Advent 4211 mini notebook
Dixons tempts with cut-price Wind
Review OK, so the Advent 4211 is MSI's Wind, sold under a different name, in this case DSG's in-house PC brand. But it's worth a look because of a couple of differences, most importantly the price.
As the original notion of the Small, Cheap Computer, as embodied in the Asus Eee PC 701, has grown to take in bigger screens, better touchpads, faster CPUs, Windows and hard drives, the price has inevitably gone up.
MSI wants £329 for the Wind, which is clearly the wrong side of the £300 barrier. Some would even argue that that's too much, and £200 should be the maximum SCC price point. Now that the original Eee can be had on special offer for well below that, why opt for a well more expensive Wind?
Advent's 4211: Wind, cheaper
Well, the 4211 means you can have one without paying that much. PCWorld and other members of the chain formerly known as Dixons have priced the 4211 at £280, which brings it a lot closer to the SCC ideal.
For your money, you get Intel's 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor - as per the Acer Aspire One (AA1), the Asus Eee PC 901 and its later stablemates - 1GB of DDR 2 memory and an 80GB hard drive. You also get Windows XP SP3, but since this boy is cheaper than the Linux version of the Wind, you're still saving money if you choose to install Ubuntu instead.
The 4211 sports a bright 10.1in display, but the resolution remains the customary 1024 x 600, so the image is simply bigger than the one on the 901 or AA1, not of a higher resolution.
COMMENTS
Re. warranty
No intention about it. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough, UK law provides a much higher level of protection than a warranty so, whilst you might have good reason to be concerned about PC World's service, at least you can reject goods which a warranty will not allow you to do.
In most case a buyer is advised to take a warranty issue up with the seller because of this.
Re. warranty
I think you are intentionally missing the point there. The quality of service is entirely different. Even if it doesn't change your legal protection you are getting a different product entirely. Who is to say that PC World even match the terms of the manufacturers warranty, there is often a difference between what a manufacturer has to offer under law and what they offer in reality.
With manufacturer support, at least for the Aspire One you can deal direct with Acer who actually know what they are doing, the device is collected, repaired and returned to your door pretty quickly. PC World support - well I shouldn't need to tell anyone here just how bad that can be. It's got to be even worse for those with linux versions who have to deal with the "Tech Guys".
Re. warranty
Under UK law your contract is with the vendor anyway. i.e PC World, whether or not it has a manufacturer's warranty. Your rights are unaffected and you are still afforded the same level of protection.
Warranty - Why PC World can offer it cheaper!
As someone who bought an Aspire One from PC World discovered, they have bought the warranty/support from the manufacturer. If it goes wrong then you are not covered by a manufacturer warranty and instead have to use PC World's "TechGuys" service.
So if it goes wrong you are basically screwed. With that crucial detail in mind, paying £20 extra to purchase elsewhere is a bargin!
This point needs to be covered in the review and potentially in a separate article as a warning to buyers. Those who bought Acer Aspire One's from PC World were at no point told that warranty obligations were not with Acer (who have been highly praised by users with fauly Ones) but with PC World who have a horrendous track record on support.
Looks like PCWB are for real
It looks like PCWB are for real - they hve shipped it. Should hopefully arrive tommorrow morning.
