Advent 7014 Review

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Advent 7014
2.4 stars
Average rating for this product is: 2.4 out of 5

From 5 ratings and 17 reviews

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morf774's Review of Advent 7014 Laptop

19th Feb 2006

Overall Rating

2 stars
  • Value for money
    2.5 stars
  • Screen Quality
    4 stars
  • Ease of Use
    2 stars
  • Time Laptop Owned
    Over 1 Year
  • Battery Life
    2 stars
Good Points

2.8Ghz Processor
512MB Ram
DVD Drive
CD Writer


Bad Points

Heavy to carry
Flaky hardware
Lack of support
PC World (of course)
Overheats - see text below...


General Comments

As has been mentioned in other reviews, the Advent 7014 laptop is a desktop replacement. A sticker on the bottom suggests it's made by Gericom and lists their website for support, except the model number is different, and I can't find it there.

It has a fast 2.8Ghz processor, but only runs fast when connected to the mains. It's very heavy to carry for any length of time, plus it's also quite thick compared to other notebooks, so it doesn't always fit into standard cases.

On top of that, certain parts fall off. The covers at the end of the screen hinges for example, and the surround to the DVD/CDRW combo drive. If you close the computer and attempt to lift it with one hand, the case flexes. The keyboard is cheap and nasty, and the left hand side flexes in light use and it rattles a lot.

The screen is bright and clear, but it only has a 1024x768 resolution - the best part of the whole package. The DVD drive is sensitive, and it sometimes reads and sometimes refuses. It's given up writing altogether, but I never used it for that anyway.

There are only two USB ports, so a memory card and mouse is about it. No Wifi, but 1 card slot is available to add it. I use a USB one.

The hard disk is quite slow and small at 40GB (actually 38GB), which hampers performance, but the processor and graphics adapter (NVidia) are quite fast. It will play Call Of Duty (1) for example. But only for a limited time due to its main problem...

It overheats!!

Any intensive task such as games or DVD movies etc. cause the processor to heat up. Cooling is provided by a heat exchanger positioned between two mesh covers. One is just below the screen, and one is on the underside of the machine. If you lay it flat, the cooling isn't enough so it has to be wedged at the back all the time.

Eventually it will heat up and the fans will start to get noisy; but they are not enough, and eventually the machine will reset.

The PC World Return To Base warranty is useless.

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