The Acer Ferrari 4000 series of laptop computers have received their fair share of press. The combination of good looks from a reputable company is tempting, but can it really deliver what you would expect from a computer its stature?

The Acer Ferrari 4005WLMi most surprising feature for me was that it did not come with an Intel processor. You could say that I’ve fallen for the world of Intel mobile computing experience. I do like AMD processors for desktops and this is a refreshing change in the laptop arena.

The Turion processor is a modification of the Athlon 64 chip which it uses for desktop computers. This is a good thing, because they didn’t have to redesign all the technology to get this new chip, which also passes on a cost saving to the consumer, not to mention that all of them are 64-bit chips, which none of the Pentium M processors in Intel Centrino systems have yet.

Basic features include…

• AMD Turion ML-37 2.0GHz with 1MB L2 cache
• 1GB of DDR333 memory
• DVD writer
• ATI Radeon Mobility X700 Graphics Processor
• 15.4 inch wide screen display
• Full wireless connectivity

Of course the biggest surprise is that the computer is not an Intel Centrino design. Although this allows the manufacturer to pick and choose the parts it uses in the computer it also means you don’t have quite the same assurances with a Centrino package. This does the system no harm though and it is a top performer, despite lacking that little Intel emblem.

The most obvious feature of the Acer Ferrari 4005 is the coloring. A black design with red trimmings, with the Ferrari logo on the top. Although my initial response was to be doubtful of it being anything but a sales tactic, surely Ferrari would not put their name to any old rubbish, as they are a brand founded on quality an uniqueness.

All of the standard extras are there, from the USB 2.0 to the Firewire. There is also a Kensington lock slot for your peace of mind in terms of security.

The DVD writer presents a little surprise. It doesn’t have a tray. Instead it slots in like car CD players. A really cool design, which gets thumbs up for sleekness. It doesn’t increase performance, but not everything is about the speeds, is it?

The layout of the extras around the laptop itself are fine and put all of the vital components within easy reach. Firewire is a welcome extra too, as well as the bluetooth wireless mouse.

Of course there are a few little nitpicks to make. The onboard hard drive cannot handle video streaming as reported by one consumer. This can be remedied however by using an external drive, like a Firewire or USB 2.0 hard external drive. The EZdock option that comes with the laptop is not as easy as it says and has a slightly hard to use locking mechanism and takes up a lot of desk space. If you need a docking system, go for a non-acer version.

So in the end the Ferrari really does do its job well. It has looks to match its great performance. Although not the lightest around it is certainly powerful, making a worthy replacement for your lowly desktop computer. And with its fully features package, including full wireless support, people may start to get a glimpse of a worthy competitor to the Centrino packages.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 17th, 2005 at 9:02 pm and is filed under Laptop and Notebook Computers, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.