SINGAPORE : The Acer Ferrari One (S$1,398) is not your usual netbook, thanks to a glossy red finish on the lid that screams signature Ferrari.

There are small automotive-themed touches elsewhere on this 1.5kg netbook, such as metallic-like trackpad buttons and a wrist rest with a carbon fiber-esque texture.

The Ferrari branding isn't just skin deep. Boot up the machine and you'll be greeted by the sound of a passing F1 car. And there's a dedicated key on the machine that launches the Ferrari website.

The Ferrari One doesn't employ the more common Intel Atom processor used in the majority of netbooks on the market. It relies on AMD's dual-core Athlon X2 processor running at 1.2GHz and an ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics chipset.

This pairing makes it more adept at handling graphics than the average netbook. We could run 720p high-definition footage smoothly and the machine handled the preloaded 64-bit version of Windows 7 Home Premium at a zippy pace.

However, despite the improved hardware, it still chokes slightly when playing high-quality 1080p movie files.

For a netbook, the audio performance of the Ferrari One is impressive, with a soundcard that's capable of making audio that much sweeter with Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, and Dolby Headphone technologies.

Apart from the latter that tries to produce a believable 5.1-channel surround sound effect in any pair of earphones, we wondered why Acer didn't include an HDMI output so we could enjoy the beefed-up audio while the visuals were displayed on the big screen.

The netbook comes with a bright 11.6-inch widescreen LED-backlit display and a spacious keyboard (for its size anyway).

A multi-touch-capable trackpad allows you to use finger gestures like the familiar pinch-zoom or two-finger swipe when you're navigating websites, documents or photos in applications like Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop.

Our review unit came with 240GB of storage and 4GB of memory. It includes the usual USB ports, SD card slot, VGA output and WiFi connectivity (802.11a/b/g/*).

What's unusual is the inclusion of an ATI XGP port, which allows you to connect the netbook to a more powerful external graphics card to boost its graphical processing power and run multiple monitors simultaneously.

But we reckon the people who buy netbooks wouldn't bother to upgrade their graphics cards by buying an external one. We would've been happy with an HDMI port that would enable us to hook up the netbook to a high-definition display instead.

Overall, the Acer Ferrari One is an above-average netbook. Its Ferrari-laced looks, I find, are very much an acquired taste.

The question to ask is whether you're prepared to pay a premium for these niceties in a netbook when you can pony up the same amount for a decent full-featured laptop.

- TODAY/il