Acer Ferrari 3000 Review

this is just about the most untechnical review I've ever seen and it's being syndicated in newspapers all over the U.S., the authors conclusion can be summed up as "I like it because it's pretty", here's a link to it:

http://www.newsday.com/technology/ny-plgear3698509mar07,0,4893291.column?coll=ny-technology-columnists

 

First and foremost I didn't purchase Acer Ferrari for the sake of the look. With the price tag of around $1800, I did do my share of research before I decided to get it. And so far I am NOT regretting at all. ^^

The Acer ferrari model actually came out of Europe a year ago. And most if not ALL the europeans who have purchased it love it! Check any euro country laptop forum you will understand what I meant.

Nevertheless, I have also read experts review from CNet, PC world, PC magazine...etc In general, the reviews are -->Ave. performance and focus mostly on the paint job @_@ OR Bad battery life and overheat!

Even with these less than favorable reviews, the consumers in general I found are rather happy with the performance and gave pretty good ratings overall.

All in all, I believe Acer brand is still relatively new in the USA (compare to the big boys of IBM, DELL, SONY & TOSHIBA). And even as a taiwanese myself, I believe there are much to improve in making Acer laptop one of the top choices to the American general public. Therefore, I see all those mediocre reviews to Ferrari 3000 in a postive way to help Acer improving its products.

As for me, I have been playing games w/ my new ferrari 3000. And honestly, the graphic is awesome, the processing speed is faster than my friend's Sony Vaio Z1 according to him!, sound card is excellent, battery life is ok for a packed 1.2 in thick laptop. And most of all, the laptop doesn't really get as hot as my Toshiba Tecra!

That's my short input. I will give more inputs about my laptop as time goes by.

[ ]

 

kidd, thanks for the thoughts. Acer isn't a new brand in the US, they've been around for years, at least 10 or so that I know of. However they are a small brand, without the will/money to market themselves like the brands you mentioned. Acer offers a quality machine, I considered their product line before buying my Fujitsu. I would however like to see them thin down the product line. They have at least a dozen models which is very confusing to the consumers.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

and just to keep the record straight, i totally agree the Acer 3000 is a nice machine in and of itself given the specs and customer satisfaction from its user base...paint job aside. It is a shame that reviewers always focus on the "it's so pretty" aspect, or if they don't like the red lid the "it's so red" aspect.

thanks for your input kidd.

 

Thanks Brian & abaxter for kind words ^^

So far my ferrari works great w/ flawless wireless network connection both at home and at my school (in large classroom setting). I have not yet have the time to play with bluetooth. Maybe later.

The DVD-RW drive works great (I believe it's made by LG of korea).

I agree w/ the fact that Acer has so..too many models. As a matter of fact there will be another model similar to Ferrari 3000 coming out later this year.

As far as marketing in USA goes... yap, I believe Acer should have done a better job. Perhaps sponsor NASCAR instead of Formular One next time [ ]

Anyway, I used to be able to see Acer in Bestbuy. But not anymore[ ]

It seems to me that korean eletronics are doing much better than Japan and Taiwan nowadays. Example: Samsung & LG [:0]

I will keep you guys updated if I find any problem with this limited edition laptop (It's sold out in Taiwan loooooooong ago = 99 allocated for Taiwan only!!)

Later~

 

kidd, we get a number of people looking at Acer once they broaden their search beyond the usual suspects. I hope you hang around to dole out advice...

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

>Brian, well, I will do my best then. Thanks for the invitation.

However, as far as Acer products go, this ferrari 3000 is acturally the 1st acer laptop I've ever purchased so far. Even though I've grew up using Acer desktops.

As a matter of fact, I also purchased a 3 year extended warrenty for my new laptop. That just tells you how much I trust Acer -.-

Like I said, I will update you with any problem that I shall encounter in the future for my ferrari 3000.

