Acer Ferrari 5000

(Source: Acer)

Product: Acer Ferrari 5000
Type: Notebook

Configuration:

* AMD Mobile Turion™ 64 X2 Technology
* Up to 160GB hard diskdrive
* 15.4″ TFT LCD screen
* DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive (slot-loading) or HD-DVD drive
* Gigabit LAN
* Acer InviLink 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi
* Bluetooth® 2.0
* 5-in-1 card reader
* Acer VoIP Bluetooth phone
* Acer OrbiCam (1.3 megapixel webcam)

1. While Americans will have to endure a long wait till October before getting a chance to lay their grubby hands on an Acer Ferrari 5000, British magazine Computeract!ve have already completed a review of the stylish machine.

   Not surprisingly, the AMD Turion 64 X2-powered notebook got a thumbs up for its performance, especially given the 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card equipped. But it seems fan noise, processor heat and a relatively small hard disk drive (it already comes with a 160GB HDD…) were problems.

   Overall, it was awarded 4 out of 5 stars, with a verdict most would have already expected: “The Ferrari price-premium doesn’t detract from this quality, high-specification notebook.” Pity the £1699 (US$3212) price puts it completely out of my league.

2. Another British magazine weighs in on the Acer Ferrari 5000. This time, it’s PC Advisor, and like Computeract!ve before this, they have lots of good things to say.

   As usual, they loved the design, but for a reason much different from others: Because th F5000 came with less red than usual. An interesting viewpoint, and one I have to admit crosses my mind every time I have a look at a picture of the stylish notebook. Of course, general performance was good, battery life was excellent, but game performance fell short of greatness.

   Overall, one of Acer’s most stylish notebooks gets a thumbs up, with a rating of 9 out of 10 for build quality, 8 out of 10 for features and 7 out of 10 of value for money.

1. Although Acer’s official press release didn’t give an estimated recommended retail price for their new Ferrari 5000 notebook, PC World Italia has put an estimate of around 2,500 euros (US$3220) as a possible RRP in Europe (thanks to gweilo8888 for this nice tidbit).

   While European prices rarely translate perfectly into US prices, it’s a rough estimate of what techies stateside are going to get. In fact, gweilo8888 has even done some interesting price comparisons to derive an approximate US RRP of US$2,250.

   IMHO, that feels about right, but based on some unexplainable instinct, I’d rather put it at around US$2,400 instead.

   [News via PC World Italia]

2. 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.

3. It’s been announced that the highly anticipated 12.1″ Acer Ferrari 1000 and 15.4″ Ferrari 5000 (pictured) notebooks first spotted just before Computex Taipei 2006 will start shipping at the end of July.

   Each notebook is set to be priced at around €2000 (US$2543) - though the region in which this pricing will hold is currently uncertain (but since the news report used euros in its estimate, it’s entirely possible that this will be Europe’s price - one generally higher than that in the US).

   [News via Digitimes]

4. Those hoping to get one of the snazzy Acer Ferrari 5000 notebooks first announced in May will have to wait a little longer. It’s been officially confirmed that the AMD Turion 64 X2-powered notebook will not arrive state-side until October.

   While there is no official confirmation as to the source of the delay, some are speculating that it is due to a shortage of Turion 64 X2 processors - not unlike speculation that the Dell XPS 700 is being delayed due to a shortage of the nVidia Nforce 590 chipset.

   But whatever the reason it, there’s only one thing we can do. Wait.

5. Okay, maybe it was a bit harsh to label the recently introduced Asus Lamborghini VX1 notebook as a copycat of our beloved Acer Ferrari notebooks - especially since the yellow-finished VX1 does look pretty spiffy.

   But let’s just see which Ferrari notebook the VX1 most closely resembles anyway. 15″ screen, 160GB hard disk drive, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 512MB nVidia GeForce Go 7400VX graphics card - that’s what the Asus comes with. Hmm… I’d say the Ferrari 5000, even though it comes with an AMD Turion 64 X2 and a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 graphics card, instead of the X2’s Intel Core Duo and nVidia GPU.

   Pricing details haven’t been released, but there’s little doubt it’s going to be competitive - at least, against Acer’s own co-branded notebooks.

   [News via NotebookReview.com]