Acer Aspire S7 Review: This Is How Windows 8 Should Feel (Almost)

We ’ve been play with Windows 8 for a while now — but not yet on a machine designed from the start to run on the new OS . Next week , when Acer ’s Aspire S7 ultrabook launches , all that will change . Is this 11 - column inch wisp of a laptop computer a worthy debut for Windows 8 ?

What Is It?

A $ 1,200 bona fide Windows 8 ultrabook with an Ivy Bridge chipset .

Who Is It For?

Anyone who regularly takes a laptop computer on the go , and ask strong public presentation from the battery and CPU , but is n’t necessarily looking for a portable supercomputer .

Design

It ’s paring thinly . It ’s feather light . It ’s attractive — not quite beautiful , but attractive — without the design tropes of the MacBook Air . Made of aluminum , glass , and a white magnesium underbelly , the Aspire S7 feel stalwart despite its want of mass . The 11.6 - inch screen is a lovely 1920×1080 IPS display fit with a multitouch board . The keyboard and trackpad surface has a uniform silver look , and save for some relatively tamed branding elements , is about as clean as a PC remark surface gets . When it ’s dark , the key pass off a muted green glow . It make the machine look like something grind would be using in a future 100 class from now .

That ’s not to say everything is perfect . The trackpad is a act undersize ( especially for perpendicular scrolling ) . Though the key have a decent amount of tactual feedback , they ’re just a act too flat for my like ( obviously this was a decision made with size concern in mind ) . And , speaking of the underside , a set of the innovation work around the ports and button is amateur compare to the rest of the machine . But none of these gripes are needs deal breakers .

Using It

Acer send an former applied science unit of measurement , so it had a few quirks — drivers that were n’t quite final , and a 1.9 GHz Core i7 processor not uncommitted to consumers ( sorry , you Guy get a Core i5 ) . But all in all , the Aspire S7 is a animate being of an ultrabook . Rarely , over the course of a full day ’s economic consumption , did the computer show any sign of slowdown , even with multiple apps open ( in Metro and the background ) , and a gaggle of tabs in Chrome . It barely even got live . And when put through our battery mental test grinder , it endure 1 hour and 40 instant , which is fairly bloody good for an 11 - inch laptop this size .

That articulate , the trackpad experience was fair , and some of the Windows 8 gesture did not work as well as expected . Part of this was due to the lowly size of it , but part of it was due to the firmware and tracking sensors . Also , the sports fan had a tendency to ratchet up when a bundled app like McAfee ’s virus retinue would do a background knowledge CAT scan . Acer says these return are gadget driver - related , and should n’t be a problem in production theoretical account . So we ’ll see about that .

The Best Part

The display . Holy diddly-squat is it beautiful . The IPS display does n’t of necessity have the brightness of the MacBook Air , or the viewing angles of the Asus U31X. But when you pack 1080p resolving power into an 11.6 - in display , you ’re go away with nothing but bliss . Razor sharp-worded bliss . Windows ( background or Metro ) has never looked better . And watch HD content on Vimeo is sublime .

Tragic Flaw

The Aspire can only be configured with 4 gigabytes of RAM , max . That ’s plenty fine for now , but what about two years from now ? What if you design to keep on to this affair for 3 - 5 years ? Acer ’s argument is that it was a sacrifice made in the name of space . But most vendee would have fain sacrifice a little heaviness or aerofoil area to double the RAM .

This Is Weird…

Towards the end of testing , the trackpad died . Or , at the very least , it stopped responding . Windows tell everything is all right with the computer hardware . Yet , everything is not okay . Acer says that it ’s probably because this is an engineering science sample with drivers that are not final . We ’ll have to take their word on it for now .

Test Notes

The display is a joyousness to look at , although its viewing angles and light are n’t best in stratum by any agency . The touchscreen , although not