Acer has added a subcompact to its lineup of Ferrari-branded notebooks. The Acer Ferrari 1004WTMi sports the same exotic good looks as its full-sized stable mates, but in a much more totable 3.7-pound package. Unlike some other ultraportables, however, you’ll have to make do without an integrated optical drive. Still, there’s a lot to like about this $1,999 bundle.
We like the current generation’s understated color scheme (black with red accents) much more than the original Acer Ferrari’s garish sports-car-red paint job. The yellow Ferrari shield logos on the lid and keyboard deck are prominent but not overpowering. The bundle includes extra touches, such as both three- and six-cell batteries, a compact, matching Bluetooth mouse, a carrying case, and even a Bluetooth VoIP phone for use with Skype or other Internet phone or chat services.
The fit-and-finish of this Ferrari is superb, and the 0.8-inch-thick unit is comfortable to carry and easy to slip into a briefcase. The slot-loading external 6X DVD+/-RW drive is nicely designed, though we wish Acer had found a way to integrate it into the notebook. This configuration also includes a spacious 160GB hard drive with an active protection system to prevent data loss should you drop the system.
Open the carbon-fiber lid and you’ll find a bright, sharp 12.1-inch glossy widescreen. The 1280 x 800-pixel resolution makes for sharp text and graphics, though fonts appear fairly small at the default settings. As with similar panels, viewing-angle performance is good side to side, but the image looks washed out when viewed from even slightly above.
On the plus side, the screen’s vivid color rendition is gorgeous, and DVD playback looked great, with very little motion blur. The front-firing stereo speakers lacked bass punch, but overall the sound was distortion-free and fairly loud for an ultraportable. A rotating webcam sits atop the screen, making this system handy for videoconferencing.
One place Acer had to compromise was the keyboard. The keys are comfortable and quiet, but the layout will feel cramped to people with larger hands, and the ancillary keys are tiny. The touchpad is responsive, though, and its large mouse buttons are easy to hit accurately.
The Ferrari’s 1.8-GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 engine delivered an above-average MobileMark 2005 score of 208. Forget about 3D gaming with its integrated ATI graphics; the system scored just 1,459 on 3DMark03. The machine’s 3 hours and 15 minutes of battery life from the six-cell power pack isn’t terrible, but it’s about an hour below average for an ultraportable.
Acer has equipped the Ferrari with a draft 802.11n Wi-Fi radio, but the final 802.11n spec hasn’t yet been finalized; that should happen sometime in the first half of 2007. And without an 802.11n router, you won’t see the benefit. Wireless throughput on our tests wasn’t great: 9.1 Mbps at a distance of 15 feet from an access point and just 7 Mbps at 50 feet.
Port selection is fairly standard, and we like the inclusion of a 5-in-1 card reader. Acer has included some nice software touches, such as a floating pallet of widgets to invoke the various power-management schemes, presentation mode, data security management, and recovery utilities. Third-party software is limited to Norton AntiVirus and NTI’s CD/DVD creation tools.
The one-year warranty is typical, though for this type of upscale machine, we would expect 24/7 phone support. The lines are open only Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT.
As long as you can live without an integrated optical drive, the Acer Ferrari 1004WTMi is a good-looking performer that should suit buyers who want a little flash in their ultraportable.
We like the current generation’s understated color scheme (black with red accents) much more than the original Acer Ferrari’s garish sports-car-red paint job. The yellow Ferrari shield logos on the lid and keyboard deck are prominent but not overpowering. The bundle includes extra touches, such as both three- and six-cell batteries, a compact, matching Bluetooth mouse, a carrying case, and even a Bluetooth VoIP phone for use with Skype or other Internet phone or chat services.
The fit-and-finish of this Ferrari is superb, and the 0.8-inch-thick unit is comfortable to carry and easy to slip into a briefcase. The slot-loading external 6X DVD+/-RW drive is nicely designed, though we wish Acer had found a way to integrate it into the notebook. This configuration also includes a spacious 160GB hard drive with an active protection system to prevent data loss should you drop the system.
Open the carbon-fiber lid and you’ll find a bright, sharp 12.1-inch glossy widescreen. The 1280 x 800-pixel resolution makes for sharp text and graphics, though fonts appear fairly small at the default settings. As with similar panels, viewing-angle performance is good side to side, but the image looks washed out when viewed from even slightly above.
On the plus side, the screen’s vivid color rendition is gorgeous, and DVD playback looked great, with very little motion blur. The front-firing stereo speakers lacked bass punch, but overall the sound was distortion-free and fairly loud for an ultraportable. A rotating webcam sits atop the screen, making this system handy for videoconferencing.
One place Acer had to compromise was the keyboard. The keys are comfortable and quiet, but the layout will feel cramped to people with larger hands, and the ancillary keys are tiny. The touchpad is responsive, though, and its large mouse buttons are easy to hit accurately.
The Ferrari’s 1.8-GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 engine delivered an above-average MobileMark 2005 score of 208. Forget about 3D gaming with its integrated ATI graphics; the system scored just 1,459 on 3DMark03. The machine’s 3 hours and 15 minutes of battery life from the six-cell power pack isn’t terrible, but it’s about an hour below average for an ultraportable.
Acer has equipped the Ferrari with a draft 802.11n Wi-Fi radio, but the final 802.11n spec hasn’t yet been finalized; that should happen sometime in the first half of 2007. And without an 802.11n router, you won’t see the benefit. Wireless throughput on our tests wasn’t great: 9.1 Mbps at a distance of 15 feet from an access point and just 7 Mbps at 50 feet.
Port selection is fairly standard, and we like the inclusion of a 5-in-1 card reader. Acer has included some nice software touches, such as a floating pallet of widgets to invoke the various power-management schemes, presentation mode, data security management, and recovery utilities. Third-party software is limited to Norton AntiVirus and NTI’s CD/DVD creation tools.
The one-year warranty is typical, though for this type of upscale machine, we would expect 24/7 phone support. The lines are open only Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT.
As long as you can live without an integrated optical drive, the Acer Ferrari 1004WTMi is a good-looking performer that should suit buyers who want a little flash in their ultraportable.
| QUICK SPECS | |
Acer Ferrari 1004WTMi | |
| CPU | 1.8-GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 |
| Operating System | Windows XP Professional |
| RAM/Expandable to | 1GB/2GB |
| Hard Drive/Speed | 160GB/5,400 rpm |
| Optical Drive | 6X DVD+/-R (external) |
| Display/Resolution | 12.1 inches/1280 x 800 |
| Graphics/Video Memory | ATI Radeon Xpress 1150/shared |
| Wireless Networking | Draft 802.11n, Bluetooth |
| Ports | Four USB 2.0, FireWire, HDMI, VGA, S-Video, Ethernet, modem, IR, headphone (with S/PDIF support), mic, docking connector |
| Card Slots | One Type II PC Card, 5-in-1 memory card reader |
| Weight | 3.7 pounds |
| Size | 11.9 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches |
| Warranty/Support | One-year parts and labor limited warranty/lifetime toll-free (7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. CST Monday to Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST Saturday) |
| MobileMark 2005 | 208 |
| 3DMark03 | 1,459 |
| Battery Life (Wi-Fi On/Off) | Could Not Run / 3:15 |
| Wireless Performance (15/50 feet) | 9.1 Mbps/ 7 Mbps |
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