Acer's $899 Aspire S3 Ultrabook Shipping This Week
Acer's $899 Aspire S3 Ultrabook Shipping This Week
Posted 10/10/2011 at 6:21am
| by Paul Lilly
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Acer just put all other OEMs on notice by announcing the U.S. availability of its first Ultrabook, the Aspire S3-951. By tagging the S3 with an $899 price tag, Acer made it impossible for other OEMs to claim you can't build a sub-$1,000 Ultrabook at current component pricing. Not only did Acer do that by more than a hundred bucks, it also managed to cram both a solid state drive and mechanical hard drive in there for that price.
Let's start with the form factor. The Aspire S3 is a 13.3-inch Ultrabook that measures 12.59 x 8.52 by 0.51 to 0.68 inches and weighs less than 3 pounds (2.98 pounds, to be precise). Acer says the liberal use of magnesium aluminum/alloy contributes to the Aspire S3's rigid frame while maintaining a lightweight design.
Moving on to the features and specs:
- 13.3-inch LED backlit display with a 1366x768 resolution
- Intel Core i5 2467M processor (1.6GHz, 3MB L3 cache)
- 4GB DDR3 RAM
- Intel HD Graphics 3000
- 20GB SSD; 320GB HDD (5400 RPM)
- 2-in-1 memory card reader
- 802.11n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth
- 1.3MP webcam
- Multi-gesture touchpad
- 2 x USB 2.0 ports; HDMI; Headphone/Mic; VGA
- 3-cell battery
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Regarding the dual storage solution, Acer explains that the 20GB SSD is used in conjunction with its Green Instant On technology, which allows the Aspire S3 to resume from Sleep mode in as little as 2 seconds. The SSD stores the OS and maintains the current PC's state when left unattended, instantly restoring websites, emails, and/or documents. After 8 hours of inactivity, the Aspire S3 enters a Deep Sleep mode (configurable to 120 minutes), from which the Aspire S3 will resume in 6 seconds. By utilizing these Sleep states, Acer claims the battery life can last up to 50 days (up to 6 hours of actual usability).
"The combination of extreme mobility and affordability found in the Acer Aspire S3-951 Ultrabook will undoubtedly change the way people think about mobile computing," said Sumit Agnihotry, vice president of marketing, Acer America. "Consumers are going to love the value they find in the freedom and capabilities it offers."
The Ultrabook Aspire S3-951 will be available to purchase this week at retail outlets and online in the U.S. and Canada.
Image Credit: Acer
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dgrmouse
October 10, 2011 at 1:42pm
I don't undersdtand why there are so many haters for the ultrabook platform. I don't like gaming on laptops regardless of configuration, although I do sometimes watch movies on them. This laptop is /perfect/. That 8 lb desktop replacement machine may not sound heavy in theory, but in practice it is a beast to travel with and runs too hot to keep in your lap or use in bed. This ultrabook will be a great replacement.
Thral1
October 10, 2011 at 11:00am
I'm assuming that they're using the ssd/hdd combo in the smart response setup where the 20gb ssd will just cache the must used files and won't be physicaly seen to the user. I hope the build quality is close to the Air's--it's amazing how strong the Airs are made for being so thin.
ashinms
October 10, 2011 at 7:47am
I really think this whole concept really misses the maark. If I interpreted what I read correctly, this whole concept is Intel trying to push back into the arena that ARM took when the tablet came out: ultra-portable, right? But I still wouln't use this walking around and standing up, and it still wouldn't fit into my uniform's cargo pocket, so why would I get this? I already have a full fledged laptop that works perfect on trips... Just my two cents. I still see a lot of "ooh, shiny" sales, though...
big_montana
October 10, 2011 at 8:51am
You misunderstand teh concept, it is not tablet competition, but Macbook Air competition, which includes style as well configuration.
ashinms
October 10, 2011 at 7:54am
Agreed, Sandy bridge may be faster clock for clock, but lanno would run about what? 2.6. A whole gigahertz faster, with more cache? ... and massively superior graphics? It would blow it out of the water- and be cheaper, too.
big_montana
October 10, 2011 at 7:07am
There are a few problems with it:
1) It's an Acer
2) 5400 RPM HDD
3) No optiocal drive. How are people supposed to install software they already own licenses for?
4) Any OEM can make it cheap by using a 20GB SSD (that drive will fill up in o time at all), try it with a 120 or 256GB SSD at that price point.
5) It's an Acer
kixofmyg0t
October 10, 2011 at 7:43am
No optical drive? Well everyone claims "digital distribution" is the best thing since sliced bread and we dont need optical storage anymore......just dl everything off Steam....yup EVERYTHING.
On a serious note, I see ur point. But this is a 13" notebook.....a more powerful netbook in reality. I personally can deal with the lack of optical drive....since Im not used to optical drives actually WORKING in a notebook anyway. Everyone Ive ever owned has burnt out within a few DAYS.
5400rpm HDD? Umm....most laptops have that.....
Now my guess is this thing has a m-sata based ssd and a regular 2.5" hdd....both of which can be easily upgraded to FAR better components. Throw in a Sandforce based OCZ m-SATA 60GB SSD and 500GB WD Scorpio Black and call it a day. If it had a Llano based APU that would be quite a powerful little notebook.
big_montana
October 10, 2011 at 8:56am
Should not have to pay for th eupgrades, it should be standard. Lenovos Ultrabook comes with 7200 RPM drives, and 1 of the 3 models has an optical drive ( do not knwo why they cannot put one in all 3). Plus, have you ever tried downloading a digital copy of MS Office Pro? Pain the rear. And theirs is not the only software either, that is large that physical media is a better option. Not everyone uses Steam (I raise my hand on this) as I prefer to have physical or digital anyday, as it is my prefered method. I am not the only one who feels that way too. Business still relies on physical media, and a lot of OEM's are eliminating optical drives from their ultraportables (Lenovo among them) which limits you to Dell (Ughhh).
kixofmyg0t
October 10, 2011 at 7:46am
Sorry for the double post.
Gj MaxPC for the ad redirect page that makes me double post.
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