“In the true spirit of the Ferrari racing team, the Acer Ferrari 1200 notebook combines powerful performance and extreme portability with the excellence of design. From the choice of materials to the smallest detail, the Ferrari 1200 conveys the look and feel of a F1 racecar. The carbon-fibre cover, a material actually used in racecars, is lighter yet stronger than magnesium alloy, making the Ferrari 1200 the perfect travel companion. Unique ventilation design echoes the exhaust pipes of F1 cars and the anodized-metal touchpad resembles the brake and acceleration pedals of a Ferrari car. A tasteful wave pattern embellishes the cover, while the soft-touch coating and the velvety texture of the interior ensure ergonomic comfort.” See? Now that’s funny. [thanks to Autoblog, without whom we’d know nothing of bodacious auto-brandation]
[thanks to Autoblog, without whom we’d know nothing of bodacious auto-brandation]
For a second, I thought I was on Autoblog.
Look, I like cars, and I like computers, but I can’t see paying for this exercise in brand whoring. I don’t blame Ferrari, because the licensing fees probably foot the bills, but Acer should know better. I’m surprised they make money on these at all.
It’s also annoying to see this sort of thing (or Hummer cologne, or backpacks, etc) on Autoblog because you just know they’re getting paid for the posting. They do great show coverage, but otherwise the site is the worst example of Blogs Gone Wild.
The carbon-fibre cover, a material actually used in racecars
Wait, this stuff has a legitimate use? Here I thought is was only used to make Civics less aerodynamic and more ricey.
Maybe if Ferrari stopped shilling crap like this and focused on cars, we would not be given design travesties (cough*California*cough) that they want to pass as a Ferrari.
Humpf. If there ever was perfect example of a present-day brand, that is so utterly past its era of significance, it´s Ferrari.
Branding. Man, that´s so weird a concept sometimes. Observed by the secure population, the extreme personal significance of it in extraneous products like laptops, is like the ultimate statement of personal insecurity.
There was a time in a company I worked at where only the director, and the middle-school dropout janitors, wore the same brand. Hilfiger. It looked so stupid.
I love John Deere.
You can buy a Ferrari branded bicycle, where the carbon fiber is used appropriately. And, of course, the fact that the upper-end bike is (sort of) race-ready makes the tie-in more reasonable. The price of these things is from around $3500 to $8500. $3500 gets you what looks like a beach cruiser, in aluminum. I’ll bet that Ferrari’s main participation is limited to the decals. Actual manufacturer is Colnago – an old and highly respected bike company.
Wonder what that ACER laptop goes for?
If I were going for a statement laptop, I’d rather have it steampunked.
Maybe if Ferrari stopped shilling crap like this and focused on cars,
To be fair, it’s shit like this that funds their cars. It’s still shit, but is it worse or better than what Porsche has done with the Cayenne and Panamera?
No, it’s the cars that fund the cars, not whatever miniscule licensing fees they receive.
Hahaha, the funniest thing about it is Acer is the Daewoo of computers.
I could understand the concept of branding a laptop to raise some cash in this day and age but an ACER???? Seriously, they could have gone to Dell, got a better product instead of a junk Acer and probably saved some moolah. Better yet, go to a high-end boutique like Falcon NW or Voodoo since when you think Ferrari, you think fast, top of the line and exclusive (ie, rich and snobby). But then, their target customers are probably 3 or 4 income brackets below the minimum requirement for owning a Ferrari, of which there are 2 or 3 hundred million…
Seriously, they could have gone to Dell, got a better product instead of a junk Acer and probably saved some moolah
Most of these machines are all subcontracted to Quanta. Dell and Apple both outsource assembly, as does IBM/Lenovo, HP, Toshiba and more. Acer may skimp on design (which you appreciate in a MacBook or ThinkPad) but they’re not appreciably worse than Dell’s consumer and entry-level business machines in design or assembly.
Interestingly, the Apple/Quanta model is exactly where Cerberus wanted to take Chrysler.
Acer is coming along these days, at least attacking the new ‘sub notebook’ market. Worst case for them here? Lots of people talking about them.
this is news??
acer has had ‘ferrari’ ‘branded’ computers for many many months, if not well over a year…
as for acer being a ‘sub-par’ brand – you folks don’t know much about computers…
equally as good as any other ‘pc’ laptop on the market, not that that’s something to be proud of…
“kericf :
February 9th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Hahaha, the funniest thing about it is Acer is the Daewoo of computers.”
Actually, Gateway is the Daewoo of computers, Literally. Gateway is owned by Daewoo.
Acer is just starting to expand to the US. They are much more popular in their home market, Europe.
Branding for Ferrari is just as bad as the Branding for Corvette. There’s Ferrari Colognes, more than one. There’s several tie ins with different watch companies, clothing (of course), Shoes, and kitchen appliances and tools.
