[product#125]
Overview
With the likes of Facebook and MSN taking over the internet, it was only a matter of time until laptop developers started making machines made to do just that, internet surfing. Add that with the huge array of mobile internet connections available for people on the go and you get the latest style Netbooks.
These machines offer the user the facilities to view their favourite pages and chat to their friends from a laptop so tiny and light you would not even know it was there.
So how does the Advent latest entry shape up?
Review
Style
Being available in only one colour, this Netbook leaves self styling out at the door unless you can pull off the standard Black and Sliver design you can see in the picture. But with it weighing in at a very light 1.12 kg (which is rather light for its class) this Netbook can still be carried around without you breaking into a sweat.
This Netbook comes with a 8.9″ screen and whilst giving you no where near as large a viewing display as an everyday laptop, makes web surfing and online conversations bearable. However prolonged viewing on this display might temporarily affect your vision which looking away, things might appear bigger than they are.
Under the bonnet
As with almost all Netbooks this comes with the Intel Atom Processor that is so tiny it makes Netbooks possible. The one in here runs at 1.6GHz and can be found on most other models of Netbooks so expect this to be the ‘norm’.
Now this Netbook offers a whole 512MB of RAM which is a standard addition to the class. But with it only running Windows XP this should be enough for a smooth experience.
Otherwise this comes with a rather low 80GB Hard Drive which should be absolutely fine if you're using this Netbook for what it is intended to do, but other models come with double this.
And to help with just that, this comes with a 1.3MP webcam.
The Gaj-It Verdict
Design 8/10
Usability: 9/10
Features: 9/10
Value: 8/10
We Say
For a Netbook this will come with everything you need for internet, MSN and other such related activities for under £200 as well! Just remember a Netbook is designed for exactly that and nothing more and you will be satisfied with this model from Advent.
Technical Specs
- Processor – Intel Atom 1.6GHz
- RAM – 512MB DDR2
- Hard Drive – 80 GB
- Operating System – Microsoft Windows(R) XP Home
- Screen – 10.2″
- Bluetooth – No
- Notebook Camera – Integrated – 1.3 Megapixel
- Wireless – Yes
- Weight – 1.12 kg
51 thoughts on “Review: The Advent 4489 Netbook”
Just a correction on the technical info: 8.9″ not 10.2″ (only on the 4211), but DOES have Bluetooth too.
Great little gadget that’s perfectly happy surfing the net. As long as you don’t want to do any gaming it should meet most peoples internet needs.
The only complaint I have, is that it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. There’s an icon on the desktop for an online manual, but the problem I had was that I couldn’t connect to my wireless internet connection. Catch 22! It turned out that I had to switch the wifi on by pressing Fn/F11. It would have been nice to have seen that in writing when I opened the box. Instead, I hade to phone the help line.
Likewise, to activate the webcam requires pressing Fn/F8.
I got it for my son for Christmas, He loves it. Good value. I paid 190.
so far am happy with it, got it for christmas. agree with neils comments, couldnt connect and no way of knowing it was as simple as fn f11. now i cant get my page up, page down, end and home keys to work, so off to look on online manual to figure it out
lovely feel to the keyboard, and nice to use
Hi thank you for leaving the above messages came in brilliantly but now it seems i have come across another problem
I have managed to connect to the internet but we are being told that
“limited or no connectivity.
You might not be able to access the internet or some network resources. This problem occurred because the network did not assign a network address to the computer.”
Can anyone out the advice me on what to do next please?????
Many thanks
Maz
Hi Maz
Sounds like you have a problem with your wireless connection or your server. Try re-booting your wireless box. ie switching it off or disconnecting the power for about a minute and switching back on. failing that you may have to re set up your wireless connection, using the software that came with it, a pc with a dvd/cd rom drive and a network cable.
Hi there
I have had exactly the same problem as Maz and have tried everything Neil H suggested, I am now at a loss to know what to do. All my other PC’s are fine which makes it all very frustrating.
Any suggestions welcome before I throw the thing out of the window.
Have you tried updating the wireless drivers? With it being an Advent I believe you can get the offical drivers from the Medion website at:-
http://www.medion.co.uk/service/?drivers_updates/drivers_updates.htm
If that does not help I suggest you get in contact with either the shop you got it from or contact the manufacters directly.
If you do either of these let us know what happens to save other people the heartache of having to go through this
Thanks Arutha
The only problem with that is as I cant connect to internet can’t download the drivers. Catch 22 situation so am going to do battle with the retailer tomorrow and see what happens will keep you informed
How do you switch the Bluetooth on? i just can’t work it out.
some say toggle the same switch as wireless but all that does is switch wireless on or off. i can see no bluetooth mentioned anywhere?
