Ferrari Speeds Into Netbook Race
Acer will release a Ferrari-branded netbook next month without the sports car price.
Taiwanese manufacturer Acer plans to release a Ferrari-branded netbook next month based on its Intel-powered Aspire One netbook. Acer revealed the device at a recent launch event held at Ferrari's Monza racetrack, and admitted that it won't cost consumers and Ferrari fanboys the hefty pricetag associated with the infamous sports cars: it will instead cost around $727 USD on October 22. Splashed with hot red and branding the familiar prancing horse badge dead center, this netbook should raise a few eyebrows both visually and performance-wise... for a netbook, that is.
Under the hood, the netbook sports decent horsepower for the price, its engine consisting of AMD's 1.2 GHz dual core Athlon X2 L310 processor--backed by the M780G chipset--and AMD's ATI Radeon HD 3200 GPU graphics chip. The Acer netbook also provides a generous 11.6-inch display offering 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, and ATI XGP technology for external graphics expansion. Along with a six-cell rechargable battery to keep this sporty netbook revved for hours, the Ferrari One comes installed with 2 GB of memory, a 250 GB hard drive, a multi-format memory card reader, Bluetooth, Draft-N Wi-Fi, and 3G connectivity.
According to ITProPortal, the upcoming Windows 7 OS will come pre-installed (Premium or Starter) in addition to Dolby Home Theater, and will feature other notable bells and whistles like a chiclet keyboard, multitouch mousepad, and a stylish textured palm rest branded with the infamous Ferrari crest mounted on the right. Unfortunately, fans will still have to put up with the Windows and AMD Vision stickers on the palm rest however, glaring at consumers like ugly bumper stickers mounted on the left.
Look for the Acer Ferrari One to race onto store shelves next month just in time for Microsoft's debut of Windows 7.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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zendax Between the price, the size, and the performance, it's not really a netbook anymore... especially considering the price.Reply
I'd consider it more an ultra-portable laptop that chooses a small footprint over being super-thin. -
I guess Acer missed the memo. This product is not a netbook as it breaks a number of netbook specifications, making it a laptop:Reply
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/05/5-22-09win7start.jpg -
FoShizzleDizzle TacoBellAssassinI guess Acer missed the memo. This product is not a netbook as it breaks a number of netbook specifications, making it a laptop:http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadge 7start.jpgYou're forgetting that Ferrari has enough money to break the rules just like they do in F1.Reply -
Nik_I FoShizzleDizzleYou're forgetting that Ferrari has enough money to break the rules just like they do in F1.Reply
i'd have to argue that other teams break the rules rather than them. *cough*mclaren*cough* -
iquark I always wondered when we'd see this after noticing the acer logo on the Ferrari F60 formula 1 car. Not suprised that it's AMD based as Ferrari is also sponsored by AMD in F1 as are a good portion of the other teams. I think BMW-Sauber is Intel sporsored though.Reply -
falchard It would have been funny if it cost $200.Reply
I think the bulk of the $200 price overhead from a similiarly speced Acer model comes simply from the painting. Getting a nice auto finish can be a time consuming task if you don't have access to certain things.