Averatec AV2575 Review

by Kevin O'Brien

The Averatec 2575 is a thin and light 12.1" widescreen notebook that packs a dual core AMD processor, DVD burner, and super-bright WXGA screen in an ultra-portable sized package. This notebook aims to offer great entertainment and multimedia performance in a small form factor for road warriors who demand a little more from their notebooks than standard internet browsing or document typing. Read on to see if this notebook lives up to its claims, and see how it compares to other notebooks in the same category.

Our review unit of the Averatec AV2575 has the following configuration:

• AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-64 (2.2GHz)
• Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
• 2GB DDR2-667 dual-channel RAM (2 x 1GB)
• 250GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
• 12.1" WXGA (1280x800) Glossy
• ATI RS690T Integrated Graphics
• Super Multi DVD Burner
• Atheros AR5007EG 802.11b/g
• Built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam and microphone
• Ports: 3 USB, Kensington Lock Slot, LAN, Headphone/Mic, VGA, SD Card Reader, ExpressCard/54, 10/100 LAN
• Size: 12.88 x 9 x 1.0/1.53"
• Weight:
  • Notebook 4lbs 0.8oz
  • AC Adapter 13.5oz
• 65w AC Adapter
• 4-Cell Battery (14.4v, 2500mAh)
• Warranty: 1 Year standard, 6 months on battery
• Price: $1,099.99

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Build and Design

For a 12" ultraportable notebook the Avertac AV2500 series is somewhat larger than you would expect, more in line with a 13.3" notebook. Some of this size you can see around the screen bezel where there is almost an inch of space on each side of the LCD. On the keyboard side this extra space is used to make a larger keyboard than you would usually see on a 12" notebook.

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Build quality is excellent, having a very rigid chassis with minimal flex. The screen frame is very strong, although it doesn't keep away all the ripples on the screen when you try to flex it or press on the back of the cover. The screen hinges gave a good amount of tension and usually required the use of two hands to open up the notebook.

The screen latching design was one element that stuck out for me, where it was the simple design that I loved. It is a latchless system that uses magnets and the hinge tension to keep the notebook lid closed. Unlike hinge tension only setups, the magnets keep the lid firmly closed, and give a satisfying click when "latched".

One area that has us concerned with the screen cover is the glossy finish did not hold up as well as we had expected, and scuffed very easily from day-to-day use. If you are looking at purcashing one of these notebooks, I would put thought into a notebook case with a soft interior to keep the screen cover perfectly glossy from day one.

Display

The display is a glossy 12.1" WXGA screen that is advertised as "super-bright". I wouldn't go as far as saying it is ultra bright, as it ranks right on average with other glossy screens we have come across. Colors are bright and vibrant, and the backlight is very even and consistent with minimal backlight leakage. I would rate it pretty well for viewing images or watching movies, although movies might be difficult away from an outlet.

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Viewing angles of the screen were average, with great horizontal range, but limited vertical range. Tilting the screen forward or back will wash out or invert the colors once you go past the screens 10-15 degree sweet spot.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Unlike many 12" notebooks, the keyboard on the Averatec is far from cramped, and is spaced out like a fullsize keyboard you would find on a 14" or 15" notebook. All of the keys are full-size, with no ultra-slim function or ctrl keys found anywhere. This is a huge plus for many people who can't stand a cramped notebook for extended periods of typing.

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Keyboard quality is excellent, with great travel and key feedback. When pressed, each key gives off a nice quiet metallic click. Key wobble is minimal, on par with my ThinkPad keyboard.

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The touchpad is a Synaptics design model, with great sensitivity and of normal size. Measuring in at 2.46 x 1.76", it is actually larger than the one found on my 15" T60 ThinkPad. Touchpad button feedback is shallow, and gives off a soft click when pressed.

Speakers

Audio performance is average for a notebook of this size, considering the speakers are the size of pennies. For watching movies or music without caring about perfect audio quality or bass they are fine, but I would recommend using headphones for extended listening if you can. The headphone jack on this notebook provided clear and static-free audio, and could output high enough volume to hurt your ears.

