Acer Ferrari 3400 Review (pics, specs)

by Tim Mavor

After 6 years of avid computer use, I recently bought my first laptop: the Acer Ferrari 3400. Obviously I went looking for reviews for the Ferrari 3400 but unfortunately I didn't really find any decent reviews that got past talking about the looks of this Acer notebook. So, after buying oneI decided to write my own.

Acer Ferrari 3400 Out of the Box (view larger image)

Specs

Dimensions and Weight

The Ferrari sits at 13.0' W x 10.7' D x 1.2' H giving it a weight of 6.6LBS. I would say that's not bad for a gaming laptop considering the newer Alienware or Dell XPS are around 12-13 pounds and look like a hummer took a dump. It fits nicely on my desk beside my desktop, or my lap when I'm in a cramped area, but is also big enough to play games and be able to actually see people. Ultimately it's light enough that it doesn't become annoying carrying it over the course of a day.

CPU: Low power mobile AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1MB L2 1600mhz FSB

I was conflicted with this processor. On the one hand, it's future-proofed as it's 64 bit, and a 2 GHz processor, but on the other hand, I haven't really been that impressed with the battery life. With a low power mobile processor I would think that I'd get more than 3 hours of battery life just sitting idle -- but I don't. Other than that though, it's perfect for playing games, multi-tasking, and just all around computer use.

Memory: 512MB DDR333 (2x256)

This is one of the areas I think Acer skimped out on. I mean, they COULD have used PC3200, or even just added 1 dimm so there was room for expansion. The ram in it is adequate, but I'm likely going to buy a 1gig DDR400 dimm for it sometime in the near future.

GPU: Mobile ATI Radeon 9700Pro 128MB

The 9700 pro 128MB is a great card, there is no disputing that. It runs the latest games with a good framerate, which makes the laptop a fine gaming machine. Running aquamark 3 I scored 26,221 and scored 3105 in 3Dmark03. For playing newer games (e.g. Half life 2), the game is very playable on middle to higher resolution. Unfortunately though, there are few drivers out there adaptable to mobile graphics cards, so I ended up having to install an older set of catalyst drivers and using a mod tool to install them. The newer Catalyst drivers wouldn't install.

HDD: 80GB HDD @ 4200rpm

This is where I think Acer skimped out the most. A 4200rpm HDD is definitely not what I would call "Top Speed", and hardly worthy of the Ferrari name. When I received my laptop, I found that Acer already partitioned the harddrive for me into 40 gig sections. Whether you choose that to be an advantage or not is up to you. I've recently been looking into upgrading it to at least a 5400rpm one as it's noticeably slower loading games and applications.

CD: 4xDVD+-RW and x16 CD-RW

What can I say other than absolutely fabulous. Being able to Burn DVD's and CD's on my laptop has been great as I've already burned probably 20 DVDs. Given that the Ferrari is an already expensive notebook, it's nice to see where some of that money went.

OS: Windows XP Professional

I made the mistake of playing around on my computer at 5:00 a.m.in the morning and accidentally clicking"OK" to the Update section and then going to make myself a sandwich. Much to my dismay, I came back and found that I had accidentally installed Windows XP Service Pack 2. If I can give you one word of advice if you buy this laptop, stick with SP1, as having Service Pack 2 creates some minor, but irritating conflicts with the 64 bit processor.

Network & Interface: Wireless 802.11b/g, bluetooth, Four USB2.0, DC in, S-video TV Out, Microphone/Line-in, Headphone/Speaker Line-out, FireWire

I haven't really had a chance to use the bluetooth yet but reading other reviews, I've heard that it's quite handy. I might get a bluetooth keyboard so I can play first person shooter games more effectively, butfor the time being it's going un-used. Interestingly though, there is a button at the front of the laptop (accessible when even closed) that will enable or disable bluetooth. It's definitely a neat function. Other than that,having four USB 2.0 portsis a great feature. Being able to plug in a digital camera, a mouse, and a printer with 1 slot left is very handy. These are the things that are commonly overlooked by laptop buyers.

Display: 15.0' SXGA+ (1400x1050)

Beautiful would be the way to describe the LCD screen. Obviously not as bright as my desktop LCD, the Ferrari's display is sharp, quick, and has a native resolution of 1400x1050 which makes playing those games with your 3000+ and 9700pro that much better.

Pictures

Closeup of Touchpad (view larger image)

Above view of Ferrari 3400 (view larger image)

Angle view of Ferrari 3400 (view larger image)

Front view of Ferrari 3400 (view larger image)

Above view keyboard of Ferrari 3400 (view larger image)

Underneath view of Ferrari 3400 (view larger image)

Left-side view of Ferrari 3400 (view larger image)

Back-side view of Ferrari 3400 (view larger image)

Other Features

Sound

Onboard Realtek sound comes stock with the Acer Ferrari 3400. I won't lie, it's not that impressive, and I find that watching DVDs or downloaded movies or television shows is tough if I'm not sitting relatively close to the laptop. The speakers aren't that loud, and the game sound isn't great either unless you've got decent headphones. So if you're going to spend the$3,000 (Canadian Dollars) on this laptop as I did, get yourself a nice pair of Sennheiser 500+ headphones like I'm planning on doing.

