Averatec 18.4" All-In-One PC review

Averatec is a name that some may not be familiar with. Founded in 1984, they have been producing lower end notebooks based on processors like the Intel Celeron and the AMD Turion 64. Now known as TriGem’s global brand, Averatec have recently released an All-In-One PC aimed at the general computer user. This desktop 18.4” system employs Intel's Atom mobile processor and comes in a very small and aesthetically pleasing package.

The $490 all-in-one comes with everything to get you started: the system itself, a keyboard and mouse, mouse pad, cleaning cloth, power cable and AC adapter, hinge lock clip, quick start guide, recovery DVD and application program CD. I appreciate the fact that the recovery software comes on a separate disc instead of being installed on the system's hard drive. This can save you a lot of time should your hard drive crash and you forgot to burn a recovery disc beforehand.

The included keyboard and mouse are wired and are pretty basic in design and quality. Both are smaller-than-average which may be good if you are short on space but not so much for long-term use.

The Averatec All-In-One PC features an 18.4” LCD directly attached to a base that houses the hardware of the system. The display has a glossy finish, framed on a glossy black bezel with an integrated web cam centered on top.

The base of the All-In-One PC is roughly one square inch larger than a standard 10” netbook. Despite being nearly the same size, Averatec has managed to include an optical drive, something we aren’t used to seeing in a footprint this small. Technical specifications are similar to most netbooks, with an Intel Atom N270 processor operating at 1.6 GHz, Intel 945MS + ICH7 chipset, 1GB of DDR2 memory, 160 GB hard drive spinning at 5400 RPM, 10/100 LAN and 802.11 b/g WLAN, all running on Windows XP Home Edition.

Our review unit shipped with a mere 1 GB of DDR2 on board which is the system's standard, but you can also order the system with an additional gigabyte that occupies the single SO-DIMM expansion slot or upgrade it yourself.

The front of the base on the All-In-One PC has a chrome accent strip with two LEDs (power and hard drive activity) along with six buttons: power, brightness up/down, mute and LCD. The right side of the PC features a MMC/SD/Memory stick card reader, microphone and headphone jacks, two USB ports, exhaust vent and a VGA out port covered by a retractable door. Three additional USB ports populate the rear of the chassis as well as the AC power connector and a network jack. The left side of the system is where we find the Dual Layer DVD burner.

Despite of its netbook heritage, the Averatec All-in-one ships with five USB ports which will come handy on a desktop system. After all, you are effectively left with three spare ports once you connect the keyboard and mouse.

The top of the computer has a tiny opening for the integrated microphone near the front of the unit. Further back we find two perforated openings for the integrated speaker system.

The bottom of the computer reveals four screw holes that allow you to wall mount the computer. Accessing the hard drive and memory requires the removal of what appears to be nine screws. I attempted to remove the bottom panel and access the internals, which seemed easy enough. I was able to remove seven total screws with ease, but the other two were so tight that I ended up stripping both of them. I was using the proper tools and so I can only wonder if this is an isolated event, as this would make upgrading memory and changing hard drives unnecessarily complicated.

The 18.4” display is mounted to the base of the PC via a single adjustable chrome arm. The screen can be raised and lowered as well as tilted back and forth. As you can see above, the screen can be lowered and tilted back fully to allow for easy wall mounting or transportation.

Installation and Performance Impressions

Setting up the Averatec system is as easy as plugging in the AC adapter, mouse and keyboard. The system booted up to the Windows XP Service Pack 3 agreement page at which time you can also enter in your desired computer name, etc. Upon reboot, I made it into Windows and was greeted with a Norton Antivirus installer prompt for which a 90 day trial subscription is supplied. (Note: There is an odd bug with this PC's initial configuration that involves removing the Norton trial, a fix can be found here).

Next up was getting the latest Windows updates. The system needed 35 updates, then 6 or so optional software updates which led to an additional 9 critical updates. After all updates are performed, you are left with a vanilla installation of Windows XP that besides the Norton AV trial and a few Cyberlink programs, gives you a clean slate free from further trial or bugging optional software.

Normally at this point I would run a series of benchmarks on the system, but essentially what we have here is a netbook with a fixed display, more commonly known as a nettop. And since almost all netbooks share the same basic hardware, benchmark results would be identical as well.

Performance wise, the Averatec system is much like a netbook, meaning that it is intended for some of the more basic computing tasks. Surfing the web, chatting, emailing, listening to music, word processing, basic photo editing, watching standard definition videos online – these are all things that are well within the scope of this system. Any kind of gaming that requires even the least bit of graphics / CPU power are likely out of the question, as are high definition videos.

Windows XP is a good choice for this system, as it feels very snappy despite the limited processing power of the Intel Atom CPU. The system fully boots, from the moment the power button is pressed until all system tray icons have loaded, in just 55 seconds. Navigating menus and web pages is also pleasantly fast. Many times I forgot that I was “only” running an Atom processor.

The Averatec All-In-One does differ from a netbook in several ways however. First and most obvious is the 18.4” LCD display which went above and beyond my initial expectations. With an odd native resolution of 1680 x 945, the screen makes working on this system quite enjoyable. Horizontal viewing angles are good but the vertical viewing angles do leave a little bit to be desired.

Another nice feature of the Averatec is the sound system. The quality of the speakers used in this system are nicer than any I have seen internally mounted in a netbook or on standalone monitors. Volume levels can get pretty loud before distortion sets in, and should be more than enough for casual music listening and movie watching.

Speaking of movies, I tested the optical drive with a few different DVDs. Image quality was nice and I noticed the CPU usage hovered around 20% when at full screen.

The included keyboard and mouse are just enough to get by on. A wireless combo or peripherals of better quality would have fit this system much better. The keyboard typed alright but it still felt a bit cramped. The mouse is very small so users with large hands may not feel comfortable using it.

Final Thoughts

The Averatec All-In-One PC is a complete and very compact everyday computer system that will work well in most environments. Much like with a netbook, you must know the hardware’s limitations and what you can expect of it before buying. This is not a power system capable of intense processing power.

Our system came equipped with only 1GB of DDR2 memory although you can configure the unit with 2GB. Windows XP isn’t nearly as much of a memory hog as Vista, but I would still double the memory if it were my own computer. Many users would agree with Averatec that XP is indeed the better operating system. With Windows 7 just around the corner, it appears Vista will soon go the way of Windows ME.

Both the sound system and the display were highlights of this system, surpassing my initial expectations for this compact $500 system and making the computing experience very enjoyable. By using hardware commonly found in a netbook, Averatec was able to create a very small footprint for this system. The entire system can be wall mounted and with a wireless keyboard and mouse would look very sleek and trendy.

If you are looking for a very compact and sleek general use computer that won’t break the bank, the Averatec All-In-One PC is certainly a contender for your money. However, if you don’t care so much for a compact desktop PC, you could easily find a more powerful system in the same price range.

Pros: Very sleek and compact, wall mountable, great display, low power consumption, good integrated sound.

Cons: Cheap wired keyboard and mouse. Difficult access to memory and hard drive for upgrades. Could get more processing power for the money.