Good all-rounder for a light user - at a reasonable cost! (Advent 7108)

Member Name: caroline1982

Product:	Advent 7108
Date:	13/07/09 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value, simple to use

Disadvantages: Can get noisy when in use, quite bulky

I bought this laptop for the reasonable price of £399 in late 2006 from PC World. At the time, it was one of the cheapest laptops on the market and has a reasonable spec considering the price at the time. It seemed to me to be enough for what I needed - internet and MS office.

I have found this laptop to be an excellent basic model. I have used it almost daily for over 2 1/2 years, albeit for the more everyday functions, e.g. internet browsing, word processing, working from home, Itunes etc. I have never had any major problems, except a virus, but this was not the fault of the laptop, and it did recover well.

It has a 15.4" widescreen which is great for watching IPlayer and viewing photographs. It is a nice silver colour so quite aesthetically pleasing, for the prices, although it is a little bulky compared to some of the newer, sleeker models. It weighs 2.85 kg, so can be a little heavy to travel with, but I have done so with no problems, and this has worked abroad with the power cable provided without problems.

There are 4 USB ports, a CD rewriter and 60 GB internal memory. I did find that when I installed Itunes, the memory started to get a little full, so if I was to buy again, I might consider something with a bigger memory.

It can also be a little noisy when it has been running for a while and gets warm. There are a couple of times when I have wondered whether it is about to explode on my knee!

Also, the "j" key has fallen off the keyboard, and I can't imagine it was the key I hit the most, so there must have been a weak point which caused it to fall off. This happened when I had not had the laptop for long, so was disappointing.

However, overall, for an amateur user, this provides everything you need from a laptop and I would definitely consider buying Advent again if they were cheaper than the "leading brands"!

Summary: Generally happy with this one!

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