The Underdog of Laptops -- With a Very Strong Bite. (updated July '05)
Written: Jun 18 '01 (Updated Jul 16 '05)
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Pros: Excellent Laptop for a price you can't beat.
Cons: Tech Support is not toll free. Small company. The laptop is now dead in 2005.
The Bottom Line: I am extremely pleased. It's incredible price and great performance are a rare gem. I unashamedly highly recommend this product.
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| peachjam's Full Review: Ashton Digital Maximate 420 (M420T-9214V8U) PC Not... |
<I am prefacing this review with updated July 2005 information. This laptop is now virtually dead on my shelf due to the power connector port separating from the motherboard. I had a local electronics shop attempt to solder the connector back into the motherboard two different times but it eventually worked it's way out again (meaning no power to the laptop). I attribute this glitch partly to poor design in that the power adapter was a very small, thin plug that was prone to getting 'yanked' about when using the laptop on your lap. In all, the laptop served a good life after about 4 years of constant and mobile use.>
I'm honored to find this little-known company called Ashton Digital on Epinions. I take a little credit for it being here as I personally contacted both Epinions and Ashton Digital with requests to get this topic added. Now I have my chance to rant and rave about this great and little know laptop called the Maximate 420.
I have written two other Epinions that are based around this laptop. One is in the category "Choosing a laptop as a desktop replacement", which is exactly what I did with this machine. The other has to do with "How to Understand Notebook Specs". For a detailed description of this notebook, along with explanations of computer terminology that is specific to notebooks, you can refer to that article.
But now, finally, I get to focus just on what I think not only of the Maximate 420, but also the company that makes it.
How did I even hear of Ashton Digital?
My first contact with Ashton Digital was through the Egghead.com auctions. I had been shopping for some time for a laptop that could replace my desktop. Needing more mobility, but lacking funds to support two computers, I was on a mission to get a laptop I could afford. At the time (November '00), a laptop in my price range would have been a Celeron version at around 500-600mhz. I looked at Sony's VAIO series, Compaq, and Dell. The nearest 800mhz machine was running around $2,200 at the time. So when I monitored Egghead's auctions and saw this Maximate 420's (800mhz) going for around $1,200, I got VERY curious.
Not one to impulse buy, I went over to www.ashtondigital.com to see what they had to say. I wasn't impressed with their marketing (very few resellers carry this laptop), but I liked the features I saw and I really liked the price. Incidentally, the website price was only a few hundred dollars above the auction price, and several times (I monitored the auctions over a period of days before successfully bidding) I watched people pay MORE on the auction than they could have gotten the laptop elsewhere on the internet. To my knowledge there is no store where you can buy this computer -- only through the Internet.
To make a long story a little shorter, I purchased a Maximate 420 from Egghead.com.
So, what did I get in the deal?
The Maximate 420 comes well equipped with a Pentium III 800mhz processor, 128MB of Ram, an 11.2GB hard drive, and a 14" Active Matrix screen, 24X CD-Rom (this was just before DVD drives became standard fair on laptops), 56K modem, speakers, microphone, lithium battery, touch pad, PCMCIA slots, 1 USB port and (this is my favorite part) a Dual Monitor mode that supports simultaneous viewing of two separate parts of your desktop on two separate monitors.
I've got to jump right in to this last item because it never ceases to amaze EVERY person that I've talked to, and I have yet to find ANY laptop that has the power and flexibility of this feature. Most laptops support the ability to plug an external monitor in to the laptop so that you can view either the laptop or the monitor or both. Viewing both means you see the SAME thing on both the laptop and the external monitor. With the Maximate 420, you can view DIFFERENT things on the laptop and the external monitor at the same time. This effectively doubles your workspace on your computer, and boy is it nice. It bears repeating, "Boy, is it nice". (An interesting side note: the above Dual Monitor feature works with Win98, but not with Windows2000 Pro, which I recently upgraded to. What a disappointment that was - but I needed 2000 for work. With 2000 I can view on an external monitor, but not separate from the laptop screen.)
As to the other features on the laptop, they are pretty standard for laptops.
LCD screen and external monitors
I find the LDC screen VERY easy to view. In certain daytime situations, glare from a window behind me can make it hard to see, but this is true of a regular CRT monitor as well. Angling the laptop slightly fixes the problem. I find that unless I am using the 1024x768 resolution with 16M colors that the fonts look a bit choppy on the screen. Fortunately I prefer the 1024x768 resolution the best anyway.
The screen refresh on an external monitor is lacking. I find that I can see some flicker in my 17-inch monitor when plugged into my Maximate 420. I have also heard other laptop users complain about the same thing, so it may not be unique to the Maximate.
I believe the video card is one of the weaker components of this laptop. Based on the SIS drivers, it won't impress you on serious games. After reconfiguring the video memory to 16MB (by using the shared 128MB of RAM), it is able to run some of the heavier video games(like the Lucas Arts "Naboo Fighter" game I just tried). It IS 3D compatible, but you have to share RAM from the system to get it up to performance for these games.
(UPDATE on 7/15/02: My LCD has developed a bad column of pixels. There is a straight line running from top to bottom somewhere near the center of the screen. It's slightly annoying, but workable. Replacement of the LCD would cost around $600 according to AD.)
Keyboard and touch pad
The keyboard is very easy to use, and feels comfortable for typing for long periods of time. There is adequate space to rest your palms, and fortunately the speakers are above the keyboard, so your palms won't block the sound from your speakers like on many laptops.
