Ferrari 3000 - Page 7

Bought an Acer Ferrari for 1299

After a couple of weeks agonizing what laptop to buy (was on the verge of paying over 2500), I ran into the Acer Ferrari 3000...just way too much style...too many features to let the slower processor get in the way- just a couple of notes-

* STYLE- pure style...hands down the coolest looking laptop there is.

* BLUETOOTH- excellent feature, connected w/ my Nokia 3650 instantly...

Now get this- went to froogle.com- saw this at a store refurb for 1299...i thought it was a misprint..went to the site, and indeed- 1299. Ordered it instantly, then realized wait, I have no idea what's wrong with this...could have a scratch right down the middle or something- BUT - lo and behold...PRISTINE quality. I lucked out- now I can take that extra 1200 or so and buy some other toys.. anyways....


The first thing I did when I got this computer is see how accessible the hard drive is so I can replce it with my Hitachi 7200RPM drive... I was able to figure out how to get it out- actually easier than I thought...once I get my hard drive upgrade kit, I'll post instructions on how to do so...


All in all though, I am very impressed with this notebook...it's not the most powerful system, but for what it has all around I think it's definitely 1 of the top 5 out right now in my book... by the way, did I say STYLE?!?


Peace

i was thinking about getting this computer... but i'm a relative computer illiterate person (as far as hardware goes)...

how does this AMD 2500+ processor stack up against a pentium 4M 2.8/3.0/3.2 or pentium M 1.6 or 1.7 with the same specs?

also... how easy is it to actually stratch it? i'm just afraid i'm too clumsy of an oaf to buy this thing... i'd hate to buy it just to mess up the paint on it a day later.

Replacing the hard drive is easy and straightforward although you will have to do a little wiggling.

The hard disk is located just under the left palm rest and is accessible through the small plastic panel on the left side that contains the audio ports. Replacing the hard drive involves removing this plastic panel, pulling out the metallic hard drive holder, replacing the drive on the holder, and putting it all back in.

1. Remember to first shut down and unplug everything from the notebook.
2. Remove the left plastic panel by removing the two screws on the under side of the panel.
3. Once the panel is removed you will see part of the metallic drive container sticking out just below the audio ports. Remove the two screws that hold the drive container to the frame.
4. Begin gently wiggling and pulling out the drive container until it's all the way out. There is no cable attached to the drive.
5. The drive itself is held to the container by four tiny screws. You may have to use a watch screwdriver to remove these.
6. Replace the drive with the new one. Screw it back to the container and slide it all in. Put back the other screws in, along with the plastic panel and it's done.

One of the problems I had was when removing one of the tiny screws on the drive container. I tried hard to remove it and it came to the point that the screw depression was already round and cannot be removed by the screwdriver. So I took out the small pliers that is on my swiss army knife and tried to unscrew it by gripping the head sideways.

The performance of the 7200 RPM drive is noticeably faster than the older 4200 RPM one. You would not notice it when you're opening windows applications. But I do a lot of file zipping and unzipping and I think there is a significant speed increase on these processes. I also upgraded my RAM to 1GB and so the experience I'm having is a combination of these two upgrades.

The 7200 RPM drive does not make the left palm rest hotter. There also seems no change in battery life. I have read that these faster Hitachi drives uses more energy efficient mechanisms to accomodate the speed which would normally take a huge amount of power.

StormX02 u said u live in BC
may i ask where u get ur laptop from?

He got it from CDW.com

oh CDW.com? they seem to be US based, any tax and custom tax applied?

and any of u in Vancouver BC area? know where i can pick this laptop up with a goodprice/support from the local place? i know NCIX/ICI computer carries them
but don't know if i should go with online shops or local if i want it

I got mine from NCIX.

StormX02, I didn't see anything peculiar under they keyboard. Everything is covered with panels and I just saw a bundle of wires at some point there.

thanks
it isn't really cheaper after the exchange rate though and that is before shipping too

whugster, did u pick it up in store from NCIX or shipping?
how much did u pay for? their listing price?

I had it shipped from ncix in BC to here in Toronto. That time it was listed as CAN $2400+.

i picked mine up on Amazon, they even had a $100 rebate. I will be swapping out the HDD through, got the Hitachi 7200.

What is the website or company that is selling the refurb Acer Ferrari 3000 for $1299 ??? I want !!!

Ferrari Performance

I am still wondering about the performance of the Ferrari. Would you pls give me your experience in working with the notebook: e.g. with Photoshop, Illustrator or a CAD program, or MATLAB. How is it going with video processing, let say dvd ripping or processing video from a camera?
According to the review at CNET (http://reviews.cnet.com/Acer_Ferrari...?tag=pdtl-list) the Ferrari has "merely average mobile performance scores". Is it really so? If smb has compared it to others (IBM T40/41 (CNET suggests it is better) or a HP, ...).
Thanks a lot

And another question (sorry if it seems stupd) : how do see value of the cpu speed? Is there a Ferrari tool to view it or use some program?

Hdd

What is the exact model of HDD that I can upgrade to? For instance I am looking at the model
80 GB HITACHI 2.5", Travelstar 80GN 9.5mm, АТА-5 (U-ATA/100), 12 ms, 7200 rpm, 8 MB
Will it match the Ferrari unit?
Would u pls tell me the model of the preinstalled HDD on Ferrari.