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PC Advisor Best Buy

July 15, 2008

Advent 4211 review

Joining the new breed of netbooks is the Advent 4211 mini laptop, the cheapest to come with Windows XP

If you’ve seen the MSI Wind, you may have been attracted by that mini laptop’s clean lines, compact form and attractive price. At £329, it’s one of the prominent members of that newly formed club, whose members are defined by their small size and relatively low price. ‘Netbook’ is how we are being encouraged to describe them.

But DSG, the Dixons Stores Group whose outlets include PC World in the UK, has gone one better by stocking a rebadged Advent 2411 version of the MSI Wind, selling for £279 – that’s £50 less than the Wind’s recommended retail price.

Where the MSI Wind is offered in simple but stylish black or pearlescent white, the Advent 4211 comes in a two-tone black and silver finish. And the Advent doesn’t include any case, where the Wind comes complete with a useful zipped PVC case to keep the laptop clean.

What you do get with the Advent version is the same basic machine, comprising low-power Intel Atom processor, a 10in screen, and two USB ports. There’s a 1.3Mp webcam above the screen and a pair of tiny speakers under each corner of the base, so videochats are possible without additional peripherals, helped by the 802.11b/g wireless networking. There’s also Bluetooth connectivity and an ethernet port, along with VGA monitor output and a pair of jack sockets for audio in and out. To allow easy access to SD cards and the like, there’s a multi-format card reader included too.

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Independent customer reviews from

Advent Computers Advent 4211 scored:
8.4 out of 10 100% real reviews

The 2 most helpful reviews based on 850 reviews:

01 Aug 2008 NJ, E.Sussex

9

Good Points

small, light, good build quality, not sluggish and didn't have loads of useless software on it to slow it down. Almost perfect!

Bad Points

Wireless and camera were not on by default - i bet the support guys got loads of calls about that. You needed to switch them on via the software switches on the keyboard fn keys.

02 Jul 2008 Steve, Derby

9

Good Points

Portable, very light (1KG) yet performs just as well as most desktops - i have office 2007 and Adobe CS3 running just fine on it. My own (vastly higher spec) desktop doesnt see much use any more! Decent size keyboard compared to other portables. Screen is very high quality. included installation of XP is quite clean, didnt feel the need to start it from scratch. Good value for money!

Bad Points

3 Cell battery gives a limited battery life, but 6 Cell is coming (fire at major battery factory affects everyone). Had a critical issue out of the box that would freeze the screen, but this was fixed promptly by a bios later posted by 'TheTechGuys'. Lacks a suitable case as far as i can tell. Fn & Ctrl keys are swapped around compared to a regular keyboard. Wouldnt use built-in speakers for extended periods as they arent high quality (snag some headphones or plug into an external set)

See more Advent Computers Advent 4211 reviews on Reevoo.com

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User Reviews

Tuesday, 15 July 2008

Reviewed by reviewz

Star Rating: rating of 5

Duration of ownership: 10 days

Strengths:
Brilliant screen, good sized keyboard for a netbook.

Weaknesses:
trackpad is on the small side and the trackpad buttons click rather loudly. Small battery.

Overall Evaluation:
Get your money spent now, it's a brilliant netbook that is nippy, portable and good value. I upgraded the memory in it to 2GB using a easy to follow guide at http://netbookmag.com/2008/07/07/tutorial-advent-4211-memory-upgrade-msi-wind/ Verdict: Buy it now. *****

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Total reviews: 4,313

See product specs

expert rating

Build quality

4/5

Features

3.5/5

Value for money

4.5/5

Overall

4.5/5

expert rating

PC Advisor Reader Ratings

5/5

Advent's version of the MSI Wind, the 4211

READER REVIEWS


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