Asus Lamborghini Notebook
We guess that the Acer Ferrari notebook PC must be doing OK, because Asus has upped that ante by forging a relationship with ultra-deluxe sports car maker Lamborghini for its new VX1 notebook PC. Available in mirror-gloss black and fluorescent yellow finishes, the VX1 features a lightweight 15" form factor with lots of snappy design details including the Lamborghini logo on the top deck centered just above the catch, and the text version tastefully displayed to the lower right of the keyboard.
As you'd expect in a notebook that ties itself to a high-performance vehicle, there's a lot going on under the hood as well. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 2.166 GHz processor, with support for up to 2 GB of DDR2 667 MHz RAM (in the form of 2 SO-DIMMs, to take best advantage of dual memory banks). The display is a glossy finished 15" SXGA LCD, driven by an Nvidia GeForce Go7400 VX 512 MB graphics module that provides top-of-the-line notebook graphics. Though the display doesn't support the highest of resolutions at 1280 x 1024, it's about as good as a quality 15" LCD can do with today's technology.
The unit also ships standard with Windows XP Professional, a 100 GB 2.5" Ultra DMA 100 hard disk with S.M.A.R.T. support (drives up to 160 GB are available), plus a DVD Super Multi Double Layer burner/reader with the following less than Lamborghini class statistics: RAM R/W 2X, CD/DVD Read 8X/24X, CD-R 24X, CD-RW 10X, DVD-R 4X, DVD-RW 2X, DVD+R 4X, DVD+RW 2.4X. The 4-in-1 memory card reader handles SD, MMC, MS and MS Pro formats. With dimensions of 13.03" x 10.7" x 1.2" this unit is quite compact, and it weighs in at 5.35 lbs. Add 12.8 oz for the PSU and power cable, and you're just a couple of ounces over 6 pounds for the whole shooting match.
In keeping with its high-end presentation, the VX1 ships with a Lamborghini-styled leather and nylon carrying case, plus an external wireless (Bluetooth) Logitech optical mouse with leather Lamborghini mouse pad. It also includes hardware-level BIOS and HDD password-protection for boot-up and drive access, respectively. The built-in Intel 3945 wireless LAN adapter provides 802.11 a/b/g support. The VX1 also comes with a built-in infrared port, 4 USB ports, and one 1394 Firewire port. Numerous battery options are available, including 4-cell 2400 mAh, 8-cell 4800 mAh and 5200 mAh models. Weights reported above are based on the 5200 mAh battery, the heaviest of the bunch. Look for an attractive software bundle, SoundMax Integrated Digital HD audio (with SP/DIF optical output), an integrated V.92 modem, built-in speakers and a microphone as well.
With all this in mind, we think the asking price for the VX1 isn't too outrageous (certainly nothing like the numbers you'd associate with a Lamborghini automobile): we found prices ranging from $2,787 to as low as $2,574. Santa won't be giving too many of these away this Christmas, but those lucky enough to receive a VX1 will probably remember that gift for many years to come.
