Acer introduce their first Aspire S3 Ultrabook at London launch
Tech journalists had a chance to catch a glimpse and cop a feel of the new Acer Aspire S3 ultra-thin notebook, which had its press launch in central London yesterday. In a plush hotel in Soho, we were treated to a little run-through of the Aspire S3’s feature and then had an (albeit brief) opportunity to try out the 13.3 notebook.
An introductory video featured the tagline ‘Get the Edge’. This wasn’t a call for bounty hunters to set their sights on U2’s guitarist, but presumably a boast about the S3’s unique features. Expected to make up around 25% of Acer’s sales next year, the Aspire S3 is meant to be the notebook best suited to today’s climate, where users want to go online at any time, on any device they want.
The Acer Aspire S3 is only 1.3 cm thick
To this end, the S3 is equipped with Instant On and Instant Connect, two functions that should enable quick connectivity from both sleep and deep sleep mode. The Acer representatives had a point when they said that most people don’t want to shut their devices down completely, and much prefer picking up straight where they left off. The Instant On feature did work very well, although this was an early test model, and you would probably get different results from a device with more installed applications.
The Acer Aspire S3 felt like a slightly more hefty version of a MacBook Air, and it’s still weird for us using a notebook without an optical drive. There are two USB ports at the back, along with HDMI and VGA outputs.
There was no Wi-Fi in the presentation room, so we couldn’t try out the Instant Connect function or test browsing fluidity, which was a shame. The keyboard felt a tad flimsy though, and the display wobbled worryingly when we picked the S3 up. The ultrabook will be rolled out properly next month, so there is still time to fix those flaws, and you can bet that the Aspire S3 will be on a few people’s lists come Christmas. It will be available with either SSD or HDD options (240 or 320/500 Gb). Check back to PC Site for a full review.
Prices for the Acer Aspire S3 start at £699 and go up to £1099.
Written by Matthias Scherer
Matthias is a journalist and writer covering the latest news in technology as well as reviewing new computer products for PC Site. After studying journalism and economics in London, Matthias worked in radio and as a music writer for various publications in the UK and Germany, covering everything from politics and music to online publishing and social media. He is a self-diagnosed internet addict, but wrestles himself away from the computer to read books by angry young men, put on punk or rap records and watch Seinfeld.
Fri, Sep 16, 2011