I’m having the same problem with bluetooth. The software is there for it on the hard drive. I had to put a search in to find it. But when I went to install it, it gets half way through and then says to connect bluetooth devise!!? Hmmm…looks like I might have to phone curry’s help desk again. Thats how i found out how to switch the wireless on. There’s nothing on the online manual iether. I’m wondering if it even has a bluetooth facility. Some say it has, others not.
Took it back to PC World.
It does NOT have Bluetooth. they offered refund or a BT adaptor. I took the adapator.
I noticed on the higher spec model, there is a dedicated BT light on the front with the BT logo above it. This is missing on the 4489. It has the light but no logo over it.
PC Eorld changed the display removing the BT bit on the sales blurb
I am having connection problems, i keep getting limited or no connectivity, can anyone help
Well I gave up on mine completely, couldn’t get a connection anywhere.
One branch of Currys said there wasn’t a problem and it was fine and wouldn’t do a thing I was more than a little unhappy.
So took it to another branch who said yes there is a problem and gave me a full refund….go figure.
Hi
Just come across this blog and would just like to say I got this netbook last week as a birthday present and must say am very pleased with it. It does everything I want it to do but, again bit disappointed no instruction manual with it, am going to look on line as others have suggested.
Good luck to everyone else who is having problems, hope they are sorted!!
The no connectivity problem is to do with the IP ADDRESS, you need to check with your ISP provider or go into your Router and check the wireless settings.
Router access is gained normally by opening internet explorer and typing in 192.168.0.1 this can vary depending on your router. The login is quite often admin and password is either admin or password.
Once in click on your wireless settings option and check the IP ADDRESS range it will be similar to above 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254, also check your wirless security it should be set to WEP with a password.
bought my son advent 4489 last month.great for 3 weeks then got a system error so i used techguys recovery and restarted.but when it started it came up with a boot error.ended up rewriting with my bought xp disc but now ive lost system bios settings for wifi and some drivers.i know it can go back but am i gonna have to do this everytime i try to restore factory settings
I’m having a similar problem to tez, we got my boyfriends mum the 4489 for her xmas. Tonight i got a phone call, she doesnt know whats she’s done but it wont load, boot error. Does anyone know where i can get instructions to do factory reset?
thanks
well i have brought my netbook 2day and i am over lease with it, it is brilliant for me as a student i have put a memory card into it only as i do alot of essays and project which was of an extra cost but still worked out cheeper then other netbooks and with a good spec. it has a very good processor and is very quick for my research and browsing. i have also downloaded an avg security program which wihin an hour of having it picked up and distroyed a virus which was excellant. i would reccomend this for any student you can stay in contact with friend and family and webcam cums in handy also fits in my bag so is very good to take to lectures and carry around. i would reccomend this for any student or child as wil help alot. i will update this if anyone wants too no how i am getting on with it in a few weeks or months time please ask.
hi. i to have the advent 4489. the only thing i don’t know how to get the webcam working. even if i try to use it on youtube or skype
im havin trouble at the moment with my advent 4489 key board one minute it is working fine the next it wont let me use the letters i,j,k,l,m,o,p,u,v and zero it isreplacing them with symbols or numbers whyy.?
if u press fn and numlock it will take lock off and take you back to letters…if u look on certain keys they have blue numbers and symbols on then..you must have accidently locked them by doing the same thing,,fn numlock togther
Help! love my Advent 4489. but how do I get the
webcam to work. I want to connect with my cusion in spain. Cant get it to take pictures or anything. I’m stuck
hi, any bady can help me? my system is crushed, and i dont have the recovery CD. if you have, can you upload? PLEASE advent 4489
hi, anyone help loaded some hardware onto advent 4211 now takes approx 2mins to connect instead of seconds
hi thanks for all those usefull tips i was haveing probs connecting my daughters netbook to my wireless network, but read the tips above, not a prob at all now
heys im having problem with the bluetooth , it says something about plugging in a bluetooth devise , i got told it already had the utlities to do so
can anyone help?
Will this notebook be able to cope with ITunes?
hi just got a question is the screen 8.9″ or is it from the top corner of the lid to the bottom right of the lid please help
i got this netbook at currys for £130.00!
It was brand new and was on managers special, i have tried World Of Warcraft and ran very smoothly on the lower to Medium settings. uninstalled now though, i hate wow.
using the netbook now to post this comment. lol
10/10….
