The ultrabook is the given name of a new breed of fast, light, powerful laptops. Aimed at people who want a Macbook Air experience but on a Windows PC. Style and portability is the name of the game, and this Acer Aspire S3, Acer’s first ultrabook, is one of the first to enter the ultrabook game. There are three available models, a Core i5 with a 320GB hard drive and one with a 240GB SSD Solid state drive, the other model is a Core i7 with a 500GB hard drive. Prices start at under £699 rising to about £1099. Confusing there is no Core i7 SSD combination at this time although an option is in the pipeline.
Build & Design features
Essential dimensions of the Acer Aspire S3:
- 17mm Thick maximum
- 321mm Width
- 217mm Depth
- 1.36kg Weight
As you can see, that is thin and light. Thinner and lighter than a Macbook Air. It certainly is ultra portable and would fit in any bag without you noticing the additional size or weight. It is so slender in your hand that it has to have the USB, HDMI and power point sockets on the back as the bezel is too small on the sides! Impressive stuff. It is even smaller than an iPhone at its smallest edge, nevermind the Macbook Air.
The chassis of the Aspire S3 is good, certainly beautiful, but not great. It does not feature the unibody of the Apple or the Asus Zenbook, however its brushed aluminium feels strong to touch and certainly turns heads. It even leaves virtually no finger prints, a bug bearer of many glossy cases. The keyboard is a stunning design which the spaced out keys make for few errors and easy typing from the get go. The screen is a slight let down though. It looks good, and is very clear for films and general browsing, but at this price range I would like to see a full HD screen or at least 1600 pixels wide. The trackpad is a nice size and offers multi touch.
Performance
One area the Acer Aspire S3 does not lag in is performance. Every model is quick and certainly leaves most of its rivals, including the Macbook Air trailing in the distance. The option of a quad core Intel Core i7 in something this portable is impressive, and the solid state drive (SSD) speed is incredible. It boots from off into Windows 7 in around 15 seconds. For a full version of Windows 7 that is seriously quick. Everyday usage is even better. However there is a let down. Again at this price range, why are the two USB ports not USB 3.0? While USB 3.0 is not the standard yet, on a laptop this fast it would be nice to transfer files from your SSD to your portable USB 3.0 flash drive at the correct speed. Benchmarking scores on PCMark near 10,000 which is incredible on such a light weight device. Battery life is also an impressive 5 hours. Again with this power and no bulk for battery cell space, it is an impressive trait of the ULV Core i5 and i7 processors.
It is great to witness a truly powerful, lightweight, stylish entry to the PC laptop market. With alternatives from Asus, Samsung and Dell on the horizon this Acer Aspire S3 has sent out a good benchmark for ultrabooks. To read more on the Acer Aspire S3 click this link or click on the image below for the model you are after.
Weight (KG): 1.3
Warranty: 1 year, with 2 year and 3 year warranty as optional extra
 Acer Aspire S3-951-2464G34iss, 13.3 inch Ultrabook, Core i5 (2467M) 1.6GHz, 4GB, 320GB, WLAN, BT Webcam, Windows 7 HP 64-bit, (UMA Graphics) |
 ALTERNATIVE: Asus UX21E-KX004V Zenbook, 11.6inch ultrabook, Core i5, 4GB, 128GB SSD, |
 USA Version: Acer Aspire S3-951-6646, Core i5, 4GB, 320GB HDD with 20GB SSD, |
- Ultra Thin Laptop Reviews – Ultrathin Laptop Reviews – Ultra Thin … – Since ultra thin laptops are new, nothing is better than reviews videos. The advantage of a video review is that is easy for you. No reading, no scrolling, no clicking to the next page.
- Best 13 Inch Laptop – 13 Inch Ultra Thin Laptop Reviews – 13 Laptop – 6 inch ultrathin laptop is just a bit too small for you. 3 inch laptops in the ultra thin catagory give you the best of both worlds. A 13 inch ultrathin laptop gives you that great extra space for the keyboard and touchpad, while still being light and compact enough to take with you everywhere.
