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."

Try as they might...

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.

Re:Try as they might...

I hate to offer the point, but it's true. The boot sound is the feature that I like best about Macs. I wish that x86 makers would allow you to embed a short sound file into the BIOS image and flash it with a preferred sound.

I had a laptop that had a close startup sound (DFI Mediabook, I believe a Kapok 9200 rebadge), but in these days of decent integrated audio, it should be on every mobo.

Boot Canary

I used to have an old 386 that must have had an unstable system clock. The benchmarks varied wildly, often showing unheard of 400 mhz speeds on a 16 mhz machine.

When you turned it on, the "beep" was often a wail or canary-like warble. The clock speed was so inconstant that it varied even at boot time, affecting the pitch of the beep.

Re:Try as they might...

I think if there's any way the Ferrari startup sound can be modified, people in Enderle's office will change it to:

1) "Welcome to my midlife crisis!"
2) "Step away from the vehicle! STEP AWAY!"
3) "Varoom! VaROOM! Va... oh, screw it."
4) "Tutto fumo e niente arrosto, baby!" (All smoke and no fire).

Re:Try as they might...

I'm not sure how "new" your talking about, but Apple stoped using titanium for their powerbooks because of poor wireless reception issues.

Re:Try as they might...

The lid, bottom panel and top area around the keyboard and palmrests are all pure titanium. The frame is carbon fiber. The TiBook has poor wireless range because the signal is shielded by the titanium. The antenna is not "next to the airport card," it runs all the way through the case to the two windows on opposite sides of the machine. Thank you for making a series of blind guesses and passing them off as fact though.

Re:Try as they might...

No, we went for the Aluminum because we didn't want the machine to flex as much as the titanium allowed. Try picking up an Aluminum powerbook by the corner, then try it with a TiBook.

-jcr

Re:Try as they might...

Look closely at the corners and edges of the aluminum shells of the current PowerBooks. A lot of their stiffness come from the large radii used.

-jcr

Re:Try as they might...

So is it such a slow news day that there's literally nothing to post but personal insults? I mean really, that's what this is. There's no "news for nerds" here, no "stuff that matters". Just a story about a guy who's clueless about his personal laptop. Big deal. "Ha ha! Look at this dork with his goofy thing that he has!" Sheesh. Different people like different things, not everybody is an Apple lover, and not everybody has good taste; get over it. This is certainly not front page news.

Add-ons...

Add a F.A. Porsche design Lacie drive [http://www.lacie.com/products/range.htm?id=10032] and a pine tree air freshener and one would be set no?

Re:Add-ons...

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.

I bet that never gets old.

Re:Add-ons...

They should just make the laptop have a picture of a giant schlong on it. What a loser!

Re:Add-ons...

I'd prefer the Porsche laptop [cnet.com].

I do remember when this came out, though. It was a flop. It was overpriced (more than the TiBook at the time), and fragile.

Safety

Well at least the CEO of Nissan can't drive this into anyone. :-)

Re:Safety

Kinda reminds me of a joke that George Carlin used to tell:

In Heaven, the Italians make the food, the English are the diplomats and the Germans make the cars.

In Hell, the English make the food, the Germans are the diplomats and the Italians make the cars.

Re:Safety

That is only part of the joke. It's an old European joke. Never heard Carlin tell it, but it wouldn't surprise me. As I heard it, it goes like this:

In Heaven: the chefs are French, the lovers are Italian, the police are English, the mechanics are German, and the managers are Swiss.

In Hell: the chefs are English, the lovers are Swiss, the police are German, the mechanics are French, and the managers are Italian.

Re:Safety

Kind of like the Canadian joke:

When Canada was created, it could have had French cuisine, British culture and American technology. Instead, it got French technology, British cuisine and American culture.

Re:Which Nissan?

This [fark.com] CEO of Nissan. :-)

Re:Which Nissan?

