(Source: TrustedReviews)

While the Ferrari 5000 is a desktop replacement notebook, the Acer Ferrari 1000 is the direct opposite: A 12.1″ ultraportable weighing around 1.7kg, equipped with on-board ATI RADEON XPRESS 1150 graphics (up to 512MB Hypermemory).

The F1000 will, like its bigger bro, come with the Acer 1.3 megapixel Orbicam, but (most likely) not with a Bluetooth VOIP phone. Other than this, we still have no idea what kind of specs we’ll be seeing in Acer’s first AMD dual-core ultraportable offering.

Oh yes, the 12.1″ screen is a glossy CrystalBrite widescreen, so glossy-haters will probably have to look elsewhere.

P.S.: We currently have no idea whether the picture attached to Acer’s news release is for the F5000 or F1000, but we’ll presume both look about the same - just different in size. Found a picture of the F1000 thanks to gweilo8888.

(Source: Acer)

Acer has announced its first AMD salvo in the dual core-equipped notebook market with the Acer Ferrari 5000 and 1000. In this post, we’ll be talking only about the Ferrari 5000. Let’s leave the F1000 for the next post.

Anyway, for starters, the Acer Ferrari 5000 comes equipped with a dual-core AMD Turion 64 X2 processor, and like its Intel brothers, is bundled with an Acer VoIP Bluetooth phone and Acer OrbiCam (1.3 megapixel webcam). Moreover, being a 15.4-incher with a DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive (and perhaps even a HD-DVD drive), it shouldn’t be surprising that the F5000 is aimed at the desktop replacement market.

Overall, the Ferrari 5000 looks like a solid offering, but a change in style from Acer’s previous Ferrari offerings would have been nice, though admittedly highly unrealistic.

(Source: ITP.net)

Acer servers are a rare sight on PC review outposts. Whether or not this has to do with the consumer-oriented nature of most PC reviewers, it is certain that Acer’s servers do not get enough public attention.

But ITP.net bucks the trend with a review of the Acer Altos G530, a dual processor-capable 3GHz Xeon-equipped Acer server offering. On the memory and storage side of things, the Altos G530 can be plugged in with up to 8GB of RAM and eight hot-swappable hard disk drives - making it more than capable of handling things for most business users. But let’s not forget the software. The G530 comes bundled with Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition and Acer’s Advanced Server Manager 7.0 software.

Overall, the Acer Altos G530 gets awarded an overall 3 out of 5 rating, with ITP.net concluding that, “Though it doesn’t exactly scream value owing to its basic components and $1999 price, the Altos offers considerable flexibility and a valuable on-site warranty.”

(Source: Acer)

Over at Computeractive, there’s a competition to win a full-featured Acer media center PC, the Acer Aspire L200, plus a pair of Logitech webcams and headsets.

The Aspire L200 is equipped with an AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512MB of RAM, a 160 GB, 7,200 RPM SATA hard drive, a 128 MB ATI Radeon Xpress200 graphics card, as well as Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. So, Computeractive’s grand prize is definitely nothing to scoff at.

All you have to do to to win this PC is to answer a few relatively simple questions over at the competition web page, and hope that your entry gets picked in the final draw.

We talked about the monster 20″ HD-DVD-equipped Acer Aspire 9800 a while back. Then, it seemed that Acer would be siding with the HD-DVD crowd, and segregating itself from Blu-ray Disc (BD) proponents.

But recent reports suggest otherwise, with Digitimes reporting that Acer could very well introduce notebooks that feature built-in Blu-ray Disc (BD) drives and notebooks that come with HD-DVD drives at Computex 2006.

This, while not really an expected move, is a highly logical one considering that Acer has nothing to gain from supporting a single optical disc standard (unlike companies that were active in the R&D phase, e.g. Sony, Toshiba, etc.), and all to gain from ensuring that its notebooks appeal to as many people as possible.

Just a couple of recent news pieces on our favourite PC manufacturer, Acer:

1. Acer Enters Iraq Through MTC
   Following up on its strong performance in the Middle East region, Acer has tied up a partnership deal with MTC for distribution in Iraq. With all the oil money Iraqis have at the moment, I say there’s a lot of potential here.
2. Lenovo Saw Red in Q4
   Acer’s task of catching up to Lenovo - the curent World No. 3 PC supplier - may be even easier than before as Lenovo reports a fourth quarter (ending March 31) HK$902.76 million loss on the back of declining market share in several regions.

(Source: PCMag)

The Core Duo-powered Acer TravelMate 4202WLMi gets reviewed by PCMag, but is only awarded an above average 3 out of 5 overall rating, which in my opinion, screams the fact that this TravelMate is good, but just not good enough.

With a 1.67 GHz Core Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, 100GBs of hard disk space, and only a $1,099 price tag, it’s clear that the TravelMate 4202WLMi would always have been a strong offering from Acer. But specs aren’t everything, and it’s that “extras” the left the 4020WLMi in mediocrity.

The reviewer’s conclusion pretty much supports this as well, with her saying that, “…it won’t win you over with its design or any extensive features, but its power and price tag will catch your attention.”

With all the talk of HP gaining ground on the World No. 1 PC supplier, Dell, many have forgotten to note similiar gains by Acer on Lenovo - the current World No. 3 supplier. A senior analyst over at iSuppli recently said that Acer’s Q1 2006 PC shipments were up 41% compared to the first quarter of 2005.

It might also be interesting to know that Acer has grown its market share for the last five quarters and in almost all of its key markets, especially Asia, the Middle East and the United States.

If this trend continues (which I believe it should), it is only a matter of time before Acer usurps the World No. 3 position from Lenovo.