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Enderle's Ferrari Laptop
deminisma writes "Hilarity abounds as 'analyst' Rob Enderle gushes over his new Ferrari/Acer laptop. The laptop apparently even plays the sound of a car revving up while booting, which Enderle seems to think is all the rage at meetings."
Nothing beats the sleek style of the Apple Titanium PowerBook (old and new). Not even this bucket of bolts, with it's stupid engine sound can change my mind. I'm still not sure I've ever heard a real apple make the sound my TiBook makes when I power it up, but I prefer it none the less.
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This is the coming of consumer products that have less to do with the tech and more to do with the marketing. Does this mean that laptops are now becoming fashion accesories more than tools? I also wonder if this is a bad thing or a good thing?
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The great features on this wonder laptop? A pretty red finish that he apparently spends time worrying about damage to. It plays a revving up sound when it boots (as far as I can tell, this is just the Windows Log In sound), and Ferrari themed background image. This man is a giant dork. Yes, I appreciate good looking hardware and even a nice desktop graphic. But to suggest that those are key purchasing decisions, let alone something to base an article on, is inane.
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This CEO of Nissan. :-)
"When it's old, it's no classic, it's slow and out of date and looks lame compared to some cheap POS." This one is true for laptops, but hardly for Ferraris. There are very very few Ferraris that are NOT classics.
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
This thing looks like a gussied up Fiero to me..
A real Ferrari Laptop would have Carbon fiber pannels, a true performance CPU (battery life is for pussies!) a 19" display and a connely leather keyboard. Nobody would care that it cost $30,00 and has a 30 minute battery life..
If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. --Red Adair
If I wanted more than a great paint job, I'd go for a Hypersonic laptop... same great red color (among other colors) and I'd get great performance, too.
On the other hand, if I were silly enough to consider a sound effect during startup like the one described "cool", I'd never go for performance if I could get the brand name... Silly.
I wonder why there is no ferrari-like niche in the laptop world -- ultimate performance that makes a lot of sacrifices that most people wouldn't make. How hard would it be to slap this dual processor motherboard onto a 20" LCD screen, and add a few SCSI 2.5" drives in a raid? There are people who'd go for it, even though it would weigh 20 pounds.
(related link tadpole sparcbook)
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I own this laptop and aside from the many double-takes I get at the office, the system is a powerhouse:
AMD Athlon XP-M 2500
512M Ram
4 USB 2
DVD+-RW
IR, Bluetooth, and 802.11b/g
15" screen 1400x1050 resolution
4in1 media reader
to name a few things...
Also of note is that even though the website quotes a mono headphone jack and I've seen some message boards that are complaining about it, I can say that it is definitely a stereo headphone jack. You'll have a lot of fun with this system.
Forbes just did an article about this laptop. The Acer Ferrari laptop retails for $1900-$2000, but laptops with similar hardware retail for $1200-$1300.
So the suits observe, rightly so, that $700 for a logo and a paintjob is a pretty good deal (for them). The Forbes angle is that we should expect to see more of these "dressed up" laptops and other hardware, since consumers are willing to pay disproportionately more for the cache of identifying with their favorite brands.
Interestingly, the same principle explains why ugly-ass autos like the PT Cruiser continue to be marketed and sold: Niche items have higher margins.
And it shows just how ignorant some people are to think that Ferrari builds the best cars. They don't, in part because there is no such thing as "the best car". It doesn't help that they're unreliable, grossly under-equipped with features, often handle like a bar of soap, have atrocious build quality, impossible to service(much less find someone TO service them), and grossly, grossly overpriced. Witness the rebirth of supercar/sports car companies in the last 10 years.
Fastest? No. McLaren has had that for quite some time. Best techno-gee-gaws? Nissan Skyline, hands down. Best autobahn machine, aka, groundcoverer? Take your pick between the Audi RS6(450hp) or the BMW M5('only' 400hp), or the Merc S600(then there's also the Bentley Arnage Turbo). Best daily sports car? Porsche 911 twin turbo(AWD, extensive dealership network, loads of creature comforts). Best go-cart type? My personal favorite is the Caterham Super 7, but there's the Lotus Elise and the Noble(which is probably the fastest closed-wheel car around a track you can find). Best "gotta move a bunch of stuff" vehicle? Ask anyone in the UK, it's the Ford Transit(the funny super-tall van that's started to pop up here in the US). So on etc.
