Averatec 4200 13" Widescreen Notebook

Who says a widescreen Centrino notebook with a bright, glassy display weighing less than 5 lbs. has to cost $2,000 or more? Averatec has a way of bringing notebooks to market that cost far less than competing brands. While Averatec's very first notebooks sold several years ago were light but average in looks and specs, their latest offerings have great specs and the looks to match, targeting potential Sony Vaio and Apple iBook buyers. Their 10.6" Averatec 1000 notebook, a part of their new lineup is also an excellent choice if you're looking for the smallest possible subnotebook, while the 13.3" 4200 fits more mainstream subnotebook tastes.The 4200's interior is finished in matte white, while the outside cover is a deep blue. Averatec plans to offer a selection of very attractive top cover colors and we saw a range of those colors in person, some of which you can see below. In addition, they'll offer a send-in service for those who wish to change their notebook's cover color.

But a pretty face isn't everything, and the Averatec's 4200 Mobile Pentium M 730 processor, Centrino architecture, 512 megs of DDR RAM, 80 gig hard drive and integrated DVD burner mean this notebook is ready for real work. It features Averatec's widescreen 13.3" AveraBrite™ display which is similar to Sony's XBrite and Fujitsu's Crystal View displays. The display is bright, sharp and has that glassy look which makes photos and movies look great.

Averatec 1000 Series Notebook: AV1050

Subnotebooks have never looked so good. A few years back, they were few and far between with prices that were as heavy on the wallet as the units were light on the back. Now Averatec, known for their affordable yet stylish and technically competent notebooks, brings us the 1000 series which have looks to die for at a modest 3.6 pounds and $1,150 to $1379 list price.

The 1000 brings to mind the venerable but now discontinued Sony Vaio TR2A and TR3a which received our Editor's Choice award in November 2003. It's similar in size, also features an internal optical drive, bright and glossy display, Intel Centrino technology and good looks. The TR2A and TR3A sold for approximately $2,200 in the US, $1000 more than the Averatec. Of course, you were paying the early adopter price for the Vaio which was available nearly two years before the Averatec, but Sony's current subnotebook, the T350, still costs nearly $1,000 more.

Features at a Glance

There are two 1000 series models, the AV1050, which we received for review, and the AV1020.The AV1050 is more commonly available and is the better choice in terms of CPU: it has a 1.1 GHz Intel Centrino Pentium M 733 processor, while the 1020 has a 1 GHz Celeron. The 1050 has an 80 gig hard drive and the 1020 has a 60 gig hard drive. In all other respects, features are the same: 10.6" WXGA AveraBrite display (similar to Sony's XBrite), 512 megs of DDR RAM, WiFi 802.11b/g and an internal DVD/CR-RW drive.

In the Box

The notebook and its compact charger: that's all! Inside the small box you'll find a sheet of paper explaining that the manual can be found in PDF format pre-installed on the notebook and that you'll need to make your own recovery CDs. We're fans of included recovery media, but alas, they're becoming increasingly rare. Even Sony, a tier one pricey manufacturer, doesn't include the disks. Should you need to wipe your notebook clean and re-install the OS and included applications you can do so from the recovery partition, though we suggest making those recovery CDs just in case your notebook won't boot from the hard disk.