Next Lamborghini Laptop Due in Early ’07

Asustek Computer will have the next generation of its Lamborghini notebook PC available at the beginning of next year, but the company would not say if it will carry an Intel microprocessor.

“We have to discuss everything with our partner first,” said Sunny Han, director of marketing at Asustek, the world’s largest motherboard maker. Asustek’s partner in the laptop is Italian sports-car maker Automobili Lamborghini.

Asustek launched the first-generation Asus-Lamborghini VX1 earlier this year, a high-end system complete with an Intel Core Duo processor, 160GB hard drive, double data rate, second-generation memory chips and Nvidia’s GeForce graphics card.

The system was originally designed to compete with a Scuderia Ferrari notebook from Acer, powered by an Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Turion 64-bit processor. But Acer upgraded its series in June, launching the Ferrari 5000 laptop with AMD Turion 64 X2 mobile processors.

Users will have to wait a while longer to see Asustek’s response to the latest Ferrari challenge.

Han said the original Lamborghini laptop has been selling better than the company expected. The laptop, which comes in Lamborghini yellow and black, is priced at US$2,799 on Newegg.com.

Part of the hefty price tag comes from its paint job, which is sprayed on in the same manner as auto paint.

Asustek originally thought about 1,500 of the laptops would be sold, but its sales have surpassed that figure, Han said.

-Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau)

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