Averatec 7100 Series 17" Wide Screen Notebook

We can’t think of a better way to kick off the Fall season than with a new notebook from Averatec. In particular, the new Averatec 7100 Series which offers a perfect combination: plenty of mobile power at an economical price.

It’s an ideal laptop for students heading back to school, or just about anyone seeking productivity and entertainment in a compact unit. It’s certainly the lightest one we’ve found (7.2 lbs.), not to mention the lightest widescreen laptop on the market. Its bright, eye-grabbing 17” widescreen display puts the accent on entertainment. Workaholics, on the other hand, can have a field day tweaking their spreadsheets.

It’s a traveling cinema for viewing DVD movies or running slide shows. Or maybe you’d rather watch TV? No problem, since the 7100 comes loaded with Windows XP Media Center Edition, an OS geared to organizing and viewing all your digital entertainment—videos, images, music, and more.

When it comes to power, Averatec hasn’t cut corners, either. The 7100 Series features an AMD Turion 64 Mobile Processor, 1GB Ram, ATI Radeon Xpress 200M graphics, a dual layer DVD burner, and a hefty 100 GB hard drive. 802.11b/g Wireless LAN is built-in.

Plenty of ports for the storm, too. 3 USB, 1 x VGA, 1 x S-Video TV-out, 1 x Type II PC Card & 1 x Express Card slots, and—yes!—a IEEE 1394 port for video editing

This combination earns our Editors' Choice Award.

What’s guaranteed to grab everyone, however, is the unit’s gorgeous 17” screen. Just open the notebook and folks gather and gawk.

Although this model is certified as "Vista ready" we were unable to install our beta version of Vista. Undoubtedly a Microsoft quirk.

We were not impressed with the unit's 2-hour battery life and a spare battery is an essential purchase here.

All in all, the Averatec 7100 should keep you happy and productive while the leaves begin to fall.

 

www.averatec.com