Averatec 3360-EH1

Averatec has raised the bar once again for thin-and-light notebooks with its value-priced 3360-EH1. Although the series starts at $1,049, for just a little over $1,200 this 4.6-pound, one-inch thick laptop improves on its predecessor (the 3200) by adding a faster Pentium M processor, 3-in-1 memory card reader, and DVD burner. It also runs for more than three hours on a charge, which is about 30 minutes better than the 3200. Students and anyone else on a budget who want to go wireless without lugging around a large laptop would be wise to snatch this Averatec up.

The 3360 features a slim but sturdy magnesium alloy case that looks and feels like it can take a fair amount of daily abuse. Up front you'll find a 3-in-1 memory card reader that accepts Secure Digital, MMC, and Memory Stick cards, making it easy to transfer pictures from your digital camera. On the right you'll find the system's three USB 2.0 ports lined up in a row. While we like that Averatec crammed so many ports into such a small chassis, you'll have a tough time plugging in multiple peripherals at once.

Powering the 3360 is a 1.6-GHz Pentium M processor. This CPU had no problem in any of the applications we threw its way, from Photoshop to Windows Media Encoder. However, while the hard drive offers a nice 80GB of capacity, it spins at just 4,200-rpm, which slows file access just a bit. On the upside, the system's 512MB of DDR memory made multitasking a breeze. The 3360's MobileMark performance rating of 179 bore out this impressive processing power.

Gamers should shy away from this notebook. The system's integrated Intel graphics adapter couldn't break 2,500 in 3DMark2001 and it wasn't able to run 3DMark03 at all.

Most laptops that weigh less than five pounds tend to come up short in the endurance department. That's not the case with the 3360. It ran for an impressive 3 hours and 13 minutes in our tests. Once you enable power management, you'll likely have enough juice for at least half of a work day. Having the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi radio turned on shaved only a minute off of that runtime.

The 12.1-inch screen is the ideal size for road warriors, whether you're working in Word or watching DVDs. In our testing, the system played DVDs flawlessly, without any pixilation or jerkiness to the video. There's a VGA port on the left side for when you want to connect to a larger LCD at home or at your desk. While we were a bit disappointed by the limited volume that the 3360's integrated tinny speakers can reach, we were glad to find a hard-wired volume control wheel on the front panel.

The inclusion of a hard-wired button to activate and deactivate the Wi-Fi adapter is another plus. Wi-Fi performance was mixed. The 13.9 Mbps of throughput at 5 feet was good, but at 50 feet it was cut by more than half.

One amenity you rarely see at this price is the multiformat DVD burner. It writes to DVD+Rs at a speedy 8X, which makes the omission of a FireWire port so perplexing, since you'll need that to capture footage from a digital video camera before you can edit it and burn it to disc. We recommend making a FireWire PC Card adapter your first upgrade.

In all, the Averatec 3360-EH1 is ideal for frequent travelers or students or workers constantly on the move who need a lightweight but very capable laptop. For $1,219, it's an unbeatable bargain.