Acer is a Ferrari F1 sponsor. They had Ferrari laptops as their top of the line computers for a couple of years. You really don’t pay a premium for the Ferrari badge, when you compare it to other comparably equipped computers.
Funny thing is, it’s still cheaper than an entry-level Apple laptop. That’s PCs for ya.
Even more hilarious was the Acer-Ferrari MONITOR. Go ahead, look it up if you don’t believe me.
Edit – not cheaper than an Apple, but about the same as a midrange model. The Ferrari 1100 was 1700-2000.
It’s also annoying to see this sort of thing (or Hummer cologne, or backpacks, etc) on Autoblog because you just know they’re getting paid for the posting.
psarhjinian: Our corporate policy clearly states that we aren’t allowed to accept any product from any manufacturer, nor do we accept payment for any item we post on. And, like TTAC, if we do a product review, we give it back to the company when we’re done.
Our corporate policy clearly states that we aren’t allowed to accept any product from any manufacturer, nor do we accept payment for any item we post on. And, like TTAC, if we do a product review, we give it back to the company when we’re done.
That’s true. But that’s also not what I said. I’ll re-query: Are you allowed to accept compensation (which is not limited to product or outright payment) for a blog post, either directly (via payola), or indirectly via agreed-upon pay-per-page-view compensation or access to other resources?
Because postings like these drift fairly far from your core market, and they stand out as such, especially when the content is more appropriate for Engaget or Luxist. It’s even more disconcerting when a similar posting appears on AB, Engaget and Luxist (among others) at roughly the same time.
Damon: I think you and your colleagues are able to provide impressive coverage, with a speed and depth that isn’t matched by any of the traditional media, nor much of the blogosphere. But stuff like this does cheapen that work by making AB look like a press release relay service.
If I’m off-base, I apologize in advance.
“… nor do we accept payment for any item we post on.”
psarhjinian: I thought the above line made that clear, but just to clarify further… No, we don’t accept any direct or indirect payment/compensation for the items we post on, nor do we gain access to any product we feature. If we do a review of a product (which, for the record, is very rare) we make it a point to add a line at the end stating that the product was provided for review and it’s always sent back to the manufacturer afterward.
While I agree that some of these posts have limited appeal, our readership is very broad and their interests span the spectrum. To your point about being a “press release relay service:” If we posted on every release we receive, you’d see another 20+ posts each day that have even less relevance to our readers. We try to be selective, but I’ll gladly admit that some posts have limited appeal… even to me. Do what I do: read the title, ignore the post and move on.
FYI, Acer has pimped a Ferrari laptop for several years now. IMHO, the only thing right about it is its AMD microprocessor.
Hoo, boy. Acer has been in the US for years, but as an OEM supplier. If you buy a product like CAD software – mid-range like SolidWorks or SolidEdge – you might buy it bundled with an Acer.
Computers are so unlike cars, at least for me. There is no gotta have it factor. Reliability is absolutely at the top of the list. I usually buy Dell Precision Workstations from refurbished stock and get a 3 year on-site maintenance contract bundled in. All refurb means is that in their haste to throw it together, somebody didn’t plug in a cable somewhere and the whole thing was consequently returned by the original purchaser. Alternatively, it might be buyers remorse. I have never been fortunate enough to buy a car on the rebound the same way – big savings and no lemons. Wouldn’t consider buying the consumer line the same way.
You can also buy Ferrari skis: http://www.ferraristore.com/Training/Ferrari-Dynastar-adult-skis/p,shop.flypage/pid,13826/cid,47/
Only the cheap version version is sold through the online store. In a ski store I saw another pair that amouted to 3,200 € (still made by Dynastar)
And Acer has been selling Ferrari laptops in Europe for at least 5 years
Notebook Market share Q1 2008
1. HP 20.8%
2. Dell 15.1%
3. Acer 14.6%
4. Toshiba 9.3%
5. Lenovo (thinkpad) 7.5%
6. Fujitsu-Siemens 5.2%
7. Apple 4.6%
8. Asus 4.3%
9. Sony 4.2%
10. Other 14.5%
Acer is no small player and we’ll probably have to wait a bit to get results for all of 2008 instead of just the first quarter.
The printed “carbon fiber” looks terrible. Maybe if Acer spent a few bucks and added a detail like using something that looks more convincing, or do like they do on the Enzo and use a coat of paint so thin, you can still see the CF weave, then it might be be worthy of the logo.
the duke :
Maybe if Ferrari stopped shilling crap like this and focused on cars, we would not be given design travesties (cough*California*cough) that they want to pass as a Ferrari.
When I saw Ferrari laptops up close at an electronics store in Asia, I thought it looked a bit cheesy and garish…a bit like the California.
I actually have the Acer Ferrari 1200. It’s a fast machine that has little to no crapware that the other PC makers have on their machines. The pictures do not do justice to just how sleek the laptop really is. Everywhere I go people ask about the Ferrari since it is just such a nice looking machine. Don’t knock it till you try it!