Filed under: GPS

We last spotted Averatec’s first GPS device this past summer, the Voya 350, and this week, the California-based company just released its update to the line: the Voya 320 navigation device. It seems to offer many of the same features that we saw in the previous model, including the same chip (Samsung 300MHz), the same amount of RAM (64MB), the same screen size and resolution (3.5-inch, 320 x 240), and same memory card slot (SD/MMC). However, the Voya 320 has a smaller battery life (two hours instead of four) and also has brought the price down to $300. Is an extra two hours of battery life worth $100? That’s for you to decide.

 

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Filed under: Desktops

It ain’t quite an iMac, but Averatec’s new All-In-One PC — their first consumer desktop — has plenty to love. The design looks to be based on that TG LLUON design we saw a couple of years ago, but sadly the looks seem to have taken a bit of a step back from the snaz of the LLUON, and the processor hasn’t really received much of a bump either. Averatec’s All-In-One PC sports an ancient 3GHz Pentium 4 processor, but the 20.1-inch 1680 x 1050 display, 250GB 7200RPM HDD, DVD burner and 7-in-1 media card reader spiff things up significantly. The Media Center PC also sports a wireless keyboard and mouse, along with a Media Center remote and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. We don’t have a price or a release date on this one, but we’re hoping the P4 processor means this’ll be a budget affair — and not just another lame iMac ripoff.

[Thanks, Arthur B.]

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Filed under: GPS, Handhelds

Averatec, a company known best for churning out laptops (and UMPCs as of late) has triangulated a route into the portable navigation market. The Voya 350, its first attempt in the lucrative GPS arena, is a handheld-sized unit that packs all the standard features you'd expect in such a device, and unfortunately not a whole lot more. Powered by a 300MHz Samsung CPU, 64MB of RAM, and operating on Windows CE.net, the Voya 350 displays turn-by-turn guidance while utilizing the usual NAVTEQ maps shown on the 3.5-inch TFT touch-screen. While no built-in hard drive is included, you can store excess data using the SD / MMC slot. Semi-noteworthy features include the 4 hours of battery life you can rely on while trekking in the rough, and weighing just 6 ounces, it makes for an easy tag-along. Although countless similar units have been available for quite some time, it's not really as if one more unit is going to water down the GPS receiver market aymore, so if you're hunting around for a portable nav device that's a tad easier on the wallet than other offerings, the Voya 350 -- albeit under-featured -- looks like a solid value, and can be located now for around $400.

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Filed under: Laptops

Looks like Averatec’s finally taking the plunge into dual core mobile computing with their new AV7170-EC1, your usual AMD Turion 64 X2-based box with 100GB 7200rpm drive, up to 2GB of RAM, a somewhat whimpy WXGA+ (1440 x 900) 17-inch display, 5-in-1 media reader, ExpressCard, gigabit Ethernet, and a 1-inch thick 7.2 pound body. The budget price is in effect, though, since you’ll be able to snag one as cheap as $1150, not too bad an investment even if it isn’t the highest quality PC on the market.

[Via Laptoping]

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Filed under: Laptops

PCMag got their hands on the top dog in Averatec’s “ultra portable” - although at 4.2-pounds and 1.43-inches thick, we would classify it as more of a thin-and-light - 2200 series, and the verdict seems to be a resounding “meh”. The AV2260-EK1 sports some solid specs, like a built-in DVD burner, 1GB of RAM, 80GB of storage and a 12.1-inch WXGA screen with Averabrite, but the AMD Turion 64 MT-32 can’t keep up with most of the new Core Duo machines and dropped battery life to a pitiful 1 hour 42 minutes with the included cell. You can add an extended life battery for an extra $100, but that puts a hurt on the $1079.99 retail price, bumping it to about the same level as the thinner, faster Macbook or Dell’s shiny M1210. All that plus a “cramped” keyboard lead us to believe we should keep scrimping and saving until we have enough for something truly ultra-portable.

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

Remember Averatec's sweet AHI UMPC concept from a couple months back? Well, they gave us the latest iteration of the device as it's been moving forward, as well as some details -- and we have to say, this is the first UMPC we've genuinely been able to get excited about. The sub 2-pounder will supposedly be somehow optimized for VoIP, videoconferencing, viewing live TV and VOD, and apparently even gaming (we're hoping they mean light gaming -- no CrossFire going on up in here). It's also supposed to have voice recognition systems (presumably for use with GPS guidance and the like),  a docking station, and is set to be priced under $800 for Q4 2006 launch. So basically it sounds like they're making a bunch of stuff up to get us excited, because we're having a hard time believing they're going to meet these goals. Then again, with capabilities so tantalizing and a price that low, we're a little tempted to turn a blind eye and hope for the best.

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Filed under: Laptops

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Filed under: Laptops

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Filed under: Handhelds, Laptops, Tablet PCs

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