That guy was/is not a cybersquatter. His last name happens to be Nissan and he was operating in the US using his name as the name of his company before Nissan changed their US monkier from Datsun.

This is pretty stupid, and not worth a /. article.

This laptop doesn't seem like it is that good aside from the paint job. IMHO, the Ferrari products that carried the Ferrari name, but were manufactured by someone else just seem tacky and sucky. This joins the Ferrari mountain bike in my mind as a sucky marketing ploy. Fortunately, the Article mentions how this is mainly designed to appeal to PHB's who think that because a company is good (or arguably the best) at making cars, the laptop bearing their name is good, or arguably the best.

Re:This is pretty stupid, and not worth a /. artic

I love Ferrari cars and have since I first saw a Testarossa in a Motor Trend mag. And I used to collect Ferrari stuff to, mostly toys.

Although I stopped doing that 2 minutes ago after I saw what Ferrari agreed to put their name on.

Re:This is pretty stupid, and not worth a /. artic

Exactly. It's not about whether or not Ferrari can build a better lap-top than ACER or Dell or Apple or whoever, but rather cross branding, and individualization. The linux community is a great environment for individualization of technology, so the extension of this concept into hardware seems like an appropriate /. story to me! I'd love to see one of those Toughbooks with a "Jeep" brand on it. I'd think 2ce about getting one because I drive a jeep. If it's just about function, then why would people ever buy cheques that have a sailboat on them, or different kind of anything? The choice of having a Ferrari laptop will hopefully only be the beginning. Notice things like mini-iPods being offered in several colours, cell phone covers etc, design is important, and people are buying.

Re:This is pretty stupid, and not worth a /. artic

If I wanted more than a great paint job, I'd go for a Hypersonic [hypersonic-pc.com] 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.

Who says Ferrari's even "the best"?

Fortunately, the Article mentions how this is mainly designed to appeal to PHB's who think that because a company is good (or arguably the best) at making cars, the laptop bearing their name is good, or arguably the best

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.

Missing the point

The laptop (as silly as it is) is not about the cars that Ferrari sells to the public, it is about their race cars! (And their Formula One cars are arguably the best out there) Most slashdotters being American proabbly don't realise that Ferrari is one of the biggest sports franchises on the planet. Manchester United is likely the only bigger name in worldwide sports than Ferrari.

F1 is second only to the World Cup and the Olympics in global TV audience. So the tie in is not snob appeal for the expensive road cars (BTW Ferrari only started making and selling cars to the general public to pay for their racing) This is more like having a New York Yankees or Chicago Bulls branded lap top than having a Nissan branded laptop.

Still a silly idea IMO, but its a different silly idea than the one everyone is poking fun at!

Re:Who says Ferrari's even "the best"?

I can't believe you would just shit on the craftsmanship of Ferrari. Kids these days. Handle like a bar of soap? When/What model was the last one YOU drove Crockett.

You yawn when you see one? Who are you? Mika Hakkinen?

Go read your road and track and compare specs from the back you car nazi. There I have ended this conversation with my nazi reference. GOOD DAY TO YOU SIR!

So Basically...

They've combined the reliability and TCO of an Acer with a *FERARRI*?

Way to go.

GTRacer
- Still, the paint's nice

What's in a name?

It seems Ferrari is willing to license their name on anything [hdosport.com].

The obvious downsides to haveing a Ferrari computer:

Authorized customer support means having your own personal tech, at the same rate as a car mechanic.

Tech charges same as the Ferrari auto mechanics, speaks only italian and probably dresses sharper than you.

It needs a tune up every other week to keep in top performance condition.

When it's old, it's no classic, it's slow and out of date and looks lame compared to some cheap POS.

In exchange for its eye catching appeal, you have to live in denial of its shortcomings.

One scratch and it's just another laptop.

When it craps out, it's just another piece of dead weight, just like all other laptops.

It looks cool until your boss has one, too.

People accustomed to getting the best bang for the buck have no idea who 'Ferrari' is.

