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  • Greetings and welcome to an LGR thing!

  • And hold your horses folks, cuz I’ve finally fulfilled a boyhood fantasy: owning a Ferrari.

  • [racecar drive-by SFX]

  • Er well, a Ferrari laptop but whatever, close enough I guess.

  • This is the Ferrari 4005 WLMi from Acer, which sold for about $2,000 US dollars

  • when it launched in the summer of 2005.

  • And yes, this is an official Ferrari licensed product, emblazoned with the same iconic prancing

  • horse badge as all their vehicles since 1947.

  • As well as the equally iconic Rosso Corsa red paint used by Ferrari and other Italian

  • manufacturers since the 1920s.

  • Though not as much of said red as other Acer offerings.

  • Like the Acer Ferrari 3000, which was a horse of a different color indeed, going all-in

  • with the high-gloss Ferrari red paint scheme.

  • By comparison, the 4000 series is more restrained aesthetically, opting instead for red highlights

  • and a lid topped with real carbon fiber for an extra dash of motor racing flair.

  • Which, let’s be honest, while it was claimed the carbon fiber helped eliminate lid flex

  • and reduce weight, the main reason it’s here is because they thought it looked cool.

  • The whole lid is coated in a glossy plastic resin too so it still feels like plastic regardless.

  • And any weight-saving attributes are overshadowed by the sheer girth of the rest of the machine,

  • weighing in at around six and a half pounds or 2.9 kilograms,

  • and that’s without the battery installed.

  • So yeah, the Acer Ferrari is fully decked out with mid-2000s portable computing power,

  • as you’d expect for a machine that cost twice as much as the average laptop at the time.

  • But beyond its exotic branding and flashy shell,

  • what’d you actually get for your $2,000 back then?

  • Well, Windows XP for one thing, which was still the latest Microsoft OS since Vista

  • wouldn’t hit store shelves for another year.

  • You also got an AMD Turion 64 ML-37 CPU running at two gigahertz, allowing for an upgrade

  • path to 64-bit versions of Windows if you desired.

  • Though you only got one gigabyte of DDR-333 RAM by default, so upgrading to its maximum

  • of two gigabytes was a common choice.

  • And the laptop screen itself was quite respectable for the time, with a matte finish 15.4”

  • TFT LCD displaying 16:10 aspect ratio resolutions up to 1680x1050.

  • Driving this is an ATi Mobility Radeon X700 graphics chipset with 128 megabytes of video

  • memory, something well definitely be trying out with some Windows XP gaming classics.

  • For storage there’s an admirable 100 gigabyte 2.5" 5400 RPM hard drive inside, around twice

  • the capacity found on most other laptops of its day.

  • Also nice is the 8x DVD-RW combo drive, capable of burning both DVD and CD rewritable discs.

  • Though originally it had a bright red slot-loading drive, so I assume it died or something cuz

  • it only had this tray-loader when I bought this secondhand.

  • And in terms of ports, well, check this out.

  • On the left-hand side youve got 15-pin VGA output, gigabit ethernet and 56k modem

  • jacks, a USB 2.0 port, a micro Firewire connection, and a PCMCIA card expansion slot.

  • Around back there’s a proprietary PCI Express connector for an optional docking station,

  • and both DVI-D and S-video output ports on the opposite corner.

  • And on the right-hand side there’s a Kensington lock, 19-volt power connection, the aforementioned

  • DVD burner, and three more USB 2.0 ports making a total of four.

  • It keeps going along front as well, with a 5-in-1 memory card reader that handles SD,

  • MMC, and XD cards, as well as Sony Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro.

  • To the right is a built-in mic, an infrared port, LED status indicators, ports for both

  • headphone out and microphone in, and light-up buttons for toggling Bluetooth and 802.11G WiFi.

  • The front here is also where you find the laptop’s speakers,

  • these two little things off to each side.

  • They sound okay, but theyre still one of the weaker aspects of the system, you’d

  • think they couldve found room for larger ones above the keyboard.

  • Because I mean, look at all that unused space!

  • Acer couldve had even more room too if they didn’t add those extraneous quick launch

  • buttons up top, or used this unusual smiley face-looking key arrangement.

