Atec Notebooks

[george]

Looking to buy a new notebook, and found one here to a good "special price":

http://www.atec.co.th/notebook.html

Any good or bad experiences with Atec notebooks?

Is the prestanda OK on this particular one. Or should I add some 20,000 Baht more to get a Compaq?

Thanks in advance!

[tuky]

G I bought a compaq 6 months ago for 60k baht thinking it better to spend the extra money. Crashed a week later!!! Got a replacement, brought it up to Az with me, windows crashed. Now I run it on a version of windows that cost me about $3.

It seems to me that buying computers, esp. laptops is like a box of chocolates...

The main thing would be an international warranty, and outlets in the places you will be travelling to for just in case. etc.

[george]

Here's the specs for Atec Vegus 185:

• AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2000+ processor

• VIA KN266 [Twister-K] Mobile Athlon XP-M, LAN, Modem, IEEE 802.11b

• 256 MB RAM DDR SODIMM (128MB DDR on-board, Max. 640MB)

• 40 GB harddisk 4,200rpm 2.5\\' 9.5mm high, 2MB buffer

• VIA KN-266 Embedded in VIA Prosavage8 Integrated 128bit

AGP 3 D,VRAM Shared system memory up to 32MB

• 12.1\\' XGA TFT LCD display, resolution 1024x768

• 8/8/8/24X DVD/CD-RW (Combo) drive [slim type]

• 56Kbps V.90/92 fax-modem built-in

• Built-in AC\\'97 stereo sound with 3D sound

• Built-in 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet VIA LAN controller

• IEEE 802.11b built-in Wireless LAN

• English-Thai 87 keys Windows stylish keyboard

• Internal Touch pad with 2 buttons and scrolling button

• PCMCIA type II x 1 or III x 1, 3 USB (v2.0)

• Universal AC adapter 65W, 20V, 3.25A ; input 90-265V 47-63Hz

• Lithium ion battery 6-cell (4000mAh), 3.5hrs Battery Mark

• Hi-Quality two stereo speakers and Microphone

• 240 mm x 290 mm x 24.5 mm (W x D x H), weight = 1.9 kg (with Battery)

• Mini Carrying bag

• Linux operating systems & Open Office Software (Preload)

[Mr_Happy]

Should be fine for general use, but definately not a gaming rig... I would run at least 512MB of Ram...

[Richard-BKK]

Hello George,

The specifications of the notebook are good enough to keep you happy for a few years, I agree with Mr. Happy that it a good idea to upgrade the notebook to 512MB internal memory.

The notebook is pre-loaded with Linux, what you maybe want to replace with Windows. Therefore make sure that the notebook has all necessarily drivers for Windows. Internal modems and audio devices can be a headache without the right driver(s).

It is also advisable to buy an external keyboard and mouse.

With kind regards,

Richard

[bkk_mike]

Looks reasonable for a business machine, although if you're planning on running lots of apps (or big spreadsheets), increasing the memory would be a good idea. 256 is fine if you're not running lots of apps at once (and aren't doing heavy duty things with big spreadsheets, or editing big graphics files). If you said what you plan on running, it would make it easier to tell if the spec is OK.

As Mr_Happy says, it's not a good spec if you intend to play games as the shared memory for graphics means 3D performance will be pretty dire (comparatively).

As for Atec themselves, the director got a big fine (>1m baht) and a suspended jail sentence 5 years ago for installing Microsoft software without paying Microsoft for it... (possibly why they ship with Linux now...)

If nothing else, it does show the company has been around for a while though...

There is always an issue of getting spares for Thailand-only or no-name notebooks if you're in another country, so depending on how much travelling you do, it might be better to get a machine from a bigger manufacturer instead... (although, if you are travelling a lot, it's probably cheaper to buy the PC in Singapore or Hong Kong also)