Further, all it takes is determination to beat Ferrari; there's absolutely nothing about being Italian that makes you build a better car. Ask Henry Ford- when Ferrari refused to sell out to him no matter what the price, he told his staff "beat Ferrari", and the Ford GT40 was born. It slaughtered Ferrari, and everything else. And just think...it's baaaack!(and you can even buy one yourself now, and they're downright gorgeous. I saw it at the NY auto show a year or two back, and there was a -huge- crowd of people just staring, and staring, and staring...)
Even other Italian companies did Ferrari in handily- the Detomaso is a perfect example. Near identical construction, nice Italian design...but a huge 5.7l big-block chevy V8 in back. So, you could pretty much find anyone to work on it, and there's enough room around the engine that you could practically climb in with it. No "drop the engine to remove the sparkplug" nonsense here.
Whenever I see a newish Ferrari on the road, I yawn. When I see an older one with racing history, that's slightly more interesting, but still somewhat yawn-inspiring.
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If he was really legit, he would not have been engaging in massive spam campaigns to make his case.
Not that I would expect anything better from Acer (ugh) but come on, do a little design work.
The thing is red on top with a red stripe on the side and a cheap looking silver everywhere else (I don't know about the back). It looks nasty. They could've integrated the red so much better (think Alienware in Ferrari red).
And the case is a regular old Acer case. It would've been so cool if them Italian engineers could've added a little flare or something, sheesh.
Right now it's just a dorky laptop that looks like it was made with some duct tape and a spray can.
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This is why it is not that surprising that he would have a laptop with car paint that goes vrooom vrooom. He's a flipping idiot. He proves it more each article. He IS the PHB type. Another buzzword know-it-all with no actual technical cred to speak of. He's Microsoft's sock puppet. He'd make an excellent technology commontator for Fox News.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
Afterwards, the other guy messed about trying to get Windows to recognise the projector, and fired up powerpoint. After every slide, he had to walk to the laptop and press the mouse button to advance it.
Which person do you think made the better impression?
Having a laptop that makes a whoosh sound when you boot does not make a good impression. If the people in the meeting are focusing on the technology you are using then they are not focusing on you.
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If its anything like the sound of the Silicon Graphics Indy 'BIOS' beep (imagine a short 2 second synth style riff from the 80's, but modified to fit a game show and you are kinda close), then it'll be one of those cool for the first few times type sounds - then it gets annoying - and then a few weeks on, you kinda hide under your desk every time you power the machine up! :)
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erm.. I'm pretty sure the F1 cars are still made in the UK - along with most of the others. I remember almost literally tripping over the wind tunnel test model in the low speed wind tunnel at BAE, Bristol.
:)) Looks and go thats what I need :) (in the week I drive a German car - I'm not totally mad :P)
I don't think financial ownership matters that much in Ferrari's case to be honest - and hey - it's not like Fiat is not Italian too. However - Mr Banana just about summed it up - I agree with every word - Ferrari trade on their name these days - the cars are flimsy, not that well made and some are just too damm ugly man! They handle pretty well on nice smooth roads, but for real world roads - get a rally bred 4 wheel drive machine! On the cost thing though - they are worth what people are prepared to pay, and as long as there are badge snobs out there to be parted from their cash, Ferrari will keep the "exclusivity" up with a large price tag.
If I had $100K to spend on a car - I'd be in the Ford GT queue - it's one beautiful looking car. If I wasn't worried about relaibility and had $60K+, there's plenty of automative art down at the TVR toyshop.
Actually - as it happens, I don't give a stuff about reliability when it comes to performance cars, which is why I keep a Mazda RX-7 R1 in the garage to play with at weekends
Yeah, I remember seeing one at BestBuy. They had them there for quite a while, though I don't think so any longer. When they first came out, I remember folks on here and other more PC-leaning forums, singings its praises- finally something to rival the TiBook, but one capable of running Windows and Linux/x86. Joy.
The thing doesn't feel sturdy, less than most PC laptops and far less than a TiBook or any other current Apple 'book for that matter. Although, AFAIK, it was the first widescreen PC laptop, aimed at taking the market the TiBook lived it, so I imagine some folks bought it for that.
But bleh.
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...Or an Alfa Romeo 147 GTA. Shove the 6 cyliner engine from the 156 into a small (yet beautiful) hatchback body, and you have something which will scare V8 muscle cars. The Italians and the French make some truly beautiful cars. Alfa's whole range is stunning, and some of Peugeot's stuff is amazing too...the 406 Coupe (although it was designed by an Italian design studio) and the 206 hatch come to mind.