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Laptops are at a point right now where they should all be more or less excellent. Ultrabooks are into their third year of relevance, and the screens and processors that are widely available are good enough that you can piecemeal together a perfectly acceptable laptop from chaff, more or less. So making a great one is about decisions. The Acer Aspire S7 made a bunch of good ones, against just a few dumb ones. And the result puts it in the vanguard of what’s shaping up to be a belated PC renaissance.

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It was a year ago at Computex that Acer unveiled the Aspire S7, a skinny sliver of a thing that turned out to be one of our favorite Ultrabooks of 2012. Now, 12 months later, the company is unveiling… the Aspire S7. A much-improved S7, to be precise. Going into the second half of the year, there’s only to be a 13-inch version (the 11-incher’s been discontinued), and it has much the same industrial design, with a lightweight chassis and Gorilla Glass lid. The difference is that it will now be offered with a 2,560 x 1,440 screen, which will be standard in certain regions, like Europe. (Elsewhere, a 1080p IPS panel will continue to be the base option.) As you’d expect, Acer’s upgraded the S7 to Haswell CPUs (Core i3, i5 and i7), but it also squeezed in a bigger battery — 47Wh, up from 35Wh. Between that bigger cell and new chipset, Acer is rating the battery life at seven hours, which, if true, would correct one of the OG model’s biggest shortcomings. Rounding out the list, Acer moved the mics to the front, and also updated the cooling system with the promise of less fan noise.

Meanwhile, Acer thoroughly revamped the mid-range S3 Ultrabook so that it looks more like the S7. The main differences are that this has no Gorilla Glass on the lid, and the entire machine is noticeably heavier (1.67kg vs. 1.3). Part of the reason for that chunkier shape is that it will be offered with beefier components, including optional NVIDIA GT735M graphics and a 1TB hard drive (you can also get it with an SSD). Additionally, the S3 steps up to Haswell CPUs, along with a 1080p IPS touchscreen — the same kind that the S7 had when it first launched. Design-wise, as we said, it looks like the S7, particularly with the lid shut, and it’s now made from one piece of aluminum, instead of several. The keyboard looks different from the S7’s, though, and is also a bit clackier, for whatever reason. In Europe, at least, the Aspire S7-392 will start at €1,450, and the S3-392 will go from €999. Both will arrive in July. No word yet on US pricing. For a closer look, check out our hands-on photos and video, both embedded after the break.

Update: US pricing for the S7 will start at $1,400 and go up to $1,700, depending on the configuration.

Filed under: Laptops, Acer

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You can more or less blame the MacBook Air for fast tracking the Ultrabook market, in fact, causing PC manufacturers to buck themselves up and come up with something interesting to compete with Apple on a similar level, although it is rather safe to assume that the Ultrabook segment has not really picked itself up to date in terms of sales figures, never mind the fact that it is still growing steadily. Well, Acer intends to keep their hands on the mantle of having the thinnest Ultrabook in the market for some time to come with the release of the Acer S7 Ultrabook which is touted to be nearly as thin as a tablet.

The Acer S7 Ultrabook starts to sound more and more Apple-ish when you read on about it, considering how it boasts of an all-aluminum unibody design (can you say that this is going to be way too easy to damage or get scratched?), you know for sure that this is not going to weigh you down, making it one of the more ideal devices to carry around whenever you are on the showfloor. Don’t be fooled by its exceptionally thin and light form factor, as it is said to be resilient and durable at the same time. Depending on the model of your choice, it measures as thin as 0.47” and tips the scales at a mere 2.29 pounds.

You will be able to choose from either a 13.3-inch or 11.6-inch full high-definition (1920 x 1080) touch screen display, where it will be amply protected by rigid lids made of white Gorilla Glass 2 or aluminum. The S7-391’s lid is able to tilt back a full 180 degrees, so that you can use it flat against a table or desk, similar to how you would make use of a tablet. Not only that, a hotkey is able to rotate the view ny 180 degrees, making it a snap to share what you are viewing with other folks.

Underneath the hood lies a 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3317UB or i7-3517U processor, an SSD, an embedded Li-Polymer battery that delivers up to 6 hours of battery life, and an optional second battery that doubles computing time. There is also a micro HDMI to VGA cable and a USB to RJ45 port. The Aspire S7 Series 11.6” and 13.3” models will retail for $1,199 and $1,399, respectively from the end of this month onwards.

Press Release
[ Acer S7 Ultrabook is thinnest of its kind in the market copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]