The 4211's fan runs frequently, but since we found it to be very quiet we didn't mind, and it kept the machine barely warm to the touch.
Another advantage: the 4211 comes in sober black and metallic-grey colour scheme rather than the more bright kid-friendly colours sported by the Wind. Why did so many SCC makers settle on shiny white as the standard? Ugh...
Beyond that, the 4211 ticks all the correct SCC connectivity boxes: VGA, 10/100Mb/s Ethernet, audio ports, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and a trio of USB 2.0 ports. Unlike many of its rivals it has Bluetooth on board, if you need it. The webcam is a 1.3-megapixel job.
Downsides? The 4211's AC adaptor is a little on the large side and since the battery life isn't out of this world, this is a piece of hardware you are going to have to carry around with you. The 4211 itself is the wrong side of a kilo, though we found it no less portable for that.
There's no easy way into the 4211 beyond taking the back plate off, a process that involves removing nine screws and unclipping one half of the casing from the other.
Sober styling
It's the same price as Acer's version of the One that comes with a 120GB HDD and Windows XP but only has 512MB of memory. If you want a 1GB AA1, it'll cost you around £300. Given an SCC should be used as a secondary machine, not your main laptop, we'd rather have the memory than the extra hard drive capacity, so we'd chose the 4211 over the HDD-equipped AA1 any day.
That's if you must have Windows - if you're happy with Linux, go for the AA1, it's cheaper still, especially if you storage capacity is not an issue for you. It's also physically smaller
We haven't had a chance to have a play with the Eee PC 1000 series yet, so we can't comment on how well the 4211 stands alongside it. But since the comparably specced 1000H costs £70 more than the 4211, we'd almost certainly forego the latter's 802.11n Wi-Fi - the 4211 has 802.11g, which is usually sufficient. We reckon you'll soon be able to buy an extended battery for less than that.
Verdict
If you like your Small, Cheap Computers to be not too small, the Advent 4211, with its 10.1in display, will appeal. So will its price, which puts it well ahead of the similarly sized competition. But watch out for that touchpad, OK?
Advent 4211 mini notebook
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.