  • As for the keyboard itself, eh, it’s fine.

  • It’s no ThinkPad keyboard, that’s for sure, but it gets the job done with halfway

  • decent plastic caps and key travel of around two millimeters.

  • The smiley face arch layout takes a minute to get used to, but it’s spread out enough

  • that I didn’t have much trouble.

  • What bothered me more were these dedicated Euro and Dollar Sign keys down here, exactly

  • the same size as the arrow keys and positioned right up against them, making the arrows feel

  • a tad strange to use by touch alone.

  • And the soft rubbery material surrounding everything?

  • While I’m sure it was comfortable back in 2005, it’s starting to deteriorate and get

  • sticky, an unfortunately common problem with devices using this stuff.

  • Speaking of aging disgracefully, this trackpad definitely shows its age.

  • The touch surface is comically small compared to the rest of the machine, the buttons

  • silver finish wears down easily, and it has one of those 4-way scrolling switches in the

  • middle that I am not at all fond of.

  • Fortunately, theyve included a Bluetooth mouse as well, with matching Ferrari emblem

  • and glossy red accents.

  • And yeah, it’s pretty decent!

  • Again, the rubbery bits are slowly melting a decade and a half later, but otherwise it’s

  • a comfortable enough mouse for 2005.

  • All right enough of that,

  • it’s time to crank the Acer Ferrari to life and take it for a test drive!

  • [computer powers on, fans whir to life]

  • Yes, that was a picture of Michael Schumacher’s Formula One Ferrari

  • instead of the typical Acer POST screen, a nice touch indeed.

  • And I hope youre not opposed to constant fan noise, because the exhaust fan is always

  • audibly spinning at this speed, or higher.

  • [fan whirring rather loudly]

  • Unlike an actual Ferrari though, the exhaust note leaves something to be desired.

  • Ah well, bring on that Windows XP.

  • [Windows XP startup sound plays]

  • Now originally, these Acer Ferraris came with a Ferrari F1 Windows theme,

  • complete with screaming V10 noises on startup.

  • Unfortunately, when I got mine the drive had been completely wiped,

  • including the recovery partition.

  • And while it did come with the restore CDs holding all the drivers, unless you have that

  • hard drive partition intact you can’t restore the entire thing as it was from the factory.

  • So I chose to manually recreate my own Ferrari theme on a fresh XP installation.

  • I was able to get some of the original stuff off those recovery discs though, like the

  • Ferrari World screensaver: a simple, and quite frankly boring, slideshow that flips through

  • a handful of Formula One photos.

  • There’s also a set of wallpapers acting as a Ferrari-themed calendar, with 24 backgrounds

  • to choose from, one for each month of the years 2005 and 2006.

  • Again, all of them featuring Ferrari F1 cars.

  • You’d think they would include at least one or two

  • of their legendary road cars in the mix, but oh well.

  • Acer also included a whole bunch of software,

  • most of which I chose not to install because bloat.

  • I did set up the Launch Manager app, which lets you adjust some default startup options

  • and change the function of the shortcut keys.

  • And I had to try out Acer GridVista, something I saw repeatedly mentioned in old reviews

  • and marketing material.

  • See those extra buttons along the top right of each window?

  • Yeah, with this running you can quickly snap windows into place

  • along different grid patterns, in Windows XP.

  • Something I do all the time on more modern operating environments, so I’m actually

  • gonna keep this installed, I like it.

  • And of course it came with a DVD player application, an Acer-branded version Cyberlink PowerDVD.

  • Nothing too special here, but I gotta say: this LCD panel seriously looks fantastic for 2005.

  • I had a Toshiba Satellite in ‘05 and it wasn’t even widescreen, much less this high

  • resolution, nor were the colors this vibrant with viewing angles this wide.

  • But yeah, it’s high time for some mid-2000s gaming, and for that I’ve got five choice

  • titles: Unreal Tournament 2004, SimCity 4 Deluxe, Doom 3,

  • Need For Speed Most Wanted Black Edition, and of course, Crysis.

