Acer's Aspire S3 was the first to hit the market here in the States, and with an entry price of $899, it's currently the least expensive. That it's skinny (just 13mm thick, to be exact), should be a given, but it also claims to wake from sleep in two seconds flat and reconnect to known networks in two and a half. But, as the least pricey Ultrabook on the shelf, it also forgoes some specs you might have liked to see -- namely, all-flash storage and USB 3.0. But does that matter much when you're potentially saving hundreds of dollars? Let's find out.
The S3 has something of a split personality: understated elegance on the outside, something more pedestrian when you lift the lid. At first glance, it's refined (but never ostentatious) thanks to a cool-to-the-touch brushed aluminum lid that doesn't seem to pick up fingerprints. Make no mistake: this thing makes a strong impression.
Its slender frame doesn't hurt, either. At three pounds flat (1.4kg) and half an inch thick, it's on par with the 13-inch MacBook Air (2.96 pounds / 1.35kg) and the 2.9-pound (1.32kg) ASUS Zenbook UX31. If you've handled a MacBook Air before, its skinny silhouette might not impress you but if (like yours truly) you're used to schlepping a six-pound 15-incher, the difference will feel refreshing, and the ounces separating it from the competition will seem irrelevant. While we're on the subject of comparisons, by the way, we're digging the S3's rounded edges and corners. One thing we dislike about the MacBook Air (or any Mac, really) is that although those sharp edges make for a bold design, resting your wrists on them or pressing your palms into them can make for a none-too-comfortable ergonomic experience. The S3 is softer in this regard, and it works.
The S3 also has a softer aesthetic under the lid, and that's where the design starts to seem a bit cobbled-together. For one, the display has a habit of wobbling even when you set the machine down, which chipped away at our confidence in the build quality. Also, because the keys, deck, palm rest and bottom side are made of plastic, they seem mismatched against that striking metal lid. We'll spend two paragraphs on the keyboard in just a moment, but for now, suffice to say the problem isn't that plastic keys are uncomfortable to type on; it's just that an all-metal keyboard (à la the ASUS UX21 / UX31) would have gone a long way in pulling together what's otherwise a slick design.There's also your requisite 1.3 megapixel webcam tucked in the bezel. Really, though, most of the action's to be found on the back edge, where the vent, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-out and the AC socket sit in a row. For comparison's sake, the Air has two USB 2.0 ports and a Thunderbolt socket, whereas the UX31 has two USB 2.0 ports and one of the 3.0 persuasion. Meanwhile, Toshiba's forthcoming Portege Z830 will have USB 3.0, HDMI and an Ethernet jack, while the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s will also have USB 3.0 and HDMI. Even the UX31, which has mini-HDMI and mini-VGA ports, at least comes bundled with USB-to-Ethernet and mini-VGA-to-VGA adapters.
The S3 has something of a split personality: understated elegance on the outside, something more pedestrian when you lift the lid. At first glance, it's refined (but never ostentatious) thanks to a cool-to-the-touch brushed aluminum lid that doesn't seem to pick up fingerprints. Make no mistake: this thing makes a strong impression.
Its slender frame doesn't hurt, either. At three pounds flat (1.4kg) and half an inch thick, it's on par with the 13-inch MacBook Air (2.96 pounds / 1.35kg) and the 2.9-pound (1.32kg) ASUS Zenbook UX31. If you've handled a MacBook Air before, its skinny silhouette might not impress you but if (like yours truly) you're used to schlepping a six-pound 15-incher, the difference will feel refreshing, and the ounces separating it from the competition will seem irrelevant. While we're on the subject of comparisons, by the way, we're digging the S3's rounded edges and corners. One thing we dislike about the MacBook Air (or any Mac, really) is that although those sharp edges make for a bold design, resting your wrists on them or pressing your palms into them can make for a none-too-comfortable ergonomic experience. The S3 is softer in this regard, and it works.
The S3 also has a softer aesthetic under the lid, and that's where the design starts to seem a bit cobbled-together. For one, the display has a habit of wobbling even when you set the machine down, which chipped away at our confidence in the build quality. Also, because the keys, deck, palm rest and bottom side are made of plastic, they seem mismatched against that striking metal lid. We'll spend two paragraphs on the keyboard in just a moment, but for now, suffice to say the problem isn't that plastic keys are uncomfortable to type on; it's just that an all-metal keyboard (à la the ASUS UX21 / UX31) would have gone a long way in pulling together what's otherwise a slick design.There's also your requisite 1.3 megapixel webcam tucked in the bezel. Really, though, most of the action's to be found on the back edge, where the vent, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI-out and the AC socket sit in a row. For comparison's sake, the Air has two USB 2.0 ports and a Thunderbolt socket, whereas the UX31 has two USB 2.0 ports and one of the 3.0 persuasion. Meanwhile, Toshiba's forthcoming Portege Z830 will have USB 3.0, HDMI and an Ethernet jack, while the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s will also have USB 3.0 and HDMI. Even the UX31, which has mini-HDMI and mini-VGA ports, at least comes bundled with USB-to-Ethernet and mini-VGA-to-VGA adapters.
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