The touch pad has all of the great extended touch pad features like auto-scrolling (slide your finger along the right edge and it will scroll your current window without having to drag the scroll bar on the screen. It works much the same way as a scroll mouse.), tap zones (each of the four corners can be programmed to do certain tasks when you tap that corner), and a left and right buttons. You can tap the mouse pad instead of left-click, and you can double-tap instead of double-click. I rarely use the left button on my touch pad because it is so easy to 'tap'. These features become disabled if you use the available PS/2 port, serial port or USB port for an external mouse. While computing at home I generally use a USB scroll mouse instead of the touch pad.
An external keyboard can also be added through either the PS/2 port or the USB port. I am currently using the Microsoft Elite Pro keyboard through USB.
CD Rom and Floppy drives
The CD Rom has a manual door, which to me is better than a motorized door since you can open it easily even if the computer is turned off. I have recently had some trouble with the CD Rom drive reading CD's. Sometimes I have to open and close the CD door a few times before the CD (even new ones) will read. I have contacted Tech. Support, and I believe I could have the CD Rom replaced under warranty, but I haven't been able to give up my laptop for the required 10 days (or so) to mail it in for repairs. I'll get to tech support later.
The 3 1/4 inch floppy drive is pretty standard and works just fine (the few times I've ever needed it).
Other ports and accessories
The Maximate 420 comes with all of the standard computer ports including: Parallel Port (for printers, scanners, Zip drives), PS/2 port (for keyboards and mice), Serial port (for mice and external drives and modems), USB port (stackable - meaning you can plug in hubs and an almost infinite number of USB peripherals), Ethernet port (for plugging in to a LAN at work or home), phone jack (for the modem's phone line), and the standard monitor plug in.
All of these have worked very well. I have connected to my company's LAN with no problem, used USB and Parallel scanners, USB and Parallel printers, PS/2, Serial, and USB mice, and PS/2 and USB keyboards with almost no problem. The one exception was a Canon 620U flatbed scanner that had occasional problems on the USB port. My current Visioneer USB scanner has no problems at all.
(UPDATE on 7/15/02: I have noticed other occasional USB problems with this laptop. I believe the problem is again related to the cheaper USB Hub drivers developed by SIS.)
PCMCIA Slots
The Maximate 420 comes with a Type III card slot, which also accepts Type II cards. I have never used it to date as this laptop has everything I need. The ads for the computer mention a ZV port through the PCMCIA slot. ZV Port support allows for direct input of Video frames from an outside video source directly to the Video buffer – the result is more fluid video without pauses. I have never used it, so I can't vouch for its effectiveness.
The battery
Many users are particularly interested in battery life. Although I use my battery on occasion, it is expensive enough ($70) that I use it only rarely and very carefully. I believe it will last a good 2 hrs when fully charged. I am generally near an outlet where I use my notebook most. I usually pull the battery out an inch or two so that it doesn't constantly charge and discharge. Repeatedly plugging in and unplugging your laptop is said to shorten battery life considerably. The laptop has all the standard power-saving modes, including the "hibernate" mode, which is featured with Windows 2000. In hibernate mode, the computer quickly saves all of the current settings on your desktop, saves them directly to the hard drive and shuts down. When you restart the laptop, it skips the entire boot up process and goes right to where you left off. This is an extra energy-saving feature, and is much quicker than rebooting your laptop.
Now, what about Ashton Digital and Tech support?
Ashton Digital is certainly no match for Dell when it comes to support. If you have a problem or a question, you'll need to use email or call the 'toll' number provided on the web site. The technicians that I have talked to were helpful, but when I was experiencing the problems with the Canon Scanner and the USB port, I didn't get very prompt responses by email. Also, I was promised that a Bios update was coming "very soon" that should help remedy the problem (which it didn't, but getting a new scanner did), but it was probably two months before the Bios update became available.
The Ashton Web site has been fairly helpful for support. When I upgraded to Windows 2000, all the necessary drivers were available online. I check back occasionally and have found that updated drivers are often available, so I know they are continuing to support their product. Ashton Digital has recently gone through a 'revival' of sorts in their Customer Service area. An Ashton Digital 'phorum' has allowed users to interact on solutions, and one particular Technician frequents the newsgroup with lots of tips and advice.
An Epinions perk
I was pleasantly surprised one day when I got an email from an Ashton Digital Sales Representative. She had read one of my articles about the Maximate 420 (using it as a desktop replacement) and wondered if I would mind if they quoted part of the opinion. After checking with Epinions, we agreed that they could post the quote with due credit to Epinions for the source of the quote. You can see my quote on their website, with a trail leading back to Epinions. That article is now one of my most popular articles (mostly non-Epinions members) on Epinions, so I know there must be quite a bit of traffic on the Ashton Digital website.
The bottom Line
I am extremely pleased with the Ashton Digital Maximate 420. It's incredible price and great performance are a rare gem. Although Ashton Digital is probably an underdog in the laptop market, I am certainly a loyal fan and am willing to highly recommend this product.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $1.200
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 801-900
Screen Size: 14
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
peachjam
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Member: Troy Funte
Location: Titusville, PA
Reviews written: 84
Trusted by: 112 members
About Me:
I'm a family man, which actually keeps me off epinions more than I would like.
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