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.