Averatec 6200 Review & Rating
Averatec 6200 Review:
With a 15.4-inch widescreen display that offers a 1280x800-pixel resolution, the system certainly has the makings of a terrific portable DVD player. That resolution provides an excellent DVD ratio of 16:10, which very closely approximates the formatting of the latest movies.
To make sure you don't confuse this machine for any other widescreen laptop, Averatec also includes a credit-card-sized wireless remote control. With it in your hand, you can sit back and enjoy a DVD movie without having to fumble with the touchpad to pause, rewind, or fast-forward.
What allows Averatec to call this a DVD player rather than an average mainstream laptop is the Averatec 6200's ability to play a DVD without having to boot into Windows. Only recently has this feature been applied to DVD movies in some models of laptops.
You can also play CD's and even MP3 files without having to boot into Windows. All your songs can be played using the remote control. You might not want to use headphones, since the system's bottom-mounted subwoofer provides better sound than what is currently found on most laptops.
Given the 6200's low price, you shouldn't be surprised that both a FireWire port and DVD Burner are missing -- the two key components for working with Digital Video.
The systems gaming performance is severely limited by the integrated video adapter that uses a portion of the systems main RAM. You'll be able to play low-end games, but 3-D games may be a little choppy. When it comes time to put the DVD's and games away and get down to work, you'll find the keyboard full-sized and comfortable.
Beyond the convenience the instant DVD playback feature provides, it also extends the battery life. While the system lasts a good 2.5 hours while running Windows, it lasts more than 4 hours in its DVD-only state. The quality of the DVD playback is excellent with crisp images and fluid motion.
The processor installed in this laptop is hardly the most powerful you can buy. The Athalon XP-M 2400+ installed in this machine, running at 1.8GHZ, just doesn't have the horsepower to handle demanding tasks like photo or video-editing. The hard drive's 4200-RPM speed doesn't help the system's performance, either.
In all, the Averatec AV6200H60 isn't the most powerful or portable laptop you can buy. When you consider the system's long DVD playback, wireless remote control, and very affordable price....it's still a laptop worth considering.
Averatec 6200 Review Pros:
Instant -on DVD with Remote Control
Great 15.4-inch Display
Affordably Priced
Very Good Sound
Averatec 6200 Review Cons:
Mediocre Performance
No FireWire port or DVD Burner
Limited Gaming Performance
Models I highly recommend that have similar features and offer greater performance:
HP Pavilion DV1000 Compaq Presario V2000
Averatec 6200 Review
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Averatec 6200 Review Features/Specifications
- Classification: Multimedia Laptop
- Display: 15.4'' WXGA (1280x800)
- Processor: AMD Athalon XP-M 1.8GHz
- RAM Memory: 512MB DDR (upgradeable to 1GB)
- Hard Drive: 60GB (4200RPM)
- Optical Drive: DVD/CD-RW
- Floppy Drive: No
- Media Card Slot: No
- Graphics: Integrated 32MB Shared
- Audio: Built-In Speakers w/Subwoofer
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
- Internet Connectivity: 56K Modem + 10/100 Ethernet
- Battery Life: 2.5 hrs.
- Operating System: Windows XP Home
- Weight: 6.2 lbs.
- Warranty: 1 Year
- I/O Laptop Computer Ports
- (1) PC Card Slot Type II
- (1) S-Video port
- (1) VGA connector
- (4) USB 2.0 ports
- (1) RJ-11 phone jack
- (1) RJ-45 standard Ethernet jack
- Microphone, Headphone line-out jacks