Review Advent Altro
- Monday, September 7, 2009, 12:01
- Laptop Reviews
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While the affordable mobility of netbook’s has allowed the mini-laptop market to continue growing over the first-half of the year, a new market has since begun to grow. CULV, or Consumer Ultra Low Voltage, laptops aim to provide ample mobility in a compact chassis, while delivering greater power than a netbook, thanks to the use of higher powered, low-voltage processors, and the Advent Altro from PC World is the latest to hit the market.
It is immediately apparent where PC World has taken its design cues from, as the Altro bears more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s MacBook Air. At 1.7kg, it is slightly heavier than the 1.4kg Air, however, and its £600 price tag is almost half the price and Apple’s stylish ultraportable. Advent has also opted to use resilient silver plastics, rather than aluminium, in order to keep costs down, so the end result is a MacBook-alike that won’t break the bank.
Build quality of the main body is sturdy enough for semi-regular travel use, although we noticed some flex in the centre when typing. Conversely, the thin screen panel proves far less resilient, showing a great deal of flex under pressure, with the hinges proving unnervingly weak. We got the feeling that the screen could easily snap off its hinges under anything more than light pressure, so you’ll need to take particular care when travelling.
Quality of the 13.3-inch screen itself proved sufficient for most needs. While it’s not one of the brightest panels we’ve seen, images are sharp, and colour and contrast are adequate, if unexceptional, for daily use. The glossy Super-TFT coating of course increases reflections when used in bright conditions, but we found it generally posed no significant problems when working on the move. For the snap-happy among us, a webcam is fitted above the screen 
The keyboard continues the MacBook Air styling, with black keys cut through individual holes in the silver chassis. Usability is excellent, and all keys move firmly, accurately and with very little noise. The large touchpad again mirrors Apple’s own design, even featuring gesture-control functionality. A biometric fingerprint scanner, fitted between the slim mouse buttons, adds extra security and allows you to easily secure your most essential data. 
Rather than the low-powered Intel Atom processors commonly seen in the majority of netbooks currently available, the Altro instead uses a 1.2GHz Intel Celeron 723 chip. With a TDP (Thermal Design Power) rating of just 10W, this low-voltage CPU is able to run smoothly within the confines of the slim 25mm deep chassis.
Don’t expect performance to rival a full-size laptop, however, as the Altro is still quite sluggish to respond when multi-tasking. It also gets uncomfortably warm at the rear fairly quickly, during even basic use, despite cooling vents being located on both sides of the chassis. For basic use, such as word processing and browsing the internet, whether at home or on the move, the Altro is more than capable however.
When working away from the office, we were able to keep working for 178-minutes under battery power. While this falls short of the three-hour minimum we commonly see from even the most basic, entry-level laptop, this is still a suitable result for use on the daily commute. 802.11n Wi-Fi provides high-speed wireless connectivity, and we also noted a SIM card slot beneath the battery, although we have yet to confirm the presence of an HSDPA module. The inclusion of just one USB port is also unfortunate, but Advent ships a compact hub with the laptop to increase connectivity somewhat, with a VGA-out, two USB and an Ethernet port.
While we still have plenty to test on the Advent Altro, are initial opinions are very positive. While it of course cannot hope to match the stunning quality of the MacBook Air, its low price, great usability and high-street availability make it a great choice for anyone with a need for comfortable mobility and more power than a netbook, and it does it all without breaking the bank. For a full review, see issue 129 of What Laptop, on sale 25th September 2009
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