  • I’m using Fraps to display the framerate in the top-left, and for each game I’ll

  • be using the normal, default settings suggested in each game’s graphics options, running

  • at resolutions of either 800x600 or 1024x768.

  • It was just easier this way rather than trying to make

  • these particular games run at a 16:10 aspect ratio.

  • Anyway yeah, as you can see from the UT2004 footage here, gaming on the Acer Ferrari 4000

  • is absolutely within the realm of possibility.

  • Framerates into the hundreds aren’t uncommon at these settings, and while it dips below

  • 60 during moments of particularly high intensity,

  • it was nothing that got in the way of fragging endless bots on Deck17.

  • SimCity 4 on the other hand, well.

  • This game was brutal on any system, especially when building a larger city like this.

  • Which is exactly why I wanted to try it out!

  • As expected, most of the time you get framerates in the low double digits,

  • even down into the single digits.

  • And honestly, this is still like ten times better than any of my PCs could run it back then,

  • much less my laptop.

  • The fact that you can even tell what’s moving around when youve got multiple disasters

  • going in a large city here is still truly impressive, despite the objectively horrible framerate.

  • Moving onto Doom 3 you can really get a good idea of how

  • powerful this system was in ‘05, check this out!

  • Again, I’m running this atnormalsettings, it can run even better than this

  • if you lower the resolution and graphics options.

  • But yeah, at the time this was probably the most technically advanced game on the market,

  • and the Ferrari 4005 with its ATI Radeon X700 does a great job

  • running Doom 3 at over 30 FPS, most of the time.

  • The most notable issue here is the chugging 5400 RPM hard disk, which results in stuttering

  • whenever it’s trying to load another chunk of whatever chunky gameplay chunks need loading.

  • Still, crazy stuff here, this kind of performance on a laptop

  • wouldve blown my mind wide open.

  • As you might expect, Need For Speed Most Wanted also performs admirably, at least on medium settings.

  • It’s not a consistently high FPS or anything,

  • especially with all the physical destruction going on.

  • You’d have to crank it all the way down to manage a smooth 60 on a regular basis,

  • but when I played this on my desktop back then I was getting framerates in the mid-30s.

  • And I mean, that’s just kinda how it was.

  • Man I’d forgotten how fun this game is, so we better move on before I blow an entire

  • afternoon racing around Rockport.

  • Besides, weve gotta find out if it can run Crysis!

  • And the answer is yes. Yes it can.

  • Cuz the Acer Ferrari 4005 is a beast,

  • especially with the max two gigabytes of RAM installed here.

  • Sure, Crysis is just barely playable at this mix of medium to low settings, but the fact

  • that it’s even halfway there on a laptop from 2005?

  • Yeah this is better than I expected, at least with its

  • infamously hard-to-run graphics and physics tech.

  • Though, I guess this is just what happens when you spent two thousand dollars on a desktop

  • replacement laptop in the mid-2000s.

  • Ahh man, money!

  • It buys things.

  • Like top of the line portable computers, which the Acer Ferrari 4005 clearly was on launch.

  • And seeing as I never came close to affording this back then,

  • it’s been a blast playing around with it.

  • But would it have been worth the original asking price of two grand though?

  • After all, upon looking at old benchmarks and doing my own testing, this was easily

  • among the most powerful laptops on the market.

  • However, it was still priced a few hundred bucks higher than similarly-specced machines,

  • which I assume stems from the Ferrari fluff.

  • Carbon fiber lid aside, there’s nothing important here

  • that separates it from a non-Ferrari laptop.

  • It’s more of a status symbol, bragging rights situation than anything else

  • and that’s just silly.

  • Still, I suppose that’s what you sign up for.

  • Great performance, high price, loud exhaust, prancing horse up front.

  • Yep, it’s a Ferrari all right.

  • Y’know it sure was tempting to go with a clickbait title for this one, something like

  • OMFG, I bought a Ferrari from 2005!”

  • But I resisted, youre welcome, and I hope you enjoyed the video.

  • If so, I’ve got more coming out every week so stay tuned!

  • As always, thanks for watching LGR.

Greetings and welcome to an LGR thing!

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