Acer Ferrari 3200 Upgrades

its upgradeable, i heard the paint job isn't shabby if you take care of it, yes you can upgrade the ram, the other ram is under the keyboard, and the heat doesn't seem to be that bad from what i have read.

Remember that the processor that comes with the Ferrari is the low power version of the 2800+. The 3200+ mobile has nearly 2x more power requirement. The battery life with the 2800+ already is only mediocre, so keep this is mind, as it may or may not be important to you.

To be able to upgrade to a full gig of ram you’d have to get rid of (sell, whatever) the ram that’s already in it, as it comes with 2x256 MB.

I think the Ferrari looks awesome inside and out. I’m a car person, and in the auto world “Ferrari” is synonymous with “orgasmic,” for lack of a better term. However, I just can’t justify getting one over a CL56 (or similar system). If I bought one I’d have to at least buy a 7k60, another 512 megs, and another battery, and that’s a lot of extra hassle on top of the already high $2K price tag. If the AMD64 was a much better performer in games I would do it, but it seems the 9700 is so much of a bottleneck that it doesn’t really matter what processor you have.

What are your reasons for going with Dell. Because there are about a million other laptops out there that are good (even better) quality than Dell and under 7lbs.

He just stated his reason's why he decided not to go with Dell.

I own a ferrari 3200

1- I care it as much as i will care a ferrari car (I think i'm explicit, no?)

2- You already get a reply to that

3- 2x256 fully upgradable (i don't know your necessities, but i had enought since i can play unreal tournament 2004 perfectly).

4- The left hand-rest space (wich is up the hd) becomes a little bit warm (its a bit warm, but no burns), and if you work with the computer on your lap for a long time you will finish with a pair of boiled-eggs .... a newspaper between lap and computer is a good solution

I think the paint job is just great. I applied some original Turtle Wax, and I highly recommend everyone who owns an Ferrari 3200 to do the same once in awhile to protect it and keep it nice & shiny and free from finger marks

See also this thread:
http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=31691

Yes, but since the Ferrari 3200 uses a low-power Mobile Athlon 64 processor (35W) I don't think its a good idea to upgrade with a regular Mobile Athlon 64 processor (62W) because of heat issues. Currently, only 2700+ & 2800+ are low-power chips:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...E11030,00.html

According to the service manual its already ready for the new low-power Mobile Athlon 64 3000+ coming this fall. For more information about new low-power chips see this:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/...611102838.html

It got two slots, but both are unfortunately occupied with 256MB PC2700 sticks. I recommend upgrading to 1GB PC3200 memory (DDR400) like I did, using two Corsair XMS3200 512MB CL2.5 SO-DIMM sticks:
http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair...512-3200ll.pdf


The first ram slot is easily available, and getting to the second ram slot went rather well thanks to this step-by-step guide I found in another thread:

1. remove 4 small screws. there are 2 of each on the back of the hinges
2. on the underside there are 2 screws each marked with a 'K' undo these
3. lay ferrari flat and fully open screen as far back as it will go
4. GENTLY lift the flap (with the on/off buttons) upward and outwards using a flat screwdriver
5. you will now see three screws above the function keys, undo these
6. Carefully slide the keyboard up towards the screen and it'll just pop out
7. you can now see the ram slot

BTW, you can download the Acer Ferrari 3200 Service Guide from here:
http://wesonline.kewlstuff4u.org/Ferrari3200sg.pdf

No problem at all, actually its the harddrive that its the hottest component in the system (same as on the Travelmate 8000 series).

Then the Ferrari 3200 will be a great choice for you

It's hard to say for sure, but I really doubt it.

The Acer Ferrari 3200 uses a low-power (35W) Mobile Athlon 64 2800+ processor, while the XPLORER X64 uses a regular (62W) Mobile Athlon 64 processor. Currently, the only low-power Mobile Athlon 64 processors available are the 2700+ and the 2800+:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...E11030,00.html

Compare this with the available regular Mobile Athlon 64 processors from 2800+ to 3400+:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...E10269,00.html

The main differences between these processors are the power usage (35W & 62W), size of L2 cache (512KB & 1MB) and clock frequency (although processors with the same rating (xx00+) perform the same).