Acer Group, the world’s third largest maker of personal computers, is about to release its premium netbook that is not only based on dual-core AMD Athlon X2 Neo and carries AMD Vision logotype (meaning that it is multimedia optimized), but also sports ATI eXternal Graphics Port (XGP) connector for external graphics adapters to boost graphics performance. The new netbook sets a new bar for all netbooks.

The Everest for Netbooks

Acer Ferrari One notebook features 11.6” LED-backlit screen with 1366x768 resolution, AMD Athlon X2 Neo L310 (1.20GHz, 1MB, 13W), AMD 780G core-logic with ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics core, 2GB of DDR2 memory, 160GB hard drive, integrated webcam, Dolby-certified audio, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi controller, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, integrated WWAN controller (UMTS/HSPA/GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA/HSUPA), memory card-reader, integrated 6-cell battery and so on. The device weighs 1.5 kilograms. Acer Ferrari One ultra-thin notebook will come with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit or Windows 7 Home Basic.

Image by What Laptop web-site

Acer Ferrari One boasts glossy red plastic surface outside, black finish inside as well as aerodynamic shape. The machine boasts Ferrari logotype on the display lid as well as exclusive Ferrari-engraved touchpad that offers multi-gesture functionality.

The new Ferrari One netbook completely redefines the definition of this term: with dual-core AMD Athlon X2 processor that will easily outperform Intel Atom or Celeron chips, high-definition screen as well as exclusive design and brand, this ultra-portable machine sets the new bar for premium netbooks.

ATI XGP Turbo-Charges Ferrari One

The most intriguing feature of Acer Ferrari One ultra-portable is support for ATI eXternal Graphics Port technology. In fact, this is the world’s second notebook featuring XGP connector after a Fujitsu Siemens laptop released last year. External graphics accelerator allows notebooks to obtain higher-performance graphics for video games.

Unfortunately, low-power AMD Athlon X2 Neo L310 processor can hardly provide truly decent performance in modern games, therefore, the actual usability of XGP is under a question mark. Still, there are a lot games that do require higher-end graphics and do not need an ultra-fast central processing unit and for them XGP seems to make sense.

At present the only XGP graphics accelerator comes from Fujitsu and is based on two years old ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 graphics chip, which performance is more than moderate for today’s needs. ATI, graphics business unit of Advanced Micro Devices, is tight-lipped about future external graphics cards, but it could be assumed that there will be new graphics boards shortly powered by ATI Radeon HD 4800-series graphics chips or even higher-end solutions.

Acer Ferrari One will be released later this month, pricing will depend on actual configuration.

Tags: Acer, AMD, ATI, Radeon, Ferrari, Vision, Athlon