Heat

Running programs like Speedfan, the laptop's system doesn't really get that hot. Sitting idle it heats up to around 40-45 degrees Celsius and perhaps 50 while playing games for an extended period of time. However on the downside, the side of the laptop where you'd rest your palm does get a little warm. It's not unbearable by any means, but if you're already feeling the heat outside, the heat on your palm won't really be that pleasant. However, as it's winter right now, I don't mind a bit as it makes for a good hand warmer!

Touchpad

The touchpad is great. It's quick, responsive, has a four-way scroll button, and is just as aesthetically pleasing as it is useful. What I did have to do though is go on the Acer site (www.acer.com) and download the Touchpad drivers so I could disable it while playing games or typing an essay. It got to be frustrating when I was typing and suddenly thecursor appeared somewhere else, or I was playing a game and my gun started firing every time I accidentally pressed on the touchpad with the palm of my hand.

Battery

Like I said before, given the mobile 3000+ I thought I would get a longer battery life. But 3 hours seems to be enough for whatever I want to do. I use my notebook for school and the longest lecture I have is 3 hours so for me, it works out perfectly. If you want more battery life though, you'll have to go with an IntelPentium M processor.

Looks

To me, this laptop has it above the rest. The Alienware notebooksdo look nice, but on the inside, they look just like every other laptop. Acer definitely thought through everything when designing the Ferrari. Besides the nice red coat finish on the outside, the inside's made of fibreglass, supposedly giving you that "Ferrari Feel". The Keyboard is slightly curved making it a little easier to type and also looking just that much sharper. It does get annoying though and a little embarrassing when people come up to me and tell me that it's cool looking. Occasionally it'll be girls...but let's not kid ourselves, maybe 1 in 4 will be a female. But if you want a laptop that stands out above the typical silver/grey/black look, then the Ferrari is definitely the way to go.

Overall

I'd have to give the laptop a 7 out of 10. The aesthetics of the laptop are obviously a reason that the price is slightly inflated, but also it's a fast action paced yet smaller sized laptop. Being able to play games well, burn dvd's, connect decently to wireless networks, and just have a nice overall looking laptop made it worth it for me. With all the high-powered desktop replacement notebooks that are out there, Acer managed to pull out a fast-action, half-life 2 playing notebook that's half the size of others with its capabilities. And if that isn't enough for you, they include a red Ferrari USB mouse with the Ferrari emblem to sweeten the deal!

Pricing and Availability

 

Hello Tim

Thank you for your detailed review of this Laptop. Just as you, i was looking for one to find none up to now. I am very interested in buying this Laptop, and maybe you could help me with some more questions i have but could not find an answer so far. Here i go:
- what about the noise level, especially under load? My Aspire 1310 drives me crazy (only when hooked up to a power supply)
- i have seen that you have another LCD screen at your disposal. I would be very interested to use the dual screen feature (dual view). Did you try? My additional LCD has 1600x1200. Would that work?
- i am also interested in getting the port replicator III which is available for this laptop. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Regards,
Harald

 

> - i have seen that you have another LCD screen at your disposal.
> I would be very interested to use the dual screen feature

I've tested dual monitor with my Samsung 19" CRT @ 1280x1024 with no problems. The Ferrari will merge both into a single desktop and will also display the same output to both screens (configurable).

CYA, Dave

 

In regards to the question about the Aspire 1350 - I had an Aspire 1200 with the same noise problems from the fan.

I recently traded up to the Ferrari 3400. Fan noise is greatly reduced. I also opted to upgrade to 1GB RAM and this makes quite a bit of difference. I've yet to find anything (that I do) which causes problems - although I'm not a gamer.

I've also had no problems with SP2 on the laptop.

 

It looks cool and well...I guess your 1 in 4 comment is correct. I'm female.

I'm deciding which laptop to buy and it's between this or alienware.... But man, what a beautiful candy red exterior. I would love to have a real life ferrari or corvette and if corvette ever merged with a computer company... well....

Beautiful though...and that fiberglass makes me feel the decision might be a bit easier. The weight as well. Some dtrs make me look like I'm out to move my life. To me, the performance is worth it IF the computer is good. Alienware seems to have a few unhappy users and 30 days is too long to wait for a laptop.

 

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

 

Hello

Dual screen works fine (i bought the Ferrari 3400!). Logically, it can be arranged anywhere with respect to the laptop screen. It is possible to watch a video on one screen and to continue working on the other. I strongly recommend to use the Acer EasyPort III, things are so much easier (only one cable to connect).

Cheers
Harald

 

Well I kinda made my mind up to buy one of these. I'll be looking to place a faster 7200 rpm 60gb hd and extra memory in it when I do.

Anybody have any recommendations on what hd and memory to buy?