It probably looks really bad when you try to declare this as a business expense on your tax return.

Re:What's in a name?

"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.

booting sounds? in a meeting?

why the hell are you booting in a meeting? it should already be up and ready to go.

Re:booting sounds? in a meeting?

Every manager's worst nightmare: stupid employees wasting time by turning their laptops on and off so that they can hear the startup sound.

Rebooting in a meeting

why the hell are you booting in a meeting? it should already be up and ready to go.

A valid point, more so, a point of embarrassment if your Ferrari laptop has to be rebooted frequently during meetings.

"Enderle, what the hell is wrong with your laptop?"
"It's italian, sir."
"Well get a japanese one that works and doesn't make all the racket!"

Re:booting sounds? in a meeting?

I had to give a presentation in a meeting recently. Actually, I was one of two people giving presentations, the other was a visitor (we had three groups of visitors there, and ourselves). We all arrived at the meeting on time. I opened up my powerbook, which woke from suspend mode instantly. He sat down and waited while his Dell booted. The person chairing the meeting suggested that it might waste everyone's time a bit less if I went first. I plugged in the projector, which was detected automatically, and gave the presentation using my mobile phone as a remote mouse.

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.

It's funny, laugh...

It's what the Apple fans are really doing.

When I walk into a room with this baby, even the Apple users join the throngs of admirers.

Hate to break it to you, they're not 'joining the admirers', they're laughing their socks off at your gullibility.

Re:It's funny, laugh...

Man, you know you're a sucker when the Apple users* are laughing at your gullibility.

ZING!

Thank you, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

* Disclaimer: I am, in fact, an aforementioned Apple user.

--
Mando

This is a joke, right?

Right? Right? No one could possibly be stupid enough to market a laptop with automotive pain that makes revving noise when you start it up, right?

sigh Maybe I'm wrong...

Re:This is a joke, right?

I wonder if Rob has a Hot Wheels PC [gettingit.com] on his desk?

Mmm...

Mine plays the Underwear Gnomes song. Now that one NEVER gets old. I could just sit here and play it over and over again... that's odd... one of my co-workers just shot himself...

New Trend?

I hope this isn't a new trend where automakers start designing laptops. Imagine a computer designed after something like.. oh... the Gremlin!
Sweet.

Re:New Trend?

Or the Pinto. If you drop it on the wrong side, it may explode.

At least the people who make nicely padded carrying cases would get a few more sales.

Re:New Trend?

Or the Pinto. If you drop it on the wrong side, it may explode.

Speaking of which, isn't Nokia coming out with a Pinto themed phone?

Re:New Trend?

Oh, you mean the powerbook [elibrary.com].

Once again, Apple is ahead of the curve.

Delorian Anyone?

Well, I would like to see if someone tried a Delorian laptop... then lets the geeks get at it and plug in a flux capacitor, someone will have to drive at the correct speed plus with the way Intel are going with the CPU power requirements, it'll be a couple of Pentium revisions before we get to the 1.21Gigawatts that said notebook is needed to supply.

Why would we want to make a time travelling laptop? Why so we can remove any previous dupes /. have done from ever existing... but then we'd have a paradox problem with /. instead.

;)

Well?

Am I the only one to ask "What's the point?"? It's very pretty 'n' all, but why bother when you can put your money towards the laptop itself rather than an industrial strength coat of paint. Not to mention the fact that you're paying for the brand too. Maybe it's nice to have it as a status symbol, but that's all it is. And yes, I did RTFA.

Who is this Enderle guy?

Just like John Katz or Al Gore, this Bob Enderle dude seems to erupt with totally unresearched, poorly reported and over-exaggerated stuff that seems todraw everyone's attention.

How does he get to be on eWeek and Slashdot and what not with below average write-ups suitable for personal blog? Is the legend about gay mafia true?

Re:Who is this Enderle guy?

