Averatec C3500 Review

A Low-Cost Convertible

Thu 11/18/04 -- It's two years since Microsoft trumpeted the arrival of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. At the launch event in New York, celebrities joined Bill Gates to show how the ability to scribble notes and sketches and fill out forms on a stylus-sensitive screen would revolutionize the notebook market; actor Rob Lowe enthused about how the Tablet PC helped him manage his projects since leaving "The West Wing."

Today, well, we can repeat what we said at the platform's first anniversary in 2003: Tablet PC sales have been barely above a fizzle, and Lowe has had another TV show canceled.

No one denies that Tablet PCs offer more functionality and versatility than conventional notebooks -- especially the swivel-screened "convertible" models that flip cleverly from clipboard (pen input) to notebook (keyboard) form. But while such systems have largely pushed aside pen-only "slate" designs, they've barely dented the laptop market -- mostly because they're too expensive, too heavy, and burdened with too-brief battery life to be toted around all day in place of a legal pad.

Now value-priced notebook vendor Averatec has stepped into the ring with the C3500, a Tablet PC convertible with a 12.1-inch screen, AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2200+ power, built-in DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, and 802.11g wireless networking. Does it fix those three problems?

It fixes one of them: It's no more expensive than a conventional notebook, priced at $1,350 complete with 512MB of RAM and a 60GB hard disk. Even before the discounts available at some retail outlets, that's a full $1,050 cheaper than Fujitsu's comparable LifeBook T4000 convertible; it's $750 less than Toshiba's Portege M200, despite the latter's lacking an optical drive.

Full-Featured, Not Quite Full-Sized

As a compact notebook, the C3500 is a pretty appealing package, although at 5.5 pounds it's at least a pound heavier than competitive, nonconvertible slimlines (including Averatec's own 3200 series). The AC adapter adds a pound to your briefcase total.

Measuring 9.8 by 11.6 by 1.6 inches, it offers a 12.1-inch XGA (1,024 by 768 resolution) display with a reasonably wide viewing angle, bright colors, and no bad pixels in our test unit. The latch to open and close the display takes a bit of twiddling; the hasp atop the screen flips over to work both in notebook mode and when you've swiveled the screen on its base and folded it face up for tablet work.

The keyboard earns mixed reviews: Though wider than some subnotebooks', its 18mm pitch is a millimeter tighter than your desktop's, so avoiding typos takes a bit more precision and practice, but a good typing feel helps compensate. The layout, however, is less successful, with separate (if small) PgUp and PgDn keys but a single key clumsily doubling as Home and End -- the latter when paired with the Fn or special shift key, which is in the bottom left corner where your fingers expect the Ctrl key.

The touchpad delivers smooth movement, and has both vertical and horizontal flick-to-scroll areas at the right and bottom edges, respectively. There are no special program-launch or multimedia-control buttons, but a sliding switch above the keys, next to the power button, toggles the Ralink 802.11g wireless LAN adapter on and off.

The LiteOn combo drive (both 8X DVD-ROM and 24/24/24X CD-RW) is on the right side, next to a volume-control dial and microphone and headphone jacks; the optical drive is fixed instead of being in a modular or swappable bay as in the Fujitsu convertible. Modem, Ethernet, and TV-out ports are at the left, as is one Type II PC Card slot; you'll find a VGA port and four USB 2.0 ports along the back.