Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook Thinnest Review

• Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook - Thinnest Review

San Jose, CA

Editor’s Summary:
Aspire S5

• Measuring just 0.44 inches at its thinnest and .59 at the thickest, the 2.65 pound Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook is in a class by itself with its thin lightweight design and black, magnesium-alloy and brushed metal chassis.
• At the touch of a button, the S5’s innovative MagicFlip I/O Port pops out to reveal ingeniously hidden ports, such as USB 3.0, HDMI and Thunderbolt™.
• The Aspire S5 is the first Ultrabook to feature Thunderbolt™, the fastest way to transfer data between a PC and high-performance peripherals and high-definition displays, all over a single cable.
• Ultra-sleek and ultra-responsive, the S5 includes a 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 processor and a 256GB solid state drive.

Aspire S3

• Acer’s 2.98 pound Aspire S3 Ultrabook now includes models with a 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 processor and a 256GB solid state drive⁽¹⁾.
• A new champagne color adds elegance to the uncluttered design of this diminutive powerhouse.
• With prices starting at $648, the Aspire S3 is one of the most affordable ultrabooks on the market.

Acer America today announced the availability of the Acer Aspire S5 in the U.S. The worlds thinnest Ultrabook, it measures only .044 inches at its thinnest point and weighs just 2.65 lbs – about as thin and light as a pad of paper. In addition, the company’s first Ultrabook, the Aspire S3, has been refreshed with a 3rd Generation Intel Processor, solid state drives and an elegant champagne color.

Aspire S5

Acer Aspire S5 -- the World’s Thinnest Ultrabook
The S5’s delicately curved chassis is Onyx Black, and the cover rim wraps around the system body like a protective shell. A magnesium-aluminum alloy cover and palm rest provide a slim and sturdy design, while the metallic brushed detail provides subtle elegance. Clean and ultra-fluid contours from all angles make the S5 a vision of beauty.

The Aspire S5-391-9880 is Acers first Ultrabook to feature a smartly designed MagicFlip I/O port panel concealed just below the hinge. This design feature enhances the overall slenderness and streamlined form of the S5. When needed, a press of the MagicFlip key opens the panel to reveal a selection of I/O ports: HDMI, USB 3.0 and 20 Gbps Thunderbolt™.

Despite its razor thin design, the super slim and sleek Aspire S5-391-9880 manages to pack in top notch technologies and features, making it a solid performer. Packing a punch in terms of power and efficiency, it includes a 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-35i7U Processor, a 256GB solid state drive for speedy data access and increased shock resistance and an ultrafast Thunderbolt™ I/O port. Thunderbolt connection technology brings together high-speed data transfer and high-definition display (HD) on to a single cable, enabling up to six Thunderbolt enabled devices, such as PCs, hard drives, displays, cameras, audio/video equipment and docking stations to be daisy chained together. It is up to 20 times faster at transferring data than USB 2.0; running at 10Gbps, it can transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds.



Long battery life is delivered via the PowerSmart battery pack which provides up to three times longer battery life cycles than traditional batteries (1,000 vs. 300 cycles). These batteries also maintain 80 percent capacity after the 1,000 cycle count, which means the battery will last longer, reducing the need to replace it.⁽²⁾ Acer Hybrid Standby Technology provides up to 15 days⁽²⁾ of standby power, or up to 6.5 hours of continuous use⁽²⁾.

A 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit display (1366 x 768) delivers vivid images making surfing the web, streaming favorite shows, engaging on social networks all that much more enjoyable in stunning HD. In addition the Acer S5 Ultrabook can be connected to an external monitor, projector or HDTV through a single cable using the HDMI port for big-screen enjoyment. An HDMI to VGA cable adapter is included with the system. The S5 also offers triple independent display support, so images can be shown across multiple screens.

The advanced 1.3 megapixel HD webcam produces amazing video image quality at 24 frames per second. Crystal-clear chats with friends and family across town or across the country are easy. Consumers can also snap HD still pictures to save and share.

Dolby® Home Theater® v4 delivers vibrant theater-quality sound to movies or music.



Acer Aspire S3 Series of Ultrabooks –As Light and Quick as a Hummingbird
Acer’s first generation Ultrabooks, the Aspire S3 Series, has been refreshed and expanded to include 3rd Generation Intel Core i3 and Core i7 processors. In addition, models configured solely with a 256GB solid state drive⁽¹⁾ are now available.

