Acer Aspire S3 (Core i7 1.7GHz Processor, 4GB RAM)

For its first Ultrabook, Acer has a ready template to follow in the form of the Apple MacBook Air. Although the resulting Acer Aspire S3 isn't as slavish a follower of the Apple design aesthetics as the Asus Zenbook, there are definitely similarities.

What Acer brings to the table, however, is its competitive pricing, though the company had to compromise on some features to hit the right price point. The most significant departure from the Ultrabook formula provided by Intel is the use of a hybrid hard drive instead of an SSD. Although Acer also offers a version of the S3 equipped with an SSD, most of its Ultrabooks appear to be using hybrid drives.

Taken together with its other, albeit minor, flaws, the Acer Aspire S3 is an Ultrabook with a twist. It's slim, lightweight and as responsive as any Ultrabook. And with a starting price of S$1,298, it's the most affordable Ultrabook you can buy in Singapore. Ultimately, it all boils down to whether you can accept lower performance and shorter battery life for more storage and a lower price tag.

Design

The slim 17mm profile of the Aspire S3 is exactly the same as the MacBook Air. The difference is that the Acer Ultrabook has a rounded tapered finish unlike the razor-thin edge on the Air. In fact, the rounded edge of this laptop means that there's insufficient height for regular-sized HDMI and USB ports. You can only find an SD card reader and the headphone jack on the sides of the laptops--other ports are located at the back.

The lid is made of brushed aluminum and the rest of the chassis is a mix of magnesium alloy and plastic. The notebook comes in a matte grey finish that can be slightly dreary, though we liked that the inevitable Intel and Windows logo stickers are done in a similarly monochromatic fashion.

Another similarity with the Air is the large integrated multitouch clickpad that's almost the same size as what you'll find on Apple's ultraportable. This clickpad is precisely in the middle of the laptop's bottom edge like an Apple notebook, and not located off-center and aligned to the spacebar like many Windows laptops. Gestures such as pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling work as expected.

Price as reviewed	S$1,298 (US$1,011)
Processor	1.6GHz Intel Core i5 2467M
Memory	4GB, 1,333MHz DDR3
Hard Drive	20GB SSD + 320GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel UM67
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 3000
Operating system	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	320 x 216mm
Height	17mm
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3-inch
System weight	1.33kg
Category	Ultraportable

Just like the other Ultrabooks we have tried, the Acer Aspire S3 comes with an island-style keyboard. Key travel is limited and short, but at least the keys didn't feel as stiff as some other models. However, the keyboard has extremely small arrow keys that are something you'll find on a Netbook rather than a laptop and unfortunately, they also happen to control the volume of the laptop.

Features

With a screen resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels, the 13.3-inch display on the Aspire S3 is standard for laptops of this size. Obviously, it doesn't have the higher resolution found on other ultraslim laptops such as the Asus Zenbook UX31E or the Apple MacBook Air. Also, the viewing angles on this laptop aren't the best and it's not helped by the glossy display.

	Acer Aspire S3	Average for category (Ultraportable)
Video	HDMI	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 2.0, SD card reader	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Networking	802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	None

What's unique about the Acer Aspire S3 is that unlike the other Ultrabooks which come with SSDs, it uses a hybrid drive with 20GB of flash memory complemented by a 320GB mechanical hard drive. It's supposed to be the best of both worlds. The SSD helps with system responsiveness--applications feel snappy enough and the laptop resumes almost instantly from sleep--while you'll also get the generous capacity of a HDD. The downside is that this hybrid drive is not as power efficient as a true SSD and it's also not as fast.

Acer has reduced the number of ports and connectors on its Ultrabook. There are no USB 3.0 ports, which is pretty disappointing since we expect at least one such port on a Windows laptop nowadays. There's only HDMI for video output, though this situation also exists on other Ultrabooks. Ethernet is also missing and you'll have to rely on Wi-Fi for all your connectivity needs, or buy an external USB-to-Ethernet dongle.

Specifications/Model	Acer Aspire S3	Lenovo IdeaPad U300s	Asus Zenbook UX31E
Processor	1.6GHz, Core i5 processor	1.6GHz, Core i5 processor	1.8GHz, Core i7 processor
Graphics	Intel HD Graphics 3000	Intel HD Graphics 3000	Intel HD Graphics 3000
Video	HDMI	HDMI	mini-VGA, micro-HDMI
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jack
Data	2 USB 2.0, SD card reader	1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0	1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Networking	Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi	Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi	Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Price	S$1,298	S$1,899	S$1,698

Unlike its competitors, the Core i5-powered Aspire S3 lacked features such as an Ethernet port and a USB 3.0 port. On the plus side, the Acer laptop has the lowest starting price for an Ultrabook, no doubt due to its choice of a HDD over an SSD. 

Performance And Battery Life

The 1.6GHz Core i5 processor on the S3 isn't the fastest you can find on an Ultrabook, but at least it's a dual-core that will handle most applications that you would be using such a laptop for. Obviously, with its integrated graphics, gaming will be limited to older or casual games, though this is a typical trade-off for this category.  

It's the HDD on this Acer laptop that handicaps it when compared with other Ultrabooks. With a PCMark 7 score of 1,842, the S3 is slower than all its competitors: The next slowest Ultrabook, the Toshiba Portege Z830 scored 2,274. In fact, we have seen mainstream laptops such as the Dell Inspiron 13z with a higher PCMark 7 score of 1,962, though they are also much heavier. 

The HDD is also likely culpable for the short 4 hours and 14 minutes of uptime that we experienced with the Acer Aspire S3. This figure pales in comparison with other Ultrabooks--its closest competitor, the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s lasted 5 hours and 25 minutes, which is more than an hour longer than the S3. Do note that our battery life test was conducted by looping a standard-definition video at 50 percent brightness and with the audio muted till the laptop shut down. We disabled Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, too. 

Service And Support

The Acer Aspire S3 comes with an international one-year warranty. On its support Web site, you can browse frequently asked questions and other technical issues. Technical support is available via online, phone, or fax. though in case of hardware failure the unit has to be brought to a service center for repair.