Overall, I think I am happy with the purchase, even though the laptop might be seen as powerful as the Aspire 2000 series, but, this is exactly what I wanted. It has 802G instead of 802b in Aspire 2000 connection. In addition, Ferrari has std bluetooth which is optional in Aspire 2000. And most of all, I play lots of online games, Ferrari proven to be a better set up (with the AMD chip). Furthermore, the limited edition w/ Ferrari red paint is also a plus, w/ 15in instead of 15.4 would allow for better mobility as far as I am concerned, since, I don't like heavy or large screen laptop. (It's just my personal preference, since I would like to leave +15in to the category of home desktop not for mobile laptop)

Lastly, I don't know if you guys have noticed that the price of Aspire 2000 seem to depreciate faster than the Ferrari 3000 after it's debut. [} ]

 

If its possible, could you run 3dmark2001SE on your laptop kidd? I'm interested to see how it performs with games. The Acer was second on my list (and I soooo nearly pulled the trigger a few times) but I went with the Sony GRT for gaming performance, I want to see if I made the right decision. [ ]

 

>Slat, Sorry for the late reply. I was visiting my buddies at Boston over the weekend[ ]

I've just ran 3dmark2001SE through futuremark freedownload website at: http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml

So far, the graphic and the speed is pretty normal = no delay at all. However, it's free download version, so some of the function keys are missing -.- Otherwise, I could give you a full report. I play the game w/out hooking up my stereo and the sound is still very impressive! That's the up side of this laptop I've found so far.

The speed is very good as well (since, usually I am burning CD while surfing the net w/ 3 windows open at once) and webcam, messenger at the same time! No delay for the AMD processor!

The down side is the the battery life = 2 hours max =.= So, instead of recharge over and over again. I just put off the battery and using AC power at all time = make laptop lighter anyway.

So far, I have no complaint, the graphic of SXGA+ is incredible when I play Age of Empire or other stretigic games.

ok..maybe I will upload my new laptop photos in a couple days.

p.s. The Acer Ferrari mouse is much better than I expected!

[ ]

 

can anyone run the FInal Fantasy Benchmark program and report back the results in hi res mode? Thanks in advance. The link is below:

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/multimedia/download/bench/index.html

 

>rochari, sorry I tried. I seem to have a little "download" problem with the website you provided.

[ ]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by kidd

 

lol

just realise u shd be refering to the "ferrari red paint"?

omg...i m a flash animation developer and i can't tolerate flahs animation plays with flickers!

Anyother ferrari 3000 users here? I hope that i can send some flash and let's have a comparison..

 

Hey guys, I am planning to buy the Acer 3000. I read in quite a few reviews that the laptop becomes hot on certain sections. For those already using it, is it true? Have you guys spotted any major problem with the laptop?

 

ya it's true, left palm rest will get hot after some time of usage.

Anyway, i m more or less used to it. No choice! I love this so much~

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dunforget

 

It is not a big deal if the laptop becomes hot as long as it doesnot scroch you The main issue is, the CPU performance degrades as the temperature goes up. Is that noticable in the ACER Ferrai?

 

ya i think so. will it be accurate if i measure the temperature of the surface using the thermometer from SARS kit? lol...

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Slat

 

Hi Guys,

I mentioned that I saw flickering in flash movie using Ferrari 3000. Acer finally admitted that they also saw the same problem!But I felt weird that another ferrari user in another forum said he didnt see any problem.

I asked Acer to look at this page:
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home2002/830918015429/eid.swf

Serious flickering occured at the beginning of the above movie, before the title fly out.

I m afraid Mobility Radeon 9200's driver have problem when dealing with flash animation with large area of color transformation within short time.

Ferrari users here, can help to test it out also?

Another sample to test: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home2002/830918015429/test.swf

(This is a normal color transformation, but it flickers seriously in my Ferrari!)

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dunforget

 

o...this is really ridiculous isnt it. Nice 3D graphic can be played smoothly. but failed to play such a simple flash animation.

This is a serious problem to me because one of the main functions of my laptop is to show flash animation tat i did in meeting..or in presentation...my god....hopefully acer will come out with a solution asap.

 

Hi kidd, i think my flickering problem has been solved after installed the ATi Catalyst 4.4!

