Acer Ferrari 3200 review (just a few pics/couple benches)

[Okle]

I know, i was just responding to the security concern question. and i agree with the statement that pc's are more versatile than mac's, as OS X has a lot of minutiae hidden from the user. but in terms of simplicity and the resulting breed of elegance, OS X has a definite advantage, with no cluttered desktops, no confusing menus, and just a quick, large and easy to access core program bar at the bottom of the screen. and the screensavers look awesome! :-P

[solidflux]

Originally Posted by Sharakkhal

Use Intel systems? Just kidding. Does it happen when using one specific program, or just randomly, no matter what you're doing? More info would definitely help there.

no, it just happens randomly. you would think it would be something where say I load up a game and it does it, but thats not the case (have had no problems running games at all), it has been more like, I open itunes, open a webpage in IE, etc. I haven't been able to reproduce it all. its quite frustrating, because this is obviously unacceptable.

the keyboard is okay, I definately wish it was full-size. Thankfully even though it is small, it doesnt make too many key position mistakes like other laptops do. I would say a full size keyboard, and a screen with better viewing angles would be the biggest improvements I would ask acer for.

[Okle]

but i could pretty much get by without an external, fullsize kb for a while?

[EthernalNet]

just a question:

can you work with the 3200 over your legs??? or it warm's too much in the bottom side to do it? Also, can you put the pc over the bed or the sofa without danger?

thx

[agentsim]

Originally Posted by Okle

as OS X has a lot of minutiae hidden from the user

Wha?????
OS X is a Unix system. Everything is available if you want to play with it.
Editing configuration files might be a pain in the ***, but have you ever even considered mucking around in the Winblows registry?

[Okle]

exactly my point! you have to mess around in the registry, which for most people is a "pain in the a**" correct? do keep in mind that "hidden" does not mean "it's not there."

[snorre]

Originally Posted by Kieran

How does the 1.6GHz "Low Power" Athlon 64 processor in the Ferrari 3200 compare with something like a 1.7GHz Pentium-M Centrino, in terms of raw power (disregarding graphics processing)?

Correct Read the details about AMD's low-power Mobile Athlon 64 processors over here.

GamePC benchmarks Pentium-M 1.7, 1.8 & 2.0GHz and compares them to Athlon 64 2800+ over here:

The Dothan Pentium-M chips aren’t at the top of the performance spectrum, but they’re still very fast chips. Unfortunately, in the confines of notebook designs with limited graphics, audio, and expansion capabilities, we’re only left to wonder what these chips are truly capable of. Nevertheless, they do very well in their native notebook environments in comparison to other mobile processors. The chips can handle gaming, media encoding, and applications just like any other high-end desktop CPU.

Unfortunately, Intel’s new Pentium-M 755 (2.0 GHz Dothan) is an extremely expensive little processor, which isn’t incredibly surprising considering that it’s new to market and availability is low. The P-M 755 has a similar price tag to that of the 3.2 GHz P4 Extreme Edition, the 3.06 GHz/1MB Xeon, or the Athlon64 FX-53 CPU – all ultra-high end CPU’s for their respective markets.

Athlon 64 processors with the same rating will also perform exactly the same, like previous benchmarks of mobile vs. desktop processors from AMD have shown

[RedSky009]

You can easily work with it on your lap - if your gaming you might want to put a tshirt or something under it as it get pretty warm, but I don't think over 45-50 oC.. Its also pretty light so not much strain carrying it around from room to room

[greenlizzard]

Originally Posted by RedSky009

You can easily work with it on your lap - if your gaming you might want to put a tshirt or something under it as it get pretty warm, but I don't think over 45-50 oC.. Its also pretty light so not much strain carrying it around from room to room

Is that better or worse than most other notebooks?

[Kieran]

I'd just like to thank Snorre for those links - very helpful indeed. Thanks!

PS > Blimey, the Athlon 64 did pretty damned well in the comparison tests, didn't it! - Do you know if that was the desktop Athlon 64, or the mobile/notebook version in the test?

Thanks

[Kieran]

Even after reading AMD's reasons regards their 'naming' of their Athlon processors I still find it odd that they essentially give a "1.8GHz" CPU a numerical name of "2800+", with which Acer then put it into a notebook and call it a Ferrari "3200"...

I sometimes lose track of what the craic is, sometimes...

[Okle]

yeah that would be pretty nice if it was the 3200+, then there just wouldn't be any comparison. i'm still kinda skeptical of the centrino idea, despite how friggin nice it looks/is, while the A64s are definitely proven and generally accepted as the best processor out there...i think.

[rincewind]

that was a desktop amd they tested

those benchmarks are a lil silly coz they are trying to do a cpu comparison in gaming benchmarks when the graphic card is different on each platform...

some are 9700s, some are 9600s, and some are mobile gpus some are desktop gpus!!

[Aikeo]

you'd be better off comparing the dothans to the a64-M procs (2800+) rather than the 3200+ chips, and like rince said keeping all the other components as similar as possible.

while the A64s are definitely proven and generally accepted as the best processor out there...i think

okle that's a pretty generic statement, and not really even true in some cases. i would check out this thread, it evaluates the gaming performance of the two different chips on a relatively equal playing field (same gpu / components):
http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=28483

[Rustican]

Will the Ferrari accept DDR400 memory?