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

[Okle]

Originally Posted by snorre

huh? Windows XP 64-bit beta has been available for a long time already and the final version will be shipping within a few months, and I can guarantee you that the 2800+ will run it like a charm. And there's no need to wait for 64-bit apps to take full advantage of it, since 32-bit apps in fact also run faster & smoother on the 64-bit OS compared to the regular Windows XP

Please stop the FUD!

sorry, i thought that microsoft was planning to release its OS and stuff a lot later than this year. any idea if there's going to be a 64-bit patch for the 32-bit version of FarCry?

[francoisc]

Here are my Ferrari 3200 benchmarks - pretty much out the box. Don't have any tweaks or omega drivers installed yet. About to install the omega drivers to see what kind of difference they make in my scores. I'll post the updated scores, too.

3dMark03: 3,032
3dMark01SE: 10,929
Aquamark3: 26,184 (GFX 3,171 / CPU 7,496)

All in all, pretty much the same as Adams. There's something to be said for consistency, I suppose.

[wicked]

Hi, I consider buying f3200 and the reviews here were very helpful. I hope until the time to buy a laptop (September) acer will release another version with a faster hdd or with 802.11i wifi implementation.
I want to ask the guys who changed the cpu or unscrewd the hdd etc., didn't you lose your warranty by doing this?

[Okle]

i second that, and if there is another Ferrari model coming out and it uses basically the same chassis, will they offer stuff like vidcard upgrades (like with the inspiron XPS) or would be smarter to just wait until that time? and wicked, i would guess that they did void their warranty with the hard drive replacement (and maybe the replacement of the memory module under the keyboard), but i wouldn't know because i currently own a dell and pretty much everything that you do to the machine that some nameless indian c.s. rep doesn't tell you to do mucks with the warranty.

[Ferrari3200]

I just got my 3200 here in Taiwan. There are some slight differences. It has XP Home installed (Chinese), but it came with a sweet Acer carrying case and sleeve. I'll try to get some pics up sometime. Luckily, Acer will swap the disks for the English version. I'm not sure if I'll get XP Pro or Home though. I have XP Pro here either way, but it will be nice to have the English disks regardless. No dead pixels, but I do notice my ClearType is broken. Perhaps a Windows Update will solve that, but now I have the blue cast on some black letters. It's not busted as bad as the ClearType on WM2003SE on my e805, but it still sucks. I'll just turn it off if I can find my way there. So far, so good. By the way, the viewing angles seem pretty decent before someone asks. Rock on!

[newkid168]

Originally Posted by Ferrari3200

I just got my 3200 here in Taiwan. There are some slight differences. It has XP Home installed (Chinese), but it came with a sweet Acer carrying case and sleeve. I'll try to get some pics up sometime. Luckily, Acer will swap the disks for the English version. I'm not sure if I'll get XP Pro or Home though. I have XP Pro here either way, but it will be nice to have the English disks regardless. No dead pixels, but I do notice my ClearType is broken. Perhaps a Windows Update will solve that, but now I have the blue cast on some black letters. It's not busted as bad as the ClearType on WM2003SE on my e805, but it still sucks. I'll just turn it off if I can find my way there. So far, so good. By the way, the viewing angles seem pretty decent before someone asks. Rock on!

Ferrari3200, where did you bought the 3200 in Taiwan, Taipei? Do you mind to tell me the price you paid for via PM? and if the reseller is willing to upgrade the Rams? Thanks in advance.

[Ferrari3200]

I got it at Taipei NOVA (Taipei Main Station-MRT) for NT$69,000. I didn't ask about upgrades since I'll eventually do it myself. The prices for 7200rpm drives seemed too high and I'm waiting until DDRII is more mainstream before I upgrade my RAM. Hopefully 1GB sticks will be pretty reasonable then. It was hard to find one actually. Everyone had to order to get one, but one store had another location with one. I had to wait about an hour for it to arrive, but it was worth it.

[francoisc]

Originally Posted by wicked

Hi, I consider buying f3200 and the reviews here were very helpful. I hope until the time to buy a laptop (September) acer will release another version with a faster hdd or with 802.11i wifi implementation.
I want to ask the guys who changed the cpu or unscrewd the hdd etc., didn't you lose your warranty by doing this?

I called Acer USA and the rep I spoke to (Mary) verified that both the HDD and RAM were meant to be user-upgradeable; swapping them out will *not* void your warranty. Of course, the warranty won't cover non-standard parts, and the caveat to this is, if you manage to damage the lappy or one of the components while attempting to install the HDD or RAM, then *that* would void the warranty. Meaning - if you're trying to install some RAM and somehow manage to screw up something else (I dunno, GFX card, whatever) then the warranty on the damaged component would be void even though it is a standard ferrari part.

for reference, if you are a 3200 owner, it even has a section in the manual about "user upgrades" and both the HDD and RAM are listed as upgradeable in the manual as well.

[airwick]

to those that mentioend the indian dell reps or osething.. dell also does not void warantee except if you do some extreme upgrades like want to repalce your lcd and motherboard or something werid

[wicked]

Thnax guys (especially francoisc) for bothering to get this clear

[newkid168]

Thanks for clearing the confuion about upgrade and warranty, I think I'll now upgrade myself after the purchase of 3200. By the way, did anyon had issues with the keyboard after upgrading the ram under the keyboard?

[greenlizzard]

Do you guys think that the 3200 might get any cheaper in the next three or four weeks or anytime soon? I want to buy one soon, but I don't like the price to drop fast after I buyed it.

[xaviar]

Hopefully 1GB sticks will be pretty reasonable then.

your best bet is to buy 1gb sticks right now within the next month or so - this month is the slowest month for ram and the prices are pretty low... ram prices don't really drop significantly like other hardware pieces.. it fluctuates.. ddr2 won't be mainstream until late next year. regardless ram is so slow this month that manufacturers were considering cutting production to keep supply:demand ratio decent.. this is all considering you want to buy your new ram sometime soon and not fall 2005 etc...

[greenlizzard]

Is the red paint on the case scratch proof? Or is the paint damaged quick?

[skyc280]

Originally Posted by Ferrari3200

I just got my 3200 here in Taiwan. There are some slight differences. It has XP Home installed (Chinese), but it came with a sweet Acer carrying case and sleeve. I'll try to get some pics up sometime. Luckily, Acer will swap the disks for the English version. I'm not sure if I'll get XP Pro or Home though. I have XP Pro here either way, but it will be nice to have the English disks regardless. No dead pixels, but I do notice my ClearType is broken. Perhaps a Windows Update will solve that, but now I have the blue cast on some black letters. It's not busted as bad as the ClearType on WM2003SE on my e805, but it still sucks. I'll just turn it off if I can find my way there. So far, so good. By the way, the viewing angles seem pretty decent before someone asks. Rock on!

hey i got mine in taiwan as well, how will acer swap for the english disk for you? i am interest in doing that as well if the english disk is professional version
also do u have trouble viewing java using IE without the java program? i know my desktop back in vancouver can do that without the sun java program but it can't seem to do that with the laptop...