Rob Enderle is the founder--and as best I can tell, sole employee--of "The Enderle Group." Basically, he started calling himself an expert on stuff, a few online 'zines believed him, and he got famous on Slashdot for badmouthing Linux [technewsworld.com].

Style over substance

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?

Handlebar mustache?

Handlebar mustache and a Ferrari laptop... This guy is obviously rolling in chicks!

Re:Handlebar mustache?

Handlebar mustache and a Ferrari laptop... This guy is obviously rolling in chicks!

That, sir, is not a handlebar moustache, these [handlebarclub.org.uk] are handlebar moustaches. Look on these work, ye mighty, and despair.

Mind you, I agree that Rob must be absolutely up to his eyebrow in chicks.

Re:Handlebar mustache?

He probably doesn't care. This is the kind of guy that makes VROOM noises when he's feeding himself.

Follow the money

Look who wrote the article. The guy works for a company who sells as its major product: " Provides consulting services during the review process of a poorly founded negative piece on a vendor or its products and, should it be needed, showcases the research errors, statistical mistakes, and unfounded conclusions that often define such a piece.". May be Acer got some bad press recently and this is how this guy is spinning it? I smell a rat

So stupid it's almost surreal

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.

It's got a WAV!

"One impressive piece of execution is that when you fire the machine up it plays a WAV file of a Ferrari race car revving its engine. That alone is worth the relatively low $1,899 price of admission."

Hrm...I might have to track this guy down and sell him my outdated Dell laptop. I guess all I have to do is put a race car startup sound and he'll pay anything!

Re:It's got a WAV!

Hey, the RIAA says an MP3 is worth $15,000. Here, you can get an audio file for only $1899, AND they throw in a laptop with a pretty paint job! What more could you possibly ask for?

Oh god no

Just wonderful, next thing you know you'll have an "Acer rawkin Neon RT" laptop, or worse yet, some 16 year old goof in history class with his "Acer 2Fast Civic", complete with annoying useless NOZ stickers and an oversized processor fan.

Re:Oh god no

Hey don't knock my Powerbook 1400 SiR Type-R GT NOS. She's got a 117mhz 603e processor, with custom intake and exhaust, I also pulled off the rubber feet which dropped her, and gives her that "low rider" look......ya I think you can see what I think of this one.... ;)

He must not get out much...

I admit, I stopped reading the article when I hit this paragraph: "One impressive piece of execution is that when you fire the machine up it plays a WAV file of a Ferrari race car revving its engine. That alone is worth the relatively low $1,899 price of admission. (I found it priced as low as $1,725 at PCVideoOnline.) Even when I'm in a meeting, I don't turn the sound off because of the unbridled envy that seems to show up in the eyes of my, granted mostly male, co-attendees. So far no one has complained." Now I feel dirty for having read as much as I did. -Sinter

Ferrari, eh?

So I can use this while driving, correct? You know, in addition to talking on my cell phone, shaving, making notes on my PDA, translating various languages for the benefit of my passengers, beating Kasparov at chess over the Internet, and giving advice to NASA and the ESA about how to avoid retaliation on their probes from the native Martian factions.

Raise your hand if you are surprised...

Based on his columns and viewpoints, I've always thought of Enderle as a poser, at best. This just cements that impression. :-)

Re:Ferary licence

"custom AMD processor"

The Athlon(TM) XP-M 2500+ .... the same one you can get in a HP ze4000 laptop?

Re:Ferary licence

Maybe it has a Ferrari decal. Or Ferrari brand thermal paste.

Re:Ferary licence

They had a custom AMD processor made and all that stuff

I don't think so. Do you have ANY idea how much it costs to bring a new CPU to market? WAY more than Acer could afford, even with Ferrari as a backer. It's a standard AMD mobile chip (not even 64 bit). Don't get me wrong, it's pretty, but not much else.

Screenshots?