I love it but the battery life compared to other laptops is rather poor, internet gaming i have never had a problem with, but because of the screen size you have to continualy scroll down. I was given it for my birhtday and I have had no problems. Brilliant! ^-^
bought the advent 4489 netbook 3 weeks ago and put an extra 1gb ddr 2 stick of ram in and its working fine i download a lot on it as well and its quite quick too the person with limited or no connectivity its down to the network and also your position try another spot closer or you may have to actually sign in or just agree to go online so dont worry im well happy with mine and its loaded with my programmes i use regularly and very portable better than the vodafone and elonex ive used the only thing thats not that good is how long the battery lasts i get about an hour id like more but i got it 2nd hand for 110 in good nick the webcams excellent better than the cam on my desktop buy one its worth it and they actually run quite well a loake
My twin girls want an advent 4489 for their birthday, they like to play on-line games, do their home work and sent e-mails, has any body have any problems with sky as the provider. I dont know about pc so all the tips ontop help, thanks
just bought recon unit, spent ages trying to work out the wireless connection until I got the info of this site, pretty poor you dont get a manual, but I think it is ideal for the basics, will need new glasses after a year re the screen size ha ha
Interested in the 4489 given its size & price. However its limited battery life is a concern. Has anyone found a car charger that fits?
my son wants one for xmas can you play on-line games with this advent 4489.
thanks
Hi,
Does anybody know if this is compatible with Skpe ?
Gray.
It works fine with skype, and handles online games from sites like “Pogo” et al, with no problems at all.
Had mine for nearly a year now, and the only gripe I’ve got is it’s short battery life. I get 90 mins max while my daughter gets 8hrs+ with her samsung netbook.
To comment to all of those having problems connecting to the internet, it seems that the problem may be the internal WI-FI card installed in the netbook its self. What you can do is buy a USB WI-FI adapter and use that to connect to a WI-FI. That will work better. But also, you need to buy a USB CD/DVD ROM reader/writer (R/W/RW) because the netbooks do not have a CD drive to begin with.
help me switch wireless on please im demented
i have a problem with my advent notebook 4489 it sez status 0xc000000f an error occured while trying to read the boot data. and to boot with disk bur laptop dont have disk drive i need help please !!
Does anyone know if an Advent 4212 battery will fit the 4489? There’s a 9 cell 7200 mAh available for that. Its more than 3 times the capacity of the 4489’s so should (if it fits) give 4-5 hours of use. Much better than the 1.5 hrs I’m currently getting.
hi..
i just want 2 know can i connect advenr 4489 to tv… if yes how??
thanks
i have a problem with my advent notebook 4489 it sez status 0xc000000f an error occured while trying to read the boot data. and to boot with disk bur laptop dont have disk drive i need help please !!
What a nightmare.. love the notebook, turn WIFI on by pressing Fn and F11 (actually had to ask a guy in MacDonalds to help me with that).. but when it goes wrong.. it goes wrong!! Can’t get onto windows says System 32 corrupt or missing, followed all the instructions everywhere I can find on the net and cannot back up my personal files onto my 4GB SD card. Already bought a 2GB card to back up and that didn’t work so bought a 4GB and that at least is recognised. Unfortunately it goes straight through to runtime error ’94. Very frustrated and don’t know where else to look for help thats free as I’m broke and can’t pay a fortune to someone who may or may not fix it… aarrrghgh
GRRRRRR… it wont recognise its own built-in webcam! How stupid is that?! Am i missing something; is there some sort of installation disc required to active the webcam?! This is stupid. I just want to use my webcam.
Awww :(
As someone suggested here, pressing Fn f11 solved my connection problems to the Wifi network.
Hi I have the advent 4489 and I am having problems with getting it to connect to my Sky router!! I know it’s not my router that is the problem as I have connected okay to my other laptop and my XBOX with it!! I have done the FN F11 thing and it says its connected to wireless!! I clicked “choose a wireless network” and it didn’t even find my router! It just says “Windows cannot configure this wireless connection” I have no idea what to do! I just want this note book to find my router so I can go on the internet!! someone PLEASE help me, I have never had this problem with any other computer before!! :(
Hi i got a advent netbook 4489 and it only last 2 years so if anyone thinking of getting one think good and hard ! :-(
have had this a long time and have rightly abused it and it still holds up fantastically
as someone who likes to mess about with things without really knowing what they are doing in order to learn I have had to re-install windows on this thing once and also screw everything back together
I have to say that this is my only experience with a netbook but I am extremely pleased
also managed to get football manager 2011 running on it with a few system tweaks so pretty chuffed considering it is essentially built to run nothing more than chrome/firefox/opera etc.
also done me in great stead through the final year of university and in the beginning of my career in journalism,
definitely recommend this, but maybe all netbooks.
PS Love the keyboard