The Ferrari 1100 continues to run on AMD-based processors. The model we reviewed had an X2 TL60 Turion processor (clock speed 2.0 GHz), 2GB of RAM, a large 250GB HDD, and Windows Vista X64 (Business). Its graphics are powered by an ATI 1270 chipset with 256MB of VRAM. While on paper the specifications seem quite healthy, the performance isn't as inspiring as with a similar setup from Intel.
AMD processors are fine for average work and surfing, but when it comes to the crunch they are left behind by Intel’s dual-core offerings. This became glaringly apparent in our PCMark Vantage test, where we got a none-too-impressive score of 2282. The graphical core was exposed as a weak point too, barely managing a score of 1454 on 3Dmark 03.
While these benchmarks may indicate bad performance levels, the laptop's performance under Windows Vista was more than satisfactory. The OS was quite snappy, and with the SP1 update, it was on par with any solution we have seen so far. This can be attributed to the dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM.
We next tested the battery life. In this respect the 1100 was on par with other notebooks. Even with the heavy strain of watching a movie, transferring files across a network, and general surfing under the 'high performance' setting, the laptop was able to hold out for 3 hours and 15 minutes. With less load it can easily attain 4 hours.
The Ferrari 1100 is priced at Rs 79,000. It offers decent battery life and good build quality, but when compared with products like Dell’s XPS M1330, it suffers badly in terms of display quality, performance levels, and finish. So we can’t quite recommend it. Unlike Asus' Lamborghini range, which delivers great looks along with performance, the 1100 has failed to capitalize on the Ferrari brand name.