OK, this is stupid pendanticism, but it's hard to respect an article that labels pictures of the outside of the product in question as "screenshots". Well, it's a snapshot, maybe, and it is on my screen, but that's not what I usually associate with that word.

If it had 15 transparent Eterms with a naked chick as the background, then, yeah, it's a screenshot. A JPG of a computer case doesn't cut it.

Finally...

A loptop that says I have a really small penis

Wow, this guy's stupid.

This notebook is just a POS Acer with Ferrari's name stamped on it. He goes on about it's poor battery life but how you have to comprimise for a high proformance machine. This is nothing spectacluar, this is AMD's mobile chip, which I've heard runs pretty hot and sucks the juice down. This machine looks very thick, and is 7lbs, not very light.

Just because this thing has a car companies logo on it and is painted steal me red, doesn't mean it's a good machine.

-Aaron Mitti

Man, I hope this guy was looking for laughs...

This quote just says it all:

"Part of me wishes this notebook was fueled by the Athlon64 rather than the Athlon XP-M chip because, like with the car, I want ultimate performance--but then I take one look at the machine's lustrous coat, and somehow everything else seems trivial"

So basically, because it's red and shiny, it's great? It's heavy, it gets bad battery life, and man, it really actually looks ugly when it's open. Sorry. But hey, the guy also owns a Ferrari watch... there's nothing classier than that.

You make it, they'll buy it

Lets see...
Acer(Shiny Shiny Red ^ Ferarri logo)/CSt
where CSt == Consumer Stupidity

Yeap... the Acer marketing dept was right on the money this time. I read the story last week and I thought it was hilarious that a "tech-savvy" adult would get such a kick out of the PC equivelant of a Dukes of Hazard lunchbox.
Goes to show it's not all about Mhz/RAM/HD... nope not at all. Give anything a paint job, slap on a snazzy logo and damn... if someone wont think it's just the bestest thingy since slicest breaded.

The Slashdot Effect

It may be a Ferrari, but it runs like a Pinto when it gets Slashdotted :)

Segfault

REAL Ferrari notebook

Too bad they took the Ferrari thing to such a shallow level. Would would have been REALLY cool would be

- case made of carbon fibre
- billet aluminum trackpoint knob
- "paddle" mouse buttons
- see through area of case above the cpu
- red EVERYWHERE, expect where the black/grey of the cf showed through
- Italian voice sounds by default
- "track" day where all the notebook owners can get together and learn how to properly use their new toys

Article Summary:

Oooooooh Shiney!

Translation:

"I drive a Ferrari" == "I have a small penis"

"I have a Ferrari laptop" == "I have a small penis, and a small wallet"

Re:Translation:

As a (real) Ferrari owner, I can only shake my head in puzzlement when every other red-blooded American male in my office drives to work alone in a 5,000-pound SUV that gets worse gas mileage than my 512TR... and people say I have a small penis.

'Splain?

Ferrari? more like a Fiero Kit Car

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..

ultimate laptop?

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 [kontron.com] onto a 20" LCD screen, and add a few SCSI 2.5" drives [infoworld.com] in a raid? There are people who'd go for it, even though it would weigh 20 pounds.

(related link tadpole sparcbook [tadpolecomputer.com])

Wonderful!

Zero to Blue Screen of Death in 3.8 seconds!

Has Enderle actually been correct on anything?

I'll admit that I really only hear about Enderle's weak Apple-related predictions (iPod Mini would be flash-based, Mac moving to x86, etc.). However, I just attributed that to not being knowledgable about the Mac world. However, after glossing over the tech stuff to basically say "It's pretty", I'm wondering who his audience is exactly. I thought it was high-level IT management, but hsi arguments seem like they won't hold a lot of weight with them.

Yes, the Ferrari name has cachet, but if given the choice, I'll take a quality product from a company that focuses on the market and the users. It doesn't mean cross-branding can't work, but this seems like an odd pairing.

CC

Re:Has Enderle actually been correct on anything?