Performance

System performance is rated average, running standard applications with ease, but really lacking the performance to play older games with minimal settings. While most notebooks of this size aren't gaming machines by any stretch of the imagination, the ATI integrated graphics didn't perform as well as Intel integrated graphics. Performance in regular tasks, or multimedia content was stellar, as it did not weigh as heaviliy on the graphics chipset. HD Movie content or DVD movies played with ease. Office productivity software loaded without lag, so handling office loads while traveling would not be a problem.

Benchmarks for this system are listed below:

wPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, the advantage of this program is that it is multi-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, thereby giving more accurate benchmarking measurements than Super Pi. Lower scores indicate better performance.

Notebook / CPU	wPrime 32M time
Averatec 2575 (Turion 64 X2 TL-64 @ 2.2GHz)	37.705s
Dell Inspiron 1525 (Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.0GHz)	43.569s
Dell XPS M1530 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.485s
Portable One SXS37 (Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.0GHz)	41.908s
Sony VAIO NR (Core 2 Duo T5250 @ 1.5GHz)	58.233s
Toshiba Tecra A9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	38.343s
Toshiba Tecra M9 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.299s
HP Compaq 6910p (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz)	40.965s
Sony VAIO TZ (Core 2 Duo U7600 @ 1.20GHz)	76.240s
Zepto 6024W (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2GHz)	42.385s
Lenovo T61 (Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz)	37.705s
Alienware M5750 (Core 2 Duo T7600 @ 2.33GHz)	38.327s
Hewlett Packard DV6000z (Turion X2 TL-60 @ 2.0GHz)	38.720s
Samsung Q70 (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz)	42.218s
Acer Travelmate 8204WLMi (Core Duo T2500 @ 2.0GHz)	42.947s
Samsung X60plus (Core 2 Duo T7200 @ 2.0GHz)	44.922s
Zepto Znote 6224W (Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz)	45.788s
Samsung Q35 (Core 2 Duo T5600 @ 1.83GHz)	46.274s
Samsung R20 (Core Duo T2250 @ 1.73GHz)	47.563s

3DMark06 comparison results for graphics performance (higher scores are better):

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Averatec 2575 (2.2 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-64, ATI RS690T)	377 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1525 (2.0GHz Intel T7250, Intel X3100)	545 3DMarks
Sony VAIO NR (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100)	504 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1530 (2.20GHz Intel T7500, Nvidia 8600M GT 256MB)	4,332 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1520 (2.0GHz Intel T7300, NVIDIA 8600M GT)	2,905 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,408 3DMarks
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,069 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66GHz Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	1,831 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks

PCMark05 measures overall notebook performance (higher scores are better):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Averatec 2575 (2.2 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-64, ATI RS690T)	3,143 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1525 (2.0GHz Intel T7250, Intel X3100)	4,149 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1530 (2.20GHz Intel T7500, Nvidia 8600M GT 256MB)	5,412 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1520 (2.0GHz Intel T7300, NVIDIA 8600M GT)	4,616 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,591 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony VAIO SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

HDTune results:

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Ports and Features

Post selection on the 12.1" Averatec AV2575 was more than adequate, having a full lineup of expansion slots, optical drive, and ports. Have a builtin optical drive is also a huge perk on a notebook of this size.

Front: Headphone/Mic, Indicator Lights

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Rear: Battery

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Right: ExpressCard/54, SD-Card Reader, 2 USB, CPU Vent, AC Power

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Left: Kensington Lock Slot, VGA, LAN, 1 USB, Optical Drive

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Battery

With screen brightness at 70 percent, power profile set to balanced, the notebook came in at 2 hours and 10 minutes of battery life on the standard battery (14.4v, 2500mAh). An extended battery should offer much great battery life, which would be required if you plan on watching movies on a flight, or anywhere away from a power outlet.

Heat and Noise

Temperatures were very tame on this notebook, never reaching uncomfortable levels even when running benchmarks. Fan noise was minimal at high speed during benchmarks, and barely perceptible when idling. For a quiet room you should not have any problem blending into the background, unlike that guy in front of you with his gaming notebook that sounds like a leaf blower.

The heat overlay picture below shows the notebook after it has been on for a few hours during the work day. The room temperature during this test was 73 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Conclusion

The Averatec 12.1" ultraportable AV2575 notebook offers a great value at a price of $1,099. While it is heavier than other notebooks of this size, the build quality, keyboard, touchpad, and thermal performance is excellent. The one area that I could see some improvement on is battery life, which hopefully an extended battery would help with.

