when in standby. The AVERATEC guys said it was nothing to be worried about, and I haven't noticed it as much recently. Still, I'd contact them just to be sure.

And Ron, as for the DVDs, I really have no idea, I've never burned any DVDs.

--------------------
Gateway 7422GX: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1024MB DDR RAM, 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+, 512MB DRR RAM, 64MB (shared) S3G Unichrome

 

Thanks for the reply... I know the drives make little clicks now and then, all laptops do. Just, I don't know what to think about some of these. It just did it again...the beep this time. It sounds like one of my 3.5" drives(in an enclosure) it makes that sound when I shut it down, sometimes when I don't press the switch comepletely off... I'll contact them, maybe talk to staples and see what they say. I'm just afraid if I exchange it something will happen and I won't get my rebates...

As for DVDs, if anyone's intersted, I've not burned one, but I plan to soon. I'll post something when I do.

 

Just burned a DVD+R at 4x without a problem. Buffer jumped around a lot but I was pulling the 4 gig ISO off the network.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by TheOtherOne

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by andrys