A Wonderful Ultraportable. Inexpensive and Sturdy.
Written: Aug 11 '08 (Updated Aug 11 '08)
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Pros: Beautiful Screen.
Easy Upgrades.
Light.
Portable.
2 Batteries.
Minimal Bloatware.
Sturdy.
Inexpensive.
Cons: Norton Internet Security.
2GB MAX RAM.
Battery Life.
No Webcam.
Dust Covers Pop Off.
The Bottom Line: This laptop is great. It has a WOW factor to it that I didn't expect. Sturdy and portable. This is a work computer. Not for games.
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| jacobdrj's Full Review: Everex StepNote SA2053T PC Notebook |
Introduction
I am on a tight budget and needed a laptop for work and school. I didn't want another 15.4" behemoth that needed 3 USB cards, and both PCMCIA slots filled to be useful, and had zero battery life.
So I wanted something small enough to be easy to carry around, but at the same time have a large enough keyboard so as not to frustrate me, as I do not have slender fingers. However, I couldn't afford to pay even $1000 for it.
I found the SA2053T on Tiger Direct's Amazon affiliate for $600 during the Holiday shopping season. It is one of the best purchases I have ever made.
I had never heard of Everex before, but the Wiki page on them was positive, as were the other reviews. I asked someone I knew who had been in the computer business a lot longer than I and he had nothing but good things to say about Everex, and added that he thought they had went out of business long long ago. This was not the case. They just got out of the consumer PC market.
Specs
I was not going to buy a computer with Vista if it wasn't at least a Dual Core chip. It would have been nice to have an Intel Core 2 Duo, however Everex does not make a 12.1" laptop with one, so between the Core Duo (SA2053T) and the Turion X2 (SA2052T), the SA2053T had better features for a better price at the time.
It comes with:
Intel T2080 (1.73GHz @ 533MHz FSB)
1GB DDR2 RAM
100GB Hard Drive
WiFi 802.11b/g
12.1" Glossy Wide Screen @ 1280x800 @ 60Hz
4.1 lbs. with 6 cell battery
In The Box
It comes with 2 batteries:
1x 3 cell 2200mAh battery
1x 6 cell 4400mAh battery
This is not a special offer, it is standard. The reason is because the 6 cell battery, when paired with the laptop, is over 4 lbs. Microsoft mandates that Windows Vista can not be shipped on an ultraportable laptop that weighs over 4 lbs. To get by this, Everex ships the SA2053T with a standard 3 cell battery, and as a bonus (should you choose to use it) it also includes a double-capacity 6 cell battery. Take THAT Microsoft! Needless to say, the 3 cell stays in it's original packaging. It would have been very nice of them to include a charger for the 2nd battery, so as to have an emergency power backup. It is nice to have the option, but it probably will not get used until the 6 cell wears out, badly. With the 6 cell battery, the laptop gets about 2:45 on a full charge on power-saver mode. That is sufficient for getting through a long lecture, but not enough to watch a DVD movie. It is a little longer with WiFi turned off, but most of my work (and play) is internet based, so that almost never happens.
A 75W Power Adaptor with 3-pronged cable is included. The power pack that comes with this laptop is small, and works fine. It does not have a LED on it, which is useful for troubleshooting power related issues, but this is a minor quibble. The cord is 3-pronged (3rd progn is a grounding wire), and comes with a detachable ferrite clip that is supposed to clean up the power flow. The cord is sufficiently long, but does not come with all the cool Velcro and wrapping construction that Dells come with, or the magnetized connector Apples come with.
This computer comes with a bootable restore DVD. This is as much as I can hope for nowadays as most laptops, and even computers, come with restore partitions. This creates serious problems should you forget to make DVDs of the partition, assuming that you even CAN do that if you wanted to. It also makes the prospect of upgrading or replacing the hard drive risky, if not flat out impossible. The drivers on the DVD were ok, but should be updated to the point where you can automatically download Vista SP1 from Microsoft Update. This means updating the sound drivers, the wireless card drivers, and the Intel integrated video drivers. After all of that, you should be able to get the Vista SP1 automatic update.
Initial Startup
When you turn the laptop on, you will have to go through basic Windows setup. It takes about 20 minutes while the computer configures the settings after you input you information (such as time zone, name, password, etc).
There is a physical switch that turns on and off the WiFi. I like this much better than a spring-loaded software switch I find on Acers, and buttons that I find on many HPs.
The 100GB hard drive is not ginormous, by any means, but it is sufficiently quick, and spacious, as long as you don't start storing your whole music/photo collection on it. Videos will, of course, take up a lot of space very fast.
Before I had this laptop, I had never used Windows Vista. Being that I did not expect this to be a gaming machine, nor did I plan to use any legacy software, I was not too concerned with getting Vista Home Premium 32. I will review the OS separately, but in a nutshell, Media Center is cool. Vista, with all the updates and SP1 is solid, and responsive, after you turn of Aero.
As soon as you get a chance, uninstall the bundled Norton Internet Security. It causes nothing but havoc.
The bundled CD/DVD burning software looks interesting, but I removed it in favor of CDBURNERXP, which is an open source freeware program that fits my needs.
The bundled DVD Software is Power DVD. It is pretty standard, but I just installed the K-Lite Mega Codec pack instead, so I can watch movies in more formats, included DVD.
There is come confusion on whether this laptop's memory (RAM) is expandable. It comes with 1 module of Adata 1GB of DDR2 667mhz SODIMM running at 533mhz (bus limited). You CAN very much increase this to 2GB! And I HIGHLY recommend it. It increased boot time by quite a bit (about 20 seconds). 2GB memory modules are inexpensive. I replaced it with 1 Trancend 2GB DDR2 667mhz SODIMM module running at 533mhz. It was instantly recognized, and works flawlessly.
