Averatec has totally refreshed the design of their 12" notebook line with their 3700 series, which continues Averatec's trend of offering great specifications at a bargain price. This time, however, it's a truly well-rounded machine that combines great looks, strong performance, and a long battery life.
Build & Design
The 3700 is a great looking notebook. It has a simple compact design, with nothing sticking out, a flush-fitting battery, and slightly rounded corners. It is a simple white color with one piece of silver trim, and a silver bottom. Compared to the previous generation, it is just a bit thicker, but has a significantly smaller footprint. I greatly prefer this design to some notebooks which seem as if their only goal was to be thin, at the expense of a flimsy feel, wasted space (like a thick bezel around the screen), and a larger footprint. Do buyers really only look at the thickness spec when searching for a small notebook?
When open, the notebook is clean and simple. It has an even, thin bezel around the screen, which looks very nice compared to the thick, space wasting bezels on so many notebooks.
Build quality is the usual fairly sturdy with a bit of flex here and there. A firm push on the back of the LCD will cause ripples to appear, and the keyboard is not super-stiff. Speaking of the LCD, the hinges seem sturdy and well-damped. Also, there is no latch. The LCD just closes and stays closed until you pull it open. Nice.
There seems to be a very small gap between the LCD and keyboard when closed, which worries me somewhat. In the past, I've seen notebooks that mark the LCD with the keyboard over time. It might be wise to use the included LCD sleeve to protect the screen when transporting this notebook. |