An elegant new champagne color adds sophistication to its uncluttered design. With prices starting at $648, the Aspire S3 is one of the most affordable ultrabooks on the market.


Instantly On and Always Connected
The S5-391-9880 Ultrabook features the unique Acer Green Instant On technology for fast boot and resume, and Acer Always Connect, which lets users manage their multimedia and data on all their devices at anytime, anywhere, even from sleep.

Innovative Acer Green Instant On and Acer Always Connect technologies enable data upload and retrieval anytime, anywhere, and deliver power-saving features as well. Acer Green Instant On provides instant-resume functionality (in 1.5 seconds)⁽³⁾ and ensures battery life that lasts several weeks.

Acer Always Connect gets users online faster than conventional connections for better productivity and infotainment enjoyment. With their Facebook, Twitter and Outlook email accounts open, users can see updates instantly upon resuming⁽⁴⁾.


AcerCloud -- Enables Devices to Communicate and Simplifies Content Sharing
The Aspire S5 is Acer’s first product in the U.S. to ship with AcerCloud. This new feature provides S5 customers with remote access to the digital data residing on their Ultrabook via their Android tablet or smartphone. Not only can they access the data, but they can download and share it among their other PCs and Android devices anytime, anywhere, even when the S5 is in sleep (standby/hibernation) mode. As long as the Aspire S5 is in sleep mode, Acer Always Connect technology can wake it up through Wi-Fi®, allowing the media to be retrieved via a mobile device.

AcerCloud also makes it easy to take photos on a smartphone and then view them on their S5 at home or in the office, without the delay and complication of manually transferring files.
Other features of AcerCloud include:

• PicStream
  Through PicStream, users can take snapshots on their smartphone, back them up on the main PC, and share them efficiently with other smart devices. Users can stream photos via clear.fi in the Cloud to PCs and other devices; photos are backed up permanently on their PC, and temporarily accessible for 30 days in their personal cloud and on other devices.
• clear.fi Media
  With Acers unique clear.fi Media application, users can also access all their multimedia at any time. They can use clear.fi to connect to the personal cloud and stream live, or download and enjoy content offline for convenient on-the-go entertainment.
• AcerCloud Docs
  Professionals can update sales documents on a PC and save them, and the documents will be put into the personal cloud and streamed to other devices. They can then go to their meeting with their notebook or tablet PC and have immediate access to all the updated files. The files will be temporarily accessible for 30 days in the personal cloud and on the devices, or they can choose to download the files onto other devices for long-term storage.

AcerCloud will be bundled on all Acer consumer PCs starting Q4 2012. It will support all Android devices, while future support is planned for Windows-based devices.



Price and Availability
The Aspire S5-391-9880 will be available the last week in June at http://us-store.acer.com/default.aspx and leading retailers across the U.S. It has an MSRP of $1,399.99.

The new Aspire S3 Series Ultrabooks will be available beginning next week at leading retailers across the U.S. Prices begin at $648 and range up to $999.99.

Customers who buy an Acer Ultrabook PC pre-loaded with Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate will be eligible to purchase Windows 8 Pro for only $14.99 (U.S.) ERP. The Offer is valid June 2, 2012 through January 31, 2013, for complete details visit http://windowsupgradeoffer.com.

1. Accessible capacity varies: (MB = 1 million bytes; GB = 1 billion bytes).
2. Actual battery life varies depending on product specifications, computer settings and applications or features launched. All batteries’ maximum capacity diminishes with time and use.
3. Time based on testing with the following applications open: Internet Explorer® 9 (Internet search and email web pages), PowerPoint® viewer (file size 68 MB) and Excel® (file size 108 MB) of Microsoft® Office® 2010 Starter, and logged in to Windows Live® Messenger 2011.
4. The Ultrabook enters Deep Sleep after 75 minutes in Sleep mode, or after the period set by the user. In this mode, battery life lasts up to 15 days if the battery is fully charged when the Ultrabook enters Sleep.
5. Source: Gartner data FY 2011.

Data taken from http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/press/2012/39325 and http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/aspires5 ( accessed on June 18 2012)