I have considered upgrading the actual processor on this laptop to a Core 2 Duo. According to my research, this can be done. Any Core 2 Duo with a mPGA running at 667mhz Front Side Bus (FSB) will work with this laptops' chipset. However, because the multiplier may be limited, I could end up with a chip that is effectively underclocked, and therefore would negate any speed upgrade. And while Core 2 Duos are all 64bit compatible, and the T2080 (at 1.73 Ghz) that comes with my laptop is not, the point is mute, as the laptop is limited to 2GB of system memory, and would therefore receive no benefit of the 64 bit architecture. This upgrade is also potentially cost prohibitive, as these chips retail for hundreds of dollars, and even on ebay, the lowest Core 2 Duos end up selling for well over $100, making any upgrade in speed unjustifiable. There is also the chance that this will void the manufacturer's warranty.
The media card reader, with the installed drivers, is SD compatible. You must update the drivers to get SDHC support. Even with SDHC support, the transfer speeds are fairly slow, no matter what the size and speed rating of the card. I do not recall ever getting the card reader to go faster than 7mb per second, which is fine for a few files, but when transferring 8gb of photos and videos, this takes a lot longer than is convenient. This also becomes an issue when you consider that this laptop, with it's 2GB RAM limitation, is a prime candidate for Vista's Readyboost. Instead of having a thumbdrive constantly being removed and inserted, and not to mention using up one of the precious 3 USB ports on the laptop, I tried using the SD reader for Readyboost, because the card never has to be removed, and the SD card stays seated nicely inside the body of the laptop. However, Readyboost will only rarely recognize a card as compatible (sometimes changing it's mind on the same card over and over again, even if the card is certified Readyboost compatible). I am not sure if this is because of the speed of the reader, or a glitch with Vista (as my new home desktop as a similar, if not less frequently reoccurring) has the same problem. I am told there is a possible fix for this online by tweaking the registry, but I have not tried it yet. I plan to soon, and will update this review based on my findings there.
I wish this laptop included a webcam, but that is ok as I knew it wasn't included.
The support for this laptop is excellent. When I first received my laptop, I started noticing that the screen was flickering pretty badly. I immediately called Everex, who has a toll-free number with a real support technician on the other side, and we concluded that it was in fact not a driver or vista issue, but a faulty laptop. Since it was brand new, I simply gave it back to TigerDirect for a replacement, and got the replacement BEFORE I EVEN SENT OUT THE DEFECTIVE UNIT, and they didn't even bill me! Thanks TigerDirect!
Also, Everex has a user forum on their website, where people exchange their experiences and tech issues. It is a fairly friendly and knowledgeable community. That is where, for example, you can find the updated SDHC driver.
It should be noted that the stickers on the bottom with the license key information for the bundled DVD reading software rubs away quite quickly. I recommend writing these numbers down, and/or taking a photograph of the bottom of this laptop as soon as you buy it, so as to have a record of all the license keys. On a positive note, per using the restore DVD, all the license keys are built in, and the Power DVD one (which is the 1st to rub away) is actually included as a text file on the C: drive.
Trying to get Ubuntu to work on this laptop is a challenge to say the least. If you Google it, there is a lofty procedure to even get the SA2053T to boot with Ubuntu. I'll keep updating this page if I am able to ever get it on successfully.
I have upgraded the hard drive on this laptop twice, with mixed results. I tried a 7200RPM Hitachi drive with 60GB of space, and to be honest, it did not speed things up at all, and I lost 40GB of space on an already cramped hard drive. So I went back to the default drive. I recently upgraded to a 320GB 5400RPM SATA II (300) drive. I thought because of the higher platter density that it would be faster. I actually timed it, and there was absolutely no difference in speed from the included 100GB 5400RPM drive. Also the new drive runs warmer, and vibrates more than the old drive. I also had a hard time getting the rubber bumper back in place once I removed the old drive. The traditional 2.5" hard drive chassis is replaced with, well, nothing. You just drop the drive into place at an angle and push it into the socket, then place a rubber bumper to curb vibration. I like it, except it might make the SATA and power port more prone to breaking, and the rubberized bumper, as I mentioned before, is hard to replace just right.
The way you open the laptop for upgrade is by removing 8 screws on a metal panel on the bottom of the laptop. This gives you access to the RAM, the hard drive, the mini PCI Express slot, and the processor/heatsink/northbridge/fan assembly. I like the design, just try not to loose any screws.
The LCD display on this monitor is GORGEOUS!!! It is a gloss finish, and smudges easily, but the colors are crisp, and the resolution is fine at 1280x800.
I would prefer if the volume dial were physical, instead of Windows software.
Features Lacking
This laptop does not come with bluetooth. You can not install Bluetooth through the mini PCI Express slot, as there are no composite WiFi/Bluetooth cards out there for sale yet. You can upgrade the card with an 802.11n, but it is a bit of an involved installation.
One of the best features of this laptop is the relative lack of bloatware. Other than Norton and the CD/DVD software, there is almost none. This makes for a very pleasant experience. Much more so than Acer, Dell, or Toshiba.
A minor nuisance with this laptop is that the dust covers over the monitor hinges don't always stay put. I have already lost one. It doesn't damage anything, but it looks bad. You can buy replacements, for a hefty price, from Everex' web site.
This comes with a DVD Dual Layer burner. It works well.
This is NOT a gaming computer. Period. Intel accelerated graphics in 3D are barely enough to get Windows Aero to work. Games as simple as War Rock play terribly. 2D games work just fine, as expected, such as classics like Heroes of Might and Magic III.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 599.99
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 12 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
jacobdrj
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Reviews written: 14
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