When it works it is ok, but when it fails, and it will, it cannot be fixed. They have an inherent graphic fault, Google it for confirmation. Return to retailer - do not make me laugh. Please not solder (even on 'fixes') will flow again, with same screen/graphics disasters. Last report is that now the Motherboard is scrapped. Just Google Advent 5401 for explanations.

had it for 5 years never broke always works had virus and stuff it all went great laptop i love it

I bought the Advent 5401 for university course work and it was excellect and easy to use. Decided one day to run a anti-virus scan and during the scan the screen went blue. When i rebooted it had nothing but coloured lines. At this point it was 2 days out of warranty. Went back to PC World to see if they would do anything for me. The guy in the shop told me to **** off with it as it was out of warranty and to buy a new one on. He said they were in the business of selling not repairing. Temnporarly repaired it myself until i could afford a new one. Looking to buy an old one now to use as parts so i can try and repair my own for one of the children. Except for the graphics problem they were a very well specked laptop. If anyone is interested in selling me their old one (minus hard drive) please let me know and you can put it on e-bay and post the description here for me. sorry for it being so long. Thanks for reading.....

even thow the laptop as been fine it to bigin with it seems to develop more and more problems as time go's on!!!! all so it would be nice to have more conrol as window crashed and was unrecoverble loaded windows xp in but seems the only way to get the drivers is pay there dont seem to be anyway of just geting the drivers for the eternet so then at least you could get it to look for the drivers on the web

Bought this Laptop 2 years ago, video chip on mobo overheated!! Wrote to PC World using template from www.nvidiadefect.com and was awarded a voucher to have mobo replaced. Picked up after repair (mobo replacement)lasted 2 days then went again. Returned and got repaired a second time only for the overheating problem still there - used Rivatuner to monitor. Managed to fix myself by lowering the gpu clock rates to 300/600/300 from 400/800/400 under the performance 3d settings used when playing most games. Battery depleted and missing 1GB of Ram so returned to sort these issues out, should have back in a couple days, hopefully. Will need to purchase a cooling pad to avoid any further problems.

Oh, Advent 5401... After having the same problems as everyone else (overheating, apparently useless fan), I gave in and took my computer to be fixed as it kept shutting down due to heat. Turned out the processor wasn't properly attached, and the fans hadn't been placed correctly!!
I got those things fixed, and for about a week it's been fine, although yesterday it started making a noise like a car stalling, and I think this is the final warning before the big bang. I bought this laptop because it had all the bells and whistles at the time, but it's just been a big problem ever since. I will never buy a laptop from PC world again- they're no help at all!! Bad form, PC world. Bad form.

Glad i found these comments as my mum bought 2 advents 5041 for my daughters 2 years ago and 1 has just died with the same problem. They were both sent back under warranty in the first year due to faulty charge leads and mouse buttons.
Have had to have a new screen on the 1 that has just died 3 months ago and on the other half of the keys on the keyboard have fallen off.
Would not purchase Advent again, I am now in process of going through pc world to see if I can something done.

I was gobsmacked to learn I have suffered the same fault as everyone else. Two weeks after my warranty I got the 6 screens and it refused to boot normally. DO NOT BUY THIS LAPTOP, OR FOR THAT MATTER ANY OTHER ACER LAPTOP

Avoid this laptop. Had it for just 23 months and now has an unrecoverable fault. The screen now displays white or half white half gray which is apparently a fault of the Nvidia graphics card. This is a problem inherent to the laptop (check online forums). Was told it is cheaper to buy a new laptop than fit a whole new motherboard which will probably develop the same fault.

I Bought My advent 5401 just over 2 years ago, and ive had nothing but joyful use! i use it everyday for a few hours, i push it harder all the time with new and more demanding apps and games and its only ever stuttered once or twice. I'm running Windows 7 and i am really happy with my machine. Admittedly, you cant use the laptop on a bed or other soft, vent blocking surfaces as with most laptops; thats where they breath dummy! I dont think you would work to well if someone put a pillow over your face and made you run a marathon! im sorry to hear about all your graphics card problems but I bet my life 99% of the problems have occurred because of incorrect use (as stated above). My technique if i decide i need to leave the laptop somewhere where its going to struggle to cool its self down would be to put a DVD case or something had to prop the machine up a little, leaving a small amount of room to vent!!! much love!

i bought the advent 5401 and after warranty ran out it went to 6 screens ,i asked about and it was the graphics card ,the nvidia card is a bad one ,after arguing with currys i got a voucher for the repair of a new or so they said motherboard £273 ,now again its gone wrong so again i rang currys customer service quoting they had sold me a laptop that was not fit for the purpose they sold me it for ,after going to the store i was told i would get depreciation against my lap top in vouchers ,its now 2 years old and they said it should last 6 years at least ,anyway i have been offered £255 and i can keep my laptop ,i suppose a winner but no more advents

I want to tell you that i had the same problem the screen wasnt clear and it was in 6 parts.I could not see anything 2 technicians told me that it could not be fixed the video card is overheating and it is melted and atc and that i have to change the mainboard but i have found a way to fix it

To all those who have got this laptop: READ THIS..

