

Acer Ferrari laptop certainly looks fast

The Acer Ferrari 1200 laptop gets the looks right, but what about what's under the hood?

Acer Ferrari 1200 with a Bluetooth mouse
The Acer Ferrari 1200 (pictured with Bluetooth mouse) gets the look right, but what's under the hood? Acer

Its unique ventilation design echoes the exhaust pipes of an F1 car and the anodized-metal interface resembles the gas and brake pedals of a high performance supercar. A tasteful wave pattern embellishes the exterior, while the soft-touch coating and the velvety texture of the interior ensure ergonomic comfort. It has a carbon fiber hood that's lighter, yet stronger than magnesium alloy, which is finished with an iconic yellow prancing pony badge.

No, I'm not describing a special edition of the Ferrari 599 GTB, rather these floury descriptors are paraphrased from a news release announcing the next Acer laptop, the Acer Ferrari 1200. Due in early 2009, the laptop is bundled with a Bluetooth wireless mouse and optional Xpress VoIP phone, both also emblazoned with Acer and Ferrari Racing Shield logos.

The Ferrari influence is only skin deep as the Ferrari 1200 laptop seems to be an only fairly average machine. At the heart of the Ferrari 1200 is an AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual-core processor, chosen rather obviously because AMD is one of Ferrari's Formula One sponsors. The final specifications haven't been released yet, but here's what we do know: the 1200 is equipped with Wi-Fi (spec not stated), an LED-backlit 12-inch screen, integrated Bluetooth wireless, fingerprint security, up to 4GB of RAM, and a SATA hard drive of "large capacity." (Whatever that means.)

MSRP is yet unstated, but we expect it be priced somewhere in the neighborhood of too expensive for a middle-of-the-road laptop with Ferrari badge on the lid.