Cheap Averatec AV3250PX-01 12.1" Notebook PC (Athlon XP-M 2200+, 512MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Dual DVD+/-RW Drive) (Personal Computer) (Windows XP Professional) Price

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Customer Reviews of Averatec AV3250PX-01 12.1" Notebook PC (Athlon XP-M 2200+, 512MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Dual DVD+/-RW Drive)

Problems on top of problems
The Averatec laptop seems like a great deal - it has a nice design, and lots of neat features, for cheaper than most similar models. But, in my case, problems arose right out of the box. The thing came installed with a faulty CD/DVD drive - it wouldn't even recognize it's own boot-up CDs, much less music or software CDs, and DVDs were also out. So within a month of unwrapping, I was shipping it off to the company again - at my own expense - and immediately victim to the horrid warranty service. <
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>It took a full week to get to the repair service in California. Then, they had it for a full week there. Shipping back was a nightmare - they use a service that does not include pick-up, so, if you're not at home when they come to drop it off (they won't leave a laptop sitting outside), you are screwed. After a week of it shipping back to the East Coast, it took me another full week of trying to catch the delivery person and missing him every day. Finally, I got a notice that there would be one more attempt before its being shipped back to California (!), so I had to take a full day off from work so I could make sure I was home! I finally got my laptop back almost exactly one full month after sending it back. <
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>And the CD/DVD drive is still very picky. 25 percent of the time it won't recognize something in there, and is very finicky about CDs, often developing playback issues (or just complete failure) the longer the time you are accessing the CD. <
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>Now, cut to a year later - conveniently, right at the end of my warranty - and the laptop is randomly shutting down whenever it feels like it (presumably the unit is overheating due to a broken fan or something along those lines). As I don't really travel with my laptop, and it's spend 95 percent of it's life sitting on my desk in the same position, the hardware seems rather fragile. Anyway, to avoid the repair-service debacle all over again, I wanted to have a local computer technician do the job - but Averatec won't sell it's parts. As the customer service rep said over the phone: "You either pay us whatever we charge to fix it, or you have a broken laptop." <
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>I mentioned that, although my warranty was only a year, one month of that year was spent without a laptop because of faulty equipment that came installed on the unit. Technically, I've only had the laptop in my posession for 11 months. That logic didn't work; they didn't really care what problems I had earlier. <
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>So now I'm forced to pay to send this thing off once again. Who knows when I'll get it back. I'll probably have to take another day off from work so I can make sure I get it. <
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>Conclusion: Avoid Averatec, and find a laptop that comes with a sturdier (and, of course, out-of-the-box functional) hardware, and, most importantly, is made by a company that makes fixing and getting your laptop back to you quickly a priority.

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Good machine, poor warranty service
I've had my Averatec laptop for seven months, it has travelled with me to Australia, South America and twice to Europe, and it's the best match between portability and function one could ask for. However, the DVD+/-RW drive gave up its ghost recently, so it was time for warranty service, and that is where Averatec falls short. You have to ship it to their repair facility in California at your own expense (I chose 2 day FedEx, which cost me about $60, since the cheaper FedEx Ground or regular UPS alternatives would have taken a whole week from the East Coast), then it took them 2 weeks to fix it, then they shipped it back FedEx Ground, which took one week. So, it takes 3-4 weeks to get your machine back from WARRANTY service! In contrast, when my daughter's Sony Vaio laptop died two weeks before the warranty ran out, Sony overnighted her a free shipping box, fixed the thing in two days -- and voila, within a week she had use of it again, at zero expense to her.

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A Great Notebook PC
I ordered the Averatec AV3250PX from Amazon on Saturday and received it on the following Thursday with free UPS service. I was impressed. As for the machine, it has everything I wanted. I think the display is very clear, the hard drive more than ample at 80 gigs, and with Win XP Pro, the final $876.00 cost after rebates from Amazon and Averatec made the deal unbeatable. The keyboard works fine. There is no serial or parallel port, but the three USB 2.0 ports work well for attaching perhiperals. The built in 802.11g wireless LAN was easy to configure by adding on an access point to my wired router. I used the Microsoft MN-700, which set up in about 10 minutes with 128 bit WEP encryption. The built in DVD RW worked well, especially when I upgraded to SP2 with the MS CD. Adding software such as MS Office was fast and trouble free. The computer comes with sparse software, but who needs all the usual bundled junk anyhow? <
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>I like both the look and feel of the machine. The lights for different functions are colored and well placed. Overall, the machine runs cool and quiet. If there were problems before,they have been corrected. Averatec also offers free 24/7 phone support. The touchpad is very sensitive, but can be adjusted in the Control Panel. No written manual, but it is included in a PDF file of 59 pages. <
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>This is my first notebook or laptop, and from my initial experience, I would not hesitate to get another Averatec down the road.