Pros

• Clean basic design
• Durable, rigid chassis
• Low noise and heat
• Great keyboard

Cons

• Sluggish gaming performance
• Glossy finish scuffs easily

The Averatec AV2575 will be available soon with more information available on the Averatec website.

 

Interesting. It's effectively a 13.3" chassis with a 12.1" display. It's good to have those extra keys on the keyboard. The TL-64 and wPrime seem to like each other. However, the good wPrime time is not reflected in the PCMark05 score.

I mentally compared this with the Samsung R20 which uses the ATI Xpress 1250 chipset (ATI RS600ME + SB600). With the slower (on paper) T2250 CPU the R20 is comfortably ahead of the AV2575 in the PCMark and 3DMark tests. However, the AV2575 is slightly ahead on battery life so maybe the ATI RS690T is less powerful hardware.

The big question, given Averatec's reliability / quality reputation, is "would you buy one?".

John

 

Come on, you know Kevin will NEVER buy any computer without the word "ThinkPad" printed on it.



In all seriousness, the Averatec wasn't bad other than the lid that scratched easy. We've had notebooks in our office from Dell and HP that were more problematic in terms of hardware failure or OS/trailware issues.

If the Averatec was priced lower we would certainly consider it as a serious contender in the 12" form factor ... particularly for those people who like larger keyboards.

However, given the average/below average performance and the fact that you can get a HP tx2000 with better specs for the same price (or less) we probably wouldn't choose the Averatec over an HP.

 

I was wondering where this company went. Up here in Canada we don't see these notebooks anymore.

 

Given the report on the build quality given in the review, I myself am surprised; has Averatec turned to another manufacturer for their laptops? Because, this review is an about-face in comparision to their other models... its a nice laptop, btw.

 

No, this notebook was built by MSI, which is the same manufacturer of their older notebooks. The AV2370 was the exception, with it being produced by Twinhead.

From what I've seen from other Averatec users, buyer beware. My AV2370 had little issues, but even technical support from Averatec is lacking. Had to resort to Everex, which fortunately sells the same notebook made by Twinhead, for drivers and bios to keep my computer up to date.

All I can say for the AV2575 is buyer beware. You're your own tech support.

 

U6S and now this - "12.1inch LCD in 13.3 frame" seems to be getting common nowadays. This one, in particular, is about as heavy as SZ premium, or even that Fujitsu "14.1inch LCD in 13.3 frame" laptop. But I guess with this price, noone would really complain...

 

+1 , seems to give other thin & light value notebooks a good fight in terms of performence per $/lbs if you don't require any 3D efforts , if it was more rounded ( only 1yr warranty , average screen etc. ) it would be a clear winner .

 

I had an Averatec 4255-eh1 that was also made by Twinhead. I must tell you I really liked it as it was very stylish and I only had one problem with it(the battery stopped charging after only 2-3 months) plus it held up quite well for the 2.5 years I had it. Their customer service was not great and their documentation was lacking. All in all I will say that my experience with Averatec was O.K. (but why settle for O.K.?)

 

i would be wary of Averatec as well. I had purchased a Averatec 2370 last year and it spend half of its life in the shop. The screen went out and had to be replaced. A month later, it failed with the same problem, but this time they held it for over 2 months waiting for parts. You had to pay the shipping to send the machine in for repairs.

To top it off, the machine was supposed to be Vista compatible, but when I install Vista on it, it ran at the lowest clock speed at 800 Mhz. It was a known problems confirmed by other Averatec 2370 customer noline, but when I call Averatec, they told me that it was not a problem and if I can't face reality then it's my problem (this was their tech support).

You can't find an Averatec these days any way. Staples, where I purchase the machine from no longer carries them. None of the other retail shops carry them either.

 

Here's a link for the barebone version, w/ HDMI, at $555.99, 8 In Stock.

ebay a core2duo, ebay a wifi, buy own hdd and you're all set (as easy as a desktop to build ).

http://www.thenerds.net/MSI.INTEL_C...d=9&srccode=cii_1038957&cpncode=07-50787760-2

To those who are complaining about Averatec reliability, regarding this specific laptop, a simple and surefire way to increase its reliability is to take off its label