If your laptop fails and it gives 3 beeps, (1 Long and 2 Short IIRC) then it is the graphics chip that has failed. This is a KNOWN issue with NVidia graphics cards, yours could be one of the many, many thousands effected.

You can have it repaired, but it likely to go wrong again sometime down the line. Search for NVidiaDefect to find a website for detailed instructions to get yours replaced or get cash back - this particularly applies to people in the UK who are covered by the sale of goods act (gives them 6 years to file a claim). TTFN and good look.

I got an Advent 5401 last year with my own money, I'm only 17 so i thought i'd spend all my hard earned cash on a laptop to do my work etc. I read a few bad reviews but i thought it would work. It worked fine for the first few months. Then it got really hot whenever i used it and it was impossible to put it on my lap without burning my crotch. Then it would go really slow whenever i tried to do more than two things at a time, it would crash out and i'd have to close all my windows to make it work at all.

Then yesterday it crashed with blue fuzzy lines accross the screen, i restarted it and then when i tried to turn it on nothing worked, the screen was white and then half of it faded into black, with yellow vertical lines up the other half of the screen. I tried turning it off and on and this seemed to work for a while and i thought all was well. But today i tried to turn it on and got a white screen, it wont work at all. I wouldnt recommend this laptop ever. My brother got a £500 dell laptop which still works after 3 years, my £340 Advent 5401 broke after just after 1 year. I know what decision i'd make next time. DO NOT BUY THIS LAPTOP.

After 18 months graphics card has failed. Managed to get PC World to cover cost of repair even though laptop is out of warranty. I wrote a letter to PC World quoting the sale of goods act and stating that the laptop has not been durable, and that it should last longer than 18 months. I had to pay for an engineers report to be carried out (£25), which pc world will now refund. Pleased with the result. Hopefully the new motherboard will last a bit longer.

Turns out i have had the same problem as everyone else out there. Loved the laptop. It used to be really awesome when i got it apart from you can't have it on any kind of surface it will overheat. Pretty bad when you're playing a game and then everything just crashes. Ok when i'm doing work for college though.

Just before christmas, all of a sudden everything black went acid green and everything white went an off white purple colour. pretty bad really.

January comes around. Turns out when the laptop is over heating, the colour goes back to normal so just though that it was a faulty connection or something. Holy nick was i wrong. It was the first warning sign of the graphics card going. just finished 2000/4000 words of one of my projects and everything dies. Oh well, i save it frequently. Turn it back on and it has 6 screens and won't start up properly.

As a pennieless student, i don't have the money to get it replaced and it's over the initial one year warranty. Time to LOL at dixons, they screwed up MAJOR style. got a letter from them saying that guess what, my warranty lasts for 1 year, 9 months and 2 weeks. got picked up the other day to get it fixed. Since this is a recurring issue as soon as i get it back the laptop will somehow find it's way behind the rear wheel of my car "accidentally" for accidental damage cover under the warranty. Discontinued line so brand new laptop time!

BLEW UP AFTER 18 months.
The opinion seems to be that it was overheating as fan was always on.
Now display is not working and wont recover anything - suspect melted graphics card.
SCRAP !

Got the same Advent 5401 fault as everybody else after 12 months.
The usual 6 little images on the display when you boot up thus not allowing you to load up Windows (thank god for safe mode to retrieve my files).
Took it to PC World 3 times to get fixed.
Begrudgingly paid £229.
First time I got it fixed the same fault came back again a WEEK later (plus for some odd reason they replaced the hard drive when all that needed replacing was the graphics chip/motherboard).

Second time I got it fixed the fault came back 3 weeks later plus they'd removed an extension bay cover and not put it back.

Third time they said they couldn't get the parts to fix it (WTF?????!!! they did the previous two times), so I got a refund of the £229 and went an bought an Asus X59GL which is SOOOOOOOOOOO much better than that piece of junk Advent.

So basically it seems this laptop definately has that common fault yet PC World never recalled it (probably so they can fleece your money to get it repaired).

Oh yeah the battery had to be replaced 3 months after I bought it.
Customer service at PC World also leaves a lot to be desired e.g. only having one member of staff to man both desks.
I did note that others there weren't exactly happy at the treatment they were getting from the staff either.

In closing two things are clear.
1. DO NOT BUY AN ADVENT 5401!
2. DO NOT BY ANYTHING FROM PC WORLD!