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Acer Ferrari 4005WLMi vs Dell Inspiron 6000

post #1 of 17
7/19/05 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 
I’m in the market for a laptop for college, hoping to use it for 3-4 years. Speed and graphics are important for architectural work, I guess my case is similar to SolarFlare's post from yesterday. As of now I’m considering the Ferrari 4005WLMi and Dell Inspiron 6000. I’ve configured the i6000 to match up with the Ferrari in terms of hardware (no warranty included) as closely as possible so that prices for both models are around $2000-2200. How do these 2 machines match up with each other? Also, Dell’s warranty plans offer a lot more (but they’re ridiculously expensive) compared to the Acer’s 1 year limited. Is this really a concern? I don’t know anything about how the Acer will hold up over time either. Any comments/opinions would help.
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post #2 of 17
7/19/05 at 4:06pm
Not really comparable since the Ferrari has a much faster video card.
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post #3 of 17
7/19/05 at 5:57pm
Thread Starter 
i realize the x700 is a lot better than the x300, which really boosts the ferrari in my mind. but any other opinions? i'm just looking for input to make the most of $2100. is one more prone to die on me than the other?
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post #4 of 17
7/19/05 at 6:14pm
Well with Dell you have a lot better warranty/support options. Personally I wouldn't get anything that doesn't have either at-home warranty service or at least a service center in the U.S., preferrably closer to home. You have to ship your notebook back to Acer in Taiwan or wherever they are so if your comp needs to be serviced it could be weeks before you see it again.

If you want a Dell with a powerful video card take a look at the Inspiron 9300 and the XPS Gen 2.

They are 17" and a bit heavier but the leap in video performance is well worth it imho. They're more desktop replacements but definitely have better moibility than the 10+ lb ones.

The 9300 is 7.35lb, not much more than the Ferrari.
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post #5 of 17
7/19/05 at 9:54pm
Actually if you got the Acer, they do have warranty service centers in the US. I have had to send my in for service, they shipped it to Texas. They pay for 2nd day shipping both ways, so you usually get it back within a week. (I sent mine in on monday and got it back on friday).

If you search on the forums, some people have had problems w/ Acer's service, but me and my friend (both of us own a Ferrari notebook) have not had any problems. In fact, the first time I sent my notebook in, they scratched the paint, so I sent it back and they replaced it with a new lid .

All in all I've had a pleasent experience with Acer.

The Ferrari 4005 is definately better than the 6000D if you play games. If not you can save some money with the Dell as they both perform pretty similar in everyday activities. The Ferrari does look nicer is you care about the aesthetic qualities.
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post #6 of 17
7/19/05 at 11:34pm
@Blahman
no thats not true. you can buy a advanced warranty:
3years pickup, even if you brake you laptop.
(accidentally, of course )

and i think even if you don't buy it they pick it up
at your home for the first year.
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post #7 of 17
7/20/05 at 4:58am
Thread Starter 
ive thought about the 9300 and xps g2, but size and weight are the main issues there. i need something a little more mobile so i figured id try and find the best 15.4.

i still am very interested in getting the ferrari 4000, it has the best graphics of any 15 in notebook ive seen. is it worth it to upgrade the hard drive to a 7200 rpm and the mem to ddr400? all the i6000s offer ddr2.

@ benji, where can i find info on the warranty you talked about?

thanks to all so far for the info.
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post #8 of 17
7/20/05 at 10:10am
I too am curious about the warranty. Where is this offer?
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post #9 of 17
7/20/05 at 11:17am
i got a 3 year total protection warranty for $280, so a total of 2355 for the system. i could get a maxed out dell with 2 year complete and 2 gb ram (via crucial.com) for about 1800 (with 35%) coupon. ferrari has much better card though, and looks a lot better. get it
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post #10 of 17
7/20/05 at 11:22am
imdashep, where did you get yours from buddy? That would be awesome to have a 3 year total protection warranty, w/ a notebook like this.
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post #11 of 17
7/20/05 at 11:38am
If size and weight are the main issues, then definitely go with the Ferrari. Every company has service complaints, and Dell, being a much larger company, wil have more in quanity than a smaller company like Acer. If you're looking for the laptop to last more than a year, then the Ferrari's X700 card is simply the only way to go. The X300 is weak enough as it is, and it wasn't meant to last.

Plus, Acer and Dell both feature immediate service via shipping. With the Acer, though, you'll get much higher build quality than the Dell, so dropping the Ferrari won't make you curse. With the Dell, its almost certain something will break...
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post #12 of 17
7/20/05 at 3:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redmumba
With the Acer, though, you'll get much higher build quality than the Dell, so dropping the Ferrari won't make you curse. With the Dell, its almost certain something will break...
If we're talking about possibilities of dropping... maybe a Dell might be a better idea (given you have ADP).

Also to clear something else us, dropping ANY notebook would make me curse
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post #13 of 17
7/20/05 at 6:02pm
info for the extended acer warraty:
https://secure.tx.acer.com/FindSyste...arranties.aspx
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post #14 of 17
7/20/05 at 7:12pm
Yeah, dropping any electronic equipment would hurt. But the problem is, the Dell cases are made of plastic--and not the high-grade kind. They save the military plastic for CD cases, and then use the leftovers on Dell's cases.
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post #15 of 17
7/21/05 at 1:13am
how is this even a comparison? ones utterly slow garbage, ones super fast with QUALITY materials

Carbonfiber Vs cheap dell plastic? LOL
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post #16 of 17
7/21/05 at 1:41am
If you plan to use your laptop for 3-4 years then you might also factor that your turion laptop will be able to run 64 bit OS (Windows x64, Linux x86_64 and Windows Longhorn next year) so you can run all those 64 bit apps & games that soon will be replacing 32 bit ones. Remember the transition from windows 3.1 to windows 95? It took only 1 year before all software were released for windows 95 only
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post #17 of 17
7/21/05 at 11:00am
the acer isnt completely carbon fiber but its very high quality. while longhorn isnt gonna be great, its still worth it, and overlal id say ferrari is worth the upgrade. just imo
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