Acer Aspire S3 joins ultrabook ranks (hands-on)

Acer apparently subscribes to the same Google Group as the rest of this industry, because it’s putting out its own ultrabook this fall. The Aspire S3 has a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 display, measures 0.51-inches thick, runs the new crop of Core i3 / i5 / i7 ULV chips, and promises roughly seven hours of battery life in the SSD configuration. There’s an aluminum / magnesium alloy chassis, with cooling designed to send heat away from the palm rest and trackpad -- and your, erm, “lap top.” Acer also promises 1.5 second “instant on” from sleep, and 2.5 second “instant connect” to the internet, using special sauce Acer techniques. There’s also a “deep sleep” mode that can stretch for 50 days before you need a charge. The S3 will start shipping in some areas (including the US) late September, with prices ranging from €799 to €1199.

I just played around with the S3 for a brief moment, and I found it much nicer than yesterday’s Toshiba Portege Z830. In addition to a nice, smudge-free metal exterior the two ultrabooks share, the Acer has a flex free keyboard with better key action (though it’s still a little light on resistance). The trackpad is actually a clickpad, with a fairly nice click to it, and good general touch responsiveness. The screen is nice, but not exactly great at viewing angles. Overall the design is very clean and premium -- a laptop not to be embarrassed by.

Gallery is after the break -- more details in the press release!