From my experience, no. I have no idea why he is quoted so often when he (quite obviously in many cases) has doen not offer many quotes of value - it must be that he's seen to it that more journalists get his business card that most other "analysts". Since you mentioned Apple, just months ago he predicted Apple would ditch their own hardware development roadmap and migrate to x86 by the end of 2003, adding "When you are down to 2 percent share and the trend is still in the wrong direction you need to do something before someone asks you to turn out the lights," OK Rob, Apple will get right on that. Even people who work for Microsoft know he's full of it [typepad.com]. Seeing a quote from him in an article just warns the reader of lazy journalism.

Laptop isn't just for show...

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.

Jerks...

I just know I'm going to pop into a conference room any day now and find one of these laptops taking up two seats at the table because the owner is worried about somebody bumping it. Worse still, I can easily imagine finding one of these plugged in at one of the handicapped desks without a permit.

I've never keyed a laptop before, but I guess I might be forced to start. Oh well.

Suckers (or Economics of the Ferrari Laptop)

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.

Enderle = Stupid Bribed Microsoft Puppet

I make it a point to remind everybody that Bob Enderle is a stupid Microsoft Apologist whenever /. posts an article authored by him. From his earlier writings, I have lost *complete* credibility in anything he writes. My earlier comment [slashdot.org]:

Recall that Rob Enderle=Microsoft Apologist
by GillBates0 (664202) [slashdot.org] on Wednesday December 17, @01:30PM (#7746866 [slashdot.org])
(http://slashdot.org/~GillBates0 [slashdot.org] | Last Journal: Saturday February 07, @08:37AM [slashdot.org])
Note that Rob Enderle is the author of In Defense Of the Microsoft Monoculture [internetwk.com] [internetwk.com], which was highly debated [slashdot.org] [slashdot.org] on /. a couple months back. It surprises me that he should point out the consistency and flexibility of Linux, since his earlier writeup made him look as if he was paid my M$ to mouth major anti-Linux FUD.

I have played with one.

From the current list of comments, every one here is, umm, bench racing. No one seems to have actually seen one, much less spent any quality time with one of these things. That said, most of your comments are way off.

I have seen and played with them on 2 occasions, and they are rather nice. I was skeptical when I first heard about them, then I saw one at Comdex:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12780
I saw one again at CES, and talked to the Acer guys. They take this very seriously as do the Ferarri people.

There is a lof of thought that went into this box, and it shows. It really has to be seen to be understood. The paint looks insanely good, I have never seen a laptop that looks this nice.

The laptop itself is pretty nondescript, I think Enderle must be on crack to give up his T40, the nicest laptop I have ever reviewed for it.

Overall, give this thing a chance, it is a really unique laptop that looks damn good. Hunt one down in a store, you will be impressed.

-Charlie

New Civic laptop!

I'm gonna produce this dope laptop with automotive clearcoat paint, and some panels just covered in primer! It'll have a big wing(handle) on the end of it and sound like a bunch of bumblebees when booting up! It'll have tons of athlon, pentium, and crucial stickers on it, but have absolutley none of those parts inside!!!
Best of all...it'll be cooled by nawwwssss...but when it runs out, you'll still think it's fast!

Stinker of a Marketing Idea

Laptops seem so sad after only a couple of years. Does Ferrari really want a bunch of embarassingly outmoded laptops laying around with their name all over it?

I have to say, it's kinda fugly

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.

Acer gets full credit?

I sent this mail to the author of the article:

I read your article "My Love Affair with Acer's Ferrari Notebook", and you mention at the end that "Acer gets full credit for applying [unrelated branding] to the PC market." That's not really true. VPR Matrix put sold Porsche designed laptop at Best Buy in 2002. See here:

http://www.hilary.com/reviews/vprmatrix.html

and here:

http://vsbabu.org/mt/archives/2002/10/25/laptop_ by _porsche.html

LS

whee!

At least your insurance doesn't go up when this Ferrari crashes.