I know very little about computers, but I need a laptop for school.

I'm probably going to get the Acer Ferrari 3400. Cost is around $2300.

Is this a ridiculous price to pay for these features?





Installed Operating System
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Processor
Low-power mobile AMD Athlon 64 processor 3000+ at 90nm, 512KB L2 cache

Chipset
VIA ProSavage K8T800

Memory
- 512MB DDR 333 SDRAM (256MB installed in each of two memory slots)
- User upgradeable up to 1GB (one 512MB memory card in each slot) or 2GB (one 1GB memory card in each slot) subject to availability of 1GB cards

Storage
- 80GB1 ATA/100 hard disk drive with Disk Anti-Shock Protection (DASP), 4200 RPM
- Internal variable speed Super Multi Write Plus drive (supports DVD -RW, +RW, -RAM):
Read: -4X DVD-R, 4X DVD-RW, 4X DVD+R, 4X DVD+RW, 8X DVD-ROM, 24X CD-ROM, 2X DVD-RAM
Write: -2.4X DVD+R, 2.4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-R, 2X DVD-RW, 16X CD-R, 8X CD-RW, 2X DVD-RAM
- 4-in-1 card reader for optional MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD) card, SmartMedia card or Memory Stick

Video
- 15.0" SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) TFT LCD, up to 16.7 million colors
- ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700 graphics, 128MB video memory, support for AGP8X
- VGA, S-video TV out ports
- Support for simultaneous display on notebook LCD and external monitor

Audio
Integrated stereo speakers and microphone, microphone/line-in and stereo headphone/ speaker/line-out ports, Microsoft DirectSound compatibility

Interface Ports
- Four USB 2.0
- Parallel
- DC in
- RJ-11 modem
- RJ-45 LAN
- VGA, S-video TV out
- microphone/ line-in, stereo headphone/speaker/line-out
- FireWire (IEEE 1394)
- FIR (fast infrared)

Card Slots
- Type II PC Card slot, 32-bit PC CardBus architecture, Zoomed Video support
- 4-in-1 card reader for optional MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD) card, SmartMedia card or Memory Stick

Connectivity
- Modem: 56K ITU V.92 modem with PTT approval; Wake-on-Ring ready
- LAN: 10/100/1000 Mbps Fast Ethernet; Wake-on-LAN ready
- LAN: integrated Acer InviLink 802.11b/g1 Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
- Bluetooth wireless PAN

Included Software
- Installed: Acer Launch Manager, Adobe Acrobat Reader, CyberLink PowerDVD,4 Norton AntiVirus,4 NTI CD-Maker 4
- On CD shipped with the system: Acer System Recovery

User Interface
- Acer FineTouch 84-key keyboard with five-degree curve, inverted T cursor layout, embedded numeric keypad, minimum 2.5mm key travel, 18mm spacing
- Web browser, e-mail with LED, two user-programmable launch keys
- Wireless and Bluetooth on/off buttons with LEDs
- Touchpad with four-way scroll button
- Ferrari USB mouse

Average Dimensions and Weights
- 330 (W) x 272 (D) x 31 (H) mm
- 3.014 kgwith CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive installed
Size and weight may vary depending on configuration

Power
- ACPI 1.0b power management
- 90-watt AC adapter
- Eight-cell lithium ion battery: up to 3.0 hours life depending on configuration and usage, 4.5 hours recharge time with power on

Security Features
User and administrator BIOS passwords

Any advice would be appreciated!

-Pete

 

Not too shabby. However, if I recall some reviews called its performances mediocre. Check google under Acer Ferrari Review and you'll see some good feedback.

 

$2300 is a lot to pay for those features. you can probably get a dell with similar feature for around $1600 +/-. of course the dell wouldn't look anywhere as flashy... besides, people who see you lugging that thing around would probably think your a poser for putting ferarri logos on your laptop.

 

Well, I read all the reviews I could find. It seems that in this computer series, the hardware is really good, but the software bundle is feeble.

I think that's okay, because it's easy to upgrade the software. (Isn't it?)


-Pete

 

[QUOTE=VTEC_Junkie,Oct 28 2004, 11:54 PM]$2300 is a lot to pay for those features.

 

that sounds like a bad price to me!

For $2000, you should be able to get a nice toshiba 17 inch brite WIDE screen with similar or faster specs. And never buy a computer with 2 256 chips, as you would have to ditch them both to get up to a gig. Make sure it has only 1 512 meg chip so you can upgrade cheaply.

And of course, NEVER BUY DELL!

 

Another note, that laptop has a good video card for games, but that screen, at only 15 inches and no "xbrite or truebrite" technology just plain sux. Get atleast a 15.4 or a 17 for that money.

 

[QUOTE=suvh8r,Oct 29 2004, 08:17 AM]that sounds like a bad price to me!

For $2000, you should be able to get a nice toshiba 17 inch brite WIDE screen with similar or faster specs.

 

Acer sucks. For that price, I'll get an Sony VAIO or HP or Apple Powerbook.

 

[QUOTE=mav,Oct 29 2004, 12:05 PM] Acer sucks.