At the moment I'm figuring on buying:

1) Hitachi 2.5 60gb 7200rpm hd (Travelstar 7K60).
2) Geil 1GB PC3200 400MHz DDR SO-DIMM (GES3200-1GB).

Any thoughts appreciated

 

I had heard that the speakers were a bit weak and that the machine makes a good amount of noise. Would anyone be able to tell me about that?
I personally have looked at so many laptops. I'm not a gamer but I enjoy the picture quality of gaming computers. It was a hard choice between the Acer Ferrari 3400 and the Alienware but since I don't game I really don't need the things that these computers have to offer and in the end its the style that buys me over and the Ferrari definately won me over. The carbon-fibre trim on the keyboard was impressive to my husband and myself. From the carbon-fibre and the beautiful red color and Ferrari logo I found it very hard to resist.

 

I just bought Acer Ferrari 3400 couple days a go, it has been performing fine so far (in general). I have tried to play "Battle for The Middle Earth" game (which is quite resource and memory extensive) and it works fine with resolution 800 x 600 and detail setting at "High". Increasing the resolution to 1024 x 768 caused this lappie to work very very slow.

Fan noise is acceptable, just like my other lappie Samsung X05. I will upgrade the RAM to 1GB PC3200 (got this RAM on loan basis for trial) this week and see how it will perform. I am not so sure if this lappie can handle PC3200, but worth a try I guess.

 

Help ...help ...
I can only find one RAM slot, does anyone know if ACER Ferrari has 2 RAM slots ??

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

 

I received my 3400 today from newegg, along with 2GB Corsair 3200.

Here is the link to the Acer Support for the 3000.

http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/portal.cfm?recordid=431&formid=3390&website=AcerPanAm.com&originwebsite=AcerPanAm.com&central=1&words=All&keywords=ferrari%203400&pupv=pu

It does take a bit of force to remove the plastic panel and keyboard.






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

 

Old thread... no ones watching I'm sure but :

I stumbled across this as I was searching for another laptop...

I love my Ferrari. Also not a gamer, but I do use my lappy as a mobile DAW. VST plugs are VERY CPU intensive.

Just a few comments.

1) Despite popular belief, the 4200 HD is NOT a big deal. Most of the work I do HD based, and I have noticed little if any difference in speeds. Perhaps games access the HD in a different fashion... Certainly dont let that stop you from buying it.

2) The second memory slot is under the keyboard. No idea why they did that. Very annoying.

3) I have had no issues with SP2. None.

4) Who said this was overpriced ? For a similarly equipped Alienware, I would have paid another $1000. Sure I would get an extra port or something, but the barebones of the specs were the same. The ACER was the obvious choice.

Having said all that, I am considering swapping in the newest AMD64 3700 as my system is STILL too slow depsite 2GB of RAM. The other thing that pisses me off is that laptop makers insist on putting 4 PIN firewire ports on these things. Why do they do that ? Easy enough to add a 6 pin PCMCIA, but with all the devices that require a 6 pin to suck power, why make us plug 2 in things ??

Love the Ferrari. Wouldnt trade it for a second.

 

I also love my Acer (tablet PC), its incredibly fast, stable and solid for me, including the tablet function.

I HIGHLY recommend getting an Hitachi 7200rpm 40 or 60GB drive, it makes an absolutely amazing speed difference in overall system performance, not just read/writes (which are also incredibly fast with the 8MB cache so any size file gets boosted). My 1.7GB 1GB RAM system easily bumped up 25% with the 72k upgrade. I have swapped out drives and reinstalled the original 4200 and the overall slowdown is very obvious. Zipzoomfly.com has them for around $150 shipped.

Besides Apple, nearly no laptops provide six pin powered firewire. And PCMCIA cards don't provide bus power, an AC adaptor has to provide power.

 

Hi
are you positive that the laptop can take 7200rpm Hitachi ad 400MHz dimms? I am currently looking for the same stuff for myself (plus a ferrari 3400!). Your choice is perfect, by the way.
Furthermore, what is the MAX RAM for the ferrari 3400?
Thanks
Mel

 

I purchased this notebook for approximately $1800 around 3 weeks ago, and since then have used it EXTENSIVELY. It has been on almost 24 hours a day downloading movies etc.

Some notes:

COLOR:
Color is beautiful. Everybody notices this and loves it. Not one negative comment. Great looks. Red is real shiny and has a very beautiful finish. This is one noticeable baby.

DISK:
4200RPM was a joke. I replaced with a 7200RPM Hitachi 7K60 60GB Drive.

GRAPHICS:
Graphics are superb. I don't play games often but downloaded the ATI 9700 demos and some heavy duty games and the laptop handles them beautifully. Amazing performance.

SPEED:
Noticeably faster than my previous IBM T42 Centrino 1.5GHZ laptop.

The downside:

HEAT HEAT HEAT

This baby runs HOT and HOTTER. You can feel the heat coming from it when you are using it it gets that hot. The lower left area (where the disk resides) gets very hot (but maybe that has something to do with my 7200RPM drive?).


Overall - VERY IMPRESSED