Averatec AV1050 Review

I was lucky enough today to get my hands on the Averatec 1050, a tiny little waif of a laptop, with its 10.6 inch screen, I felt as though I had a super sized PDA, or shrunken laptop in my hands, but the machine ran rather well, opening various applications felt quick and responsive, though I can’t say the same for the keyboard which is much smaller than its 14+ inch counterparts. The keyboard and trackpad both felt slow, and sometimes if my thumb touched the trackpad even slightly, I missed out on a word or two that I had typed, which was very frustrating. I doubt I could use the machine for long term typing, but I can’t argue the portability of such a machine.

Lined up next to a row of laptops from other manufacturers, the Averatec machine stands out with its pearl white exterior and interior, you would almost think you are looking at an Apple machine, rather than something with an Intel or AMD processor inside. The machine I tested was powered by an Intel Pentium M (Centrino 733) 1.1 Ghz processor, with 512MB DDR 333 Ram, and an 80 gigabyte hard drive.

I found the screen a little hard to look at for a long time, as everything seemed rather small. A ten inch screen would be nice for watching a DVD on a train, but I could not see writing documents, or browsing the web for long periods of time as an enjoyable use for the 10.6 inch screen. I was pleasantly surprised by the DVD drive that was in the machine. I did not expect such a small laptop to include such a thing, but they were able to include one while leaving plenty of connections available for general use, including a PC Card slot.

Would I recommend this laptop to anyone looking for a highly portable machine? I am not too sure, but it would be great to travel with to watch DVD’s on and check your e-mail wirelessly. Otherwise get a portable DVD player, and buy a laptop with a bit more screen real estate.

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