Try this:

download newer drivers from http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/winxp/radeonwdm-xp.html?type=xp&prodType=graphic&prod=productsXPdriver&submit.x=13&submit.y=7&submit=GO%21

But before that, you need to download the Mobility Modding tool so that the stock drivers will install on a Mobility card. You can get that from http://www.driverheaven.net/patje/

Cheers! (Btw, Acer helpdesk is still working on this...-_-U I cant believe that i got the solution before them. Well, maybe they are sooo busy.)

 

s-video?
Well, I got my ferrari a couple weeks ago. I do like it a lot. I did notice that it gets really hot, though.
[?][?]However, I need some help. I upgraded the Acer to XP Pro. I tried to connect the s-video to my TV and my TV barely shows the image and continues to flicker really fast. I called Acer and they told me to click on DISPLAY, then SETTINGS, then ADVANCE, then the ATI tab. However, I don't have an ATI tab. All I see is: General, ADAPTER, MONITOR, TROUBLE SHOOT, AND COLOR MANAGEMENT.
She mentioned that my Radeon driver might not be compatible with XP Pro and that I should use the recovery disk. But, if I do that I'll loose all the upgrade I just had installed.

Can anyone help me?? Is anyone else having trouble with their S-video connection to their TV?

 

Hey kai, s-video out to tv works fine for me. I've installed the omega drivers for the radeon, you can get them at www.omegacorner.com. After installing that, you should get the tabs that you need in Display->Settings->Advanced menu. After plugging in your tv, go there, and go to displays. Then the 'on' button for the tv should be enabled. Just click on it, and then apply those settings. If all goes well, you'll have a duplicated desktop on your tv.

I hope this helps.

 

Whassup!

I've had this computer since January and the problems that you have mentioned are all true in my case also but the fact is that only one thing bugs me with the machine -something that I'm going to return to the shop about. It is the fact that the fan is annoying as hell-it cuts in after about 5 minutes and is quite loud -especially if you are in surroundings such as a college library.
Some people do suggest that the area under the left wrist gets hot because of the hard drive and I do not dispute this but I don't think it's a problem with the hard drive- the fan seems to have to work bloody hard to pump out the hot air that this machine generates- I think that it would in fact be well able to handle the heat from the hard drive were it not for the enormous pressure it is being put under by the processor- after owning this machine for a while these kind of things have become more obvious-the centre of the laptop's underside is far hotter than the area that houses the hard drive.

The graphics to be honest are not exceptional-they are good but not exceptional- I won't chance purchasing UT2004 in other words but enjoy playing FIFA Soccer 2004 comfortably.

With regard to the question of XP Pro- I upgraded and had massive problems including the fact that it wipes most of the drivers off the machine-the solution that has worked flawlessly for me is NOT to upgrade. Back up important content of hard drive to blank dvds. Then in BIOS setup choose to boot from cd drive-insert XP Pro cd- restart the computer- choose approprate options to reformat partition C: of the hard drive (drive already partitioned into c and d drives as you know- and therefore do a full installation of XP Pro. When done- backup all drivers-which should be both on the cds that came with machine and also on acers global website.

Hope this helps-------- by the way -- most expensive purchase I've ever made- said a couple of negative things there but bloody hell- I wouldn't swap this for the world- amazing laptop!!!! [ ]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by holtd

 

Thanks Holtd and Spacemonkey.

I'm replying back to both of you, but especially Spacemonkey. Spacemonkey, did you upgrade to XP Pro, too?

Unfortunately, I just restored XP Home, and my tabs did come back. However, I do notice that connecting my Acer to my Sony HDTV is still not as clear as my home computer (Dell) when I hooked it up to my TV. I figured the clearity of the screen depends on the TV not so much on the computer. Am I wrong? Is everybody's Ferrari not so clear on their TV?

Also, should I do what Holdt says (which sounds like more of a full install) or should I just try upgrading again and download the driver from Omega?

