Ferrari 4000 -- future upgrade to dual core?

IFAMD releases Turion dual-core in 754 socket, will Acer provide a BIOS update so that those who buy Ferrari 4000's TODAY will be able to upgrade to dual-core?

Acer's longstanding policy seems to be that only certain parts can be upgraded (you can add more memory or change the hard disk) and processors are not one of them.

I believe that dual-core is different. AMD has announced (at least for desktops) that processors can be upgraded to dual-core with a BIOS upgrade. But, it seems to me that the BIOS upgrade would have to come from Acer.

While it could be that there is no possibility for an upgrade (if future Turions are not 754), I belive that Acer should not hold back on a BIOS upgrade if that would enable an upgrade to dual-core.


NOTE:

1) I believe that there is some confusion about whether dual-core Turion's will be 754. Some believe that 754 will be phased out. I have seen others speculate that Turions will continue with 754.

2) Some believe that "mobile dual-core" will not be here until (late) 2006. But this might refer to mobile Athlon (different from Turion) and AMD seems to be ahead of schedule (releasing desktop dual core TODAY). In any case, how long it might take is irrelevent.

3) In a previous tread someone stated that 99% of notebook buyers do not upgrade their processor (or anything other than the memory and hard disk). Part of the reason for this may be Acer's policy. Anyway, I think that a dual-core upgrade would be popular, if it is possible because it is MUCH more beneficial than the kind of "speed bump" processor upgrade that may have been available in the past.

Thanks for your replies.

I'm not sure that anyone knows what AMD will do with Turion in the future. I am a bit confused myself. Some of the confusion stems from the existance of two mobile platforms: mobile Athlon and Turion.

AFAIK, Turion is *based* on mobile Athlon, but that doesn't necessarily mean that future plans for mobile Athlon are the same as for Turion. Prehaps Turion will lag a generation?

In any case, there are TWO possibilities:
1. There is no possible upgrade due to one or more fundamental incompatibilities (different socket type, etc.)

2. There is a possible upgrade at some point.

The fundamental question is: shouldn't buyers of Turion notebooks ensure that if #2 occurs then they will be able to upgrade. Acer's policy means that even if #2 occurs, an Acer Turion notebook buyer is unlikely to ever be provided with the BIOS that will allow an upgrade.

It is easy to imagine Acer's future response: "if you want dual-core, then buy our new dual-core Ferrari 4xxxx."

I am VERY interested in the Ferrari, and I have nothing against Acer, but I am concerned about Acer's upgrade policy because a) it just makes sense for Acer to allow an upgrade if it is possible (customer friendly, and selling point for Acer), and 2) if in the future such an upgrade is possible except for Acer's policy (and thus refusal to provide a BIOS update) then Turion notebook owners who want dual-core will possibly lose hundreds of dollars via selling their current notebook and buying a new one (customer unfriendly.)

I understand that Turion is based on the moble athlon. *Now* it is different. As far as I can tell, it has effectively been branched. It seems that AMD has plans to change sockets in the mobile space but leads to some confusion: maybe the change applies to Turion or maybe they are referring just to mobile Athlon. There is no way to know until AMD clarifies this. There are other technical questions as well, but...

... the discussion is supposed to be about Acer's policy. Technobabble about the Turion is very secondary and avoids the question.

So, once again:
*IF* a Ferrari 4000 owner could upgrade their computer to dual-core then SHOULDN'T ACER PROVIDE A BIOS UPGRADE that allows them to do so?

I'd like to buy a Ferrari 4000, I think it's got great technology at a reasonable price, but Acer's upgrade policy really puts me off. It means that *IF* I could otherwise upgrade to dual-core, Acer will not let me -- Ferrari buyers can not expect a BIOS upgrade to be released.

Now, instead of simply buying a Ferrari 4000, I will have to explore alternatives. Maybe Asus, as a mobo manufacterer, has a better policy, or is more likely to make such a BIOS upgrade available (*IF* an upgrade to dual-core is feasible)? Or maybe I should buy an Intel-based machine (longer battery life, etc.) and wait for all the kinks to be worked out of AMD/Acer's dual-core strategy. Ferrari 5000 -- WOW.

Note: a contributor named "Snorre" had this to say in a "Ferrari 4000" Thread under General notebook discussions:

"Socket 754 is not going to be killed anytime soon, as the Turion 64 series of processors are going to take over that socket. Socket 939 is mean for desktop processors, so if the HP 4000/6000 uses that socket they're only gonna be desktop replacement notebooks. All real thin & light notebooks, like the Acer Ferrari 4000, on the other hand will use socket 754 and Turion 64 processors that are undoubtly future proof."

So, again: SHOULDN'T ACER ALLOW Ferrari 4000 PUCHASERS TO UPGRADE TO DUAL-CORE IF IT IS FEASIBLE TO DO SO? Shouldn't they make their willingness to do so EXPLICIT so as to avoid any confusion? This would actually HELP them sell Ferrari's and would make them look like a customer friendly organization.