Acer, which began the race-car laptop fad with its Ferrari-inspired, carbon fiber designs, and has long been out in front, is being passed by a rival that isn't shy about putting in the latest parts. As in the automotive industry, a racing notebook is as sexy as the engine and core parts that are put into it. The ASUS-Lamborghini VX2S ($2,650 street) moves to Intel's current Santa Rosa platform, in addition to optimizing every component that has to do with speed, from the 7,200-rpm hard drive to dedicated nVidia graphics. The engineers at ASUS seem to have taken their time molding the VX2S into something Ferruccio Lamborghini would have been proud of. Just be prepared to pay luxury-car prices.