I opened the box and out the came the mean machine with a classy Red finish and the Ferrari logo, an object of desire for everyone around. From the moment I picked it up, I was the center of envy and my job was looked upon as the coolest that mankind had ever seen. This is one product I was dying to get my hands on for a long time and I am sure that the same is the case with all Ferrari fans out there. Finally it's here and the next few pages will unveil almost everything that you wanted to know about this Red Devil.
The Red finish on its outside is catchy enough and the silver touch on the interiors goes well with the black soft touch keypad. A touch-pad with the usual left and right click buttons along with a multi-directional pad is also present.
For those who aren't too comfortable with a touch-pad, there is also an uber cool, tiny three-button USB optical scroll mouse, obviously red in color and with the black stallion to make it feel like a part of the package. A charger and the necessary cables, manual and CDs are also included in the package.
The Ferrari came preinstalled with a copy of Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with SP1 and NTI CD/DVD Maker. The laptop is almost an inch thick and weighs around 3 KGs along with the charger, which is a bit on the heavy side.
A Ferrari is synonymous with Speed and Power and this one is no different. The Acer Ferrari 3000 LMi is powered by the AMD Athlon XP 2500-M CPU. It boasts of 512 MB DDR-333 memory upgradeable to 2 GB and a 60 GB Hard Drive. Gaming and multimedia are handled by the ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 with 128 MB video memory.
Other than the raw power, there are features a plenty. For starters, it features a nice and big 15" SXGA+ TFT LCD screen with excellent contrast and sharp and accurate color reproduction.
A dual-format DVD-Writer takes care of your back up needs and reads almost all the optical media currently available.
There is also a 4-in-1 Smart Card reader on the left panel along with a SD Card reader on the front panel. Four USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire port are also present. In addition to all that, this laptop is graced with several other connectivity options in the form of 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN, 802.11g wireless LAN, Modem, BlueTooth and IR. Cell phones to PDAs to other WiFi enabled laptops; you can sync them all with this one.
In short, the Acer Ferrari has it all that you would possibly look for in a laptop and going by its specs, it is good enough to take the pole in the qualifiers. Now let's see how it performs in the actual race.
Over to the benchmarks.
Tests Conducted:
- PC Mark 2002 PC Mark 2004 Sisoft Sandra 2004 3D Mark 2001 SE 3D Mark 2003 Quake 3 Arena Unreal Tournament 2003
Results:
PC Mark 2002
PC Mark 2004
| CPU Score | - 2398 |
| Memory Score | - 1621 |
| Graphics Score | - 1015 |
| Overall Score | - 2365 |
SiSoft Sandra Results
Gaming Results
| 3D Mark 2001 SE | - 6336 |
| 3D Mark 2003 | - 1060 |
Gaming benchmarks at 1024 x 768
| Game | No AA, No AF | Â 2x AA, No AF | Â 4x AA, 8x AF |
| Quake 3 Arena | Â Â Â Â 120.5 | Â Â Â Â 66.1 | Â Â Â Â 31.6 |
| UT 2003 - Antalus | Â Â Â Â 33.6 | Â Â Â Â 26.3 | Â Â Â Â 11.8 |
| UT 2003 - Citadel | Â Â Â Â 73.4 | Â Â Â Â 48.9 | Â Â Â Â 19.8 |
As the benchmarks reveal, the Acer Ferrari's overall performance is pretty good by any laptop standard. The Athlon XP 2500-M does its job well and so does the 512 MB DDR memory. However, the IDE performance is not up to the mark. The Sisoft Sandra File System benchmark and the PC Mark 2002 IDE benchmark is a testimony to this fact. When it comes to gaming, the Mobility Radeon 9200 is good enough to play almost any game released till date at resolutions of 800 x 600 pixels to 1024 x 768 pixels. However, it has very limited headroom for future game releases. For now, it works fine with everything. In fact, I also managed to play the latest Unreal Tournament 2004 smoothly at 800 x 600 pixel resolution at medium detail without skipping a frame.
As for the battery life, it is just under two hours of standard usage. So be prepared for a multiple pit-stop strategy if you plan to buy this one. It doesn't take too long to fully charge the battery but as I just mentioned, it lasts for just a couple of hours, which isn't any great and considering the fact that the battery contributes significantly to the overall weight of this laptop, the battery life can be termed as poor.
Another little drawback is that the Athlon XP 2500-M heats up significantly and things can get a touch uncomfortable after prolonged usage. However, I would like to add that in spite of the heat factor, there were no engine blow-up issues. In other words, the Ferrari did not crash even once inspite of 7 to 8 hour marathon runs. My pants used to get nicely ironed though.
Now for the pricing. It is available for a street price of Rs. 1,45,000 plus local taxes wherever applicable. As just another laptop with the given specifications, it is undoubtedly expensive. But when endorsed by none other than Ferrari, it does not remain 'just another laptop' and at the same time is bound to attract a hefty premium. This is one head turner with extreme flaunt value and of course excellent features and performance. For all the die-hard Ferrari fans who need a laptop and can afford this beauty, there is no reason why they shouldn't buy this. The rest might just wonder why they painted it Red.
Test Unit Sourced From: Acer India, Bangalore.
