10 replies to this topic

[Bosco]

Today Wassim looks at the AVATAR Mercury Ultrabook AVIU-145A2. Read his review here:

 

 

http://www.overclock...ook_aviu_145a2/

[Black64]

Is this their first product? Never heard of them.

[Wesstron]

The company started selling on Newegg and Amazon a few months ago. Not much of an online presence but the website is coming together nicely and the product lineup is pretty impressive for a so far unknown brand.

[d6bmg]

Descent product for a newly formed company.

But, that driver DVD with an ultrabook looks really lame.

[Wesstron]

Descent product for a newly formed company.

But, that driver DVD with an ultrabook looks really lame.

The company is technically 14 years old, it's presence in NA online retailers is pretty recent. It's in the intro lol.

 

Agreed on the DVD, it does not make sense to me either   .

[d6bmg]

 

Descent product for a newly formed company.

But, that driver DVD with an ultrabook looks really lame.

The company is technically 14 years old, it's presence in NA online retailers is pretty recent. It's in the intro lol.

Sadly, I just went through the BIOS, OS & performance tabs. Design doesn't matter to me as long as it actually performs nicely.

[paulktreg]

If you're going to buy a product, I don't care what you say, most people need it to look good. Take Apple for example, their products are very well built and look the part although not necessarily the best performers.

[sauros73]

First a real big thank you for the review...Really userful for my choice 

 

I like to compare the AVIU-14A2 with  the Aspire S3-391-6497 because they are really similar in term of specs and design.

 

it have notable différences like the RAM size (4Gb vs 8Gb), Bluetooth (I think AVIU-14A2 don't have it), battery capacity (6600mAh vs 3260 mAh) but for the rest it is similar.

 

The think I dislike about the S3, it is the keyboard feeling; the race of the chiclets is to low. It seem to be much better with the AVIU-14A2

[Wesstron]

First a real big thank you for the review...Really userful for my choice 

 

I like to compare the AVIU-14A2 with  the Aspire S3-391-6497 because they are really similar in term of specs and design.

 

it have notable différences like the RAM size (4Gb vs 8Gb), Bluetooth (I think AVIU-14A2 don't have it), battery capacity (6600mAh vs 3260 mAh) but for the rest it is similar.

 

The think I dislike about the S3, it is the keyboard feeling; the race of the chiclets is to low. It seem to be much better with the AVIU-14A2

Glad the review was useful , let me know if you want any extra details.

 

The AVIU-145A2 has Bluetooth integrated through the Intel Centrino Wireless-N 130 module, Sorry for the oversight!

 

A few things I noticed after using the AVATAR for a while:

• It's still working so that's a good sign.
• Aluminum casing ages way better than plastic
• The AVIU-145A2 uses a 7mm HDD that's slow @ 5400 RPM, even with the Intel Smart Response Technology boost. I suggest swapping it for a cheap SSD if possible.
• You have to find a copy of W8 SL if you are changing the drives or if something goes wrong and you need a clean install.
• Battery life is severely affected when the processor goes "HULK SMASH" mode.

Not sure where you live but I wouldn't buy this at full price. In Canada, it's on sale for $479.99, in the US it's going for $649.99... really NewEgg ?

[sauros73]

Thank for your quick feedback. Your right I found it on NewEgg.ca at 479.99 CAD. That's a fair price for this set of specs.

 

My Idea is to backup the Avatar folder of the factory setup and install LlNUX dsitro on. I'll try Flashcache instead Intel Smart Response Technology for the SSD caching.

Edited by sauros73, 21 February 2014 - 12:31 PM.

[sauros73]

Hi,

 

Here is my feedback after a week of usage.

 

PROs

- Very solid aluminium case

- Easy and good feeling keyboard

- VGA/Ethernet dongle, a very usefull add-on

- Powerful spec for cheap price

- Connectors (USB, HDMI, etc...) position

- Ventilation size and position and not blocked if you have it on your knees

 

- Great batteries life

 

CONs

- Power button position too close to the other keys

- Elantech instead Synaptic touchpad not sure a good idea

- Screen brightness too much white and difficult to used with sun

- Add a second USB3 could be a good idea

- Little bit heavy

 

For the price (got it at 479.99 CAD ;-) I have a Ultra book for the price of a regular laptop. it is really easy to transport and it is solid. I found it little bit heavy for an Ultrabook but with that solid aluminium case it could be understanding.

 

I tried 3 Linux distros:

 

Elementary OS (Graphic env.: Enlightenment) - Ubuntu fork

This distro is really based on a neat and elegant presentation. Not too much stuff to confuse you. On the AVIU-145A2, is really present a noble experience: pure, simple and elegant. Even more then what you expect OS X on a Mac Book. The hardware detection is good except for the touchpad that is working but without specific touchpad functionalities (see comment below). If you like esthetic of Apple, Elementary OS is a good candidate.

 

Manjaro (Graphic env.: OpenBox) ArchLinux fork

Manjaro is based on ArchLinux so mean that is more for experienced user that like to play with the configuration files. The experience was more a Space Geek one (dark style). Elantech Touchpad experiments a known bug with some Linux kernel: the cursor jump from right to left seconds... It can be fix bug not easily by a non-technician user.

 

LinuxMint (Graphic env.: Cinnamon) Ubuntu fork

Mint is a really popular distro but also could mean resource s**ker. With i5 CPU and 8Gb RAM, AVIU-145A2 don't suffer, the animations are smooth and snappy. As Manjaro, the cursor jumping bug has been seen here too.

 

Specific touchpad functionalities

In all distros the Elantech touchpad is by default recognized as a standard PS mouse. That mean the functionalities like 2-fingers scrolling or 2-fingers zoom are not working. It have a way to fix that but it mean experimented user configurations.