Thanks for all your help![8D]

 

kai,

yes, I did upgrade to xp-pro and didn't really have any problems with it. I wiped my hard drive with the xp-pro cd, then downloaded the drivers off of acers website and installed those(all except the radeon drivers).

I can't really comment on the tv quality as I only have a crappy dorm tv to hook up to once in a while. You can try messing around in some of the settings in the Display->tv tab(the button that's touching the 'on' button, it doesn't really look like a button). You could also try turning on theater mode, under the overlay settings; though that really shouldn't be affecting the quality.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dunforget

 

it's a great laptop with plenty of network options- perfect for everything at work, but does fall down a bit with game graphics. It does run NFS underground nice- short battey life and large power pack is a downside but that's what you buy an extra battery for, besides there is usually a powerpoint close by. just hope it runs Halo well!
it does run hot but does it really matter? haven't noticed a performance change, and it keeps you warm in winter...

 

lol....

 

Hi.
Before all, i'm spanish, my english is very very bad:

I've bought a ferrari3000 in past December. It gets very very very very hot after few minutes (its that ok?, what do you think?). But that is not the problem. The problem is that after 3 weeks, my laptop crashes!!. The motherboard crashes, it doesn't gets energy from the power supply, only from battery. Here, in Spain, the technical service changed the motherboard with other from an Aspire 1450!!. After various trips from and to the technical service (2 months without my ferrari), I worked with it two months more ( to past April). It crashes again!!![xx(]. The power turns off, after 30 secs, 1 minute or 20 minutes, but in general after 10 secs (at the bios, for example). I sent it again to the technical service and after 3 weeks it came back to me, but more damaged: It freezes and after a few secons it turns off!!!. What can I do?? All the ferraries here have the same problems?? Is this the cause to release the new version 3200 ???

Thanks to all.



-- Lipido® --

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by lipido

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by kidd

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by lipido

 

Hey guys, thanks for your replies and my LATE reply. I've actually been gone for a month. I had a friend help me do the upgrade and he did get the tabs back for the video card. However, are any of you that have xp pro as an upgrade getting "RUNTIME ERRORS"? I don't always get that but sometimes when I'm surfing the web.

Also, my battery life is only MAX 2 HOURS!! I thought it was 3. How long is everyone elses lasting?

Third ?. I tried burning a DVD the other day and the first burn was successful. Then after the DVD burner copied the original DVD for the second movie it asked me to put in a blank DVD. When I did that it didn't recognize any DVD. I figured it was because it got too hot. So, I waited a few minutes and it worked fine. Is anyone else having this issue?

Kai[8D]


kai

 

now i am facing a problem about the USB legacy. I bought a new mouse recently which is Logitech MX310. I need to plug it in and out everytime i restarts windows as the USB legacy option is so far not available in the bios. How to solve this problem? Thanks a lot in anticipation of your replys.

 

well im getting my ferarri 3200 in a few days and im guessing they will have sorted out most problems that are present in the 3000...[ ]

Anyways the heating and battery problem is obviously due to the amd processor, which uses alot more watts than the p4s and produce alot more heat. the new mobile amd64 2800+ on the 3200, however uses 35 watts instead of 65 and should definately bring it closer ot the Acer calim of a 3 hr battery life (ill test it out and let u all know). The other feature i like is that the new amd supports new 64 bit applications and i cant wait for the new windows xp Sp2 to come out, the processor is tailored for it...lol

The other major problem was the dualview, Acer failed to mention that u cannot dual view applications such as powerpoint presentations etc and project it on a screen. Movies however run fine for some reason and can be viewed at the laptop vdu and your Tv. Hopefully the 3200 wont have this problem (personally acer should let the customers now about these things!). Oh well, i guess ill have to write my own review soon...[ ][ ][ ]

 

I'm not quite sure that its the processor that affects heat on the palm rest area unless the processor is actually located beneathe it (at least this was the case on the IBM T22 where the chip was somewhere around F1-F3 keys according to my friend.)

I still hope something was done about it, though.

P.S. I'd be happy if I'm wrong, though. [8D]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by kai