[TAG] Attaboy: Sams Club and Averatec

[Benjamin A. Okopnik]

On Tue, Dec 20, 2005 at 07:30:51PM -0500, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
> I'm shopping for a new laptop to replace my little teeny (slow) Toshiba
> Portege 3440CT (which in turn replaced my even slower 3010).
> 
> But, as hard as it is to be coolly geeky in these days where Danger
> Hiptops are cool and everone is Lt Uhura, I'm still trying to stay with
> teeny.  (I'm a teeny weeny, I guess. :-)
> 
> So I was pretty happy about this page: 
>   
>   http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/main_shopping.jsp?coe=0&oidPath=0%3a-23542%3a-23589%3a-43881%3a-43983%3a-43985%3a-43989%3a945652&mt=a&n=0&BV_SessionID=_SC_0441894162.1135124633_CS_&BV_EngineID=ccdhaddghkelmjfcfkfcfkjdgoodflh.0
> 
> [ looks at URL ]
> 
> Aw, crap.
> 
> Sams Club uses BroadVision, which, as we all know, sucks.
> 
> Wait: let me mail it to myself.
> 
>   http://www.samsclub.com/eclub/viewproduct.jsp?item=945652
> 
> He he.
> 
> So, anyway, check out the spec detail on that listing.  I note that
> they don't mention which wireless chip it has (I think it's the
> Broadcom), but that the mention the bridge chipset part numbers
> impresses me no little.

I tried out an Averatec 5400 about a year ago - and was not impressed.
Much like yours, the specs sounded good:

AMD Athlon XP-M 2800+
40GB hard drive, ATA-100 Ultra-DMA support
512MB DDR memory - 200-pin SDRAM SO-DIMM
15" XGA TFT LCD screen (1024x768x16M colors)
S3 UniChrome Pro IGP graphics processor
DVD +/-RW burner
Built-in 802.11g wireless
Ports: VGA, Ethernet, modem, mic, headphone, 4 USB ports
Pointing device: GlidePad touchpad
Weight: ~8 lbs.
$999

The implementation, however, was not nearly as good as the concept. :)
The finish was very rough; the battery life was very poor (1 hour when
brand-new!); in the summer temps, the machine overheated (until it shut
down, which happened every few minutes); etc.

In short, see my review in <http://linuxgazette.net/108/okopnik.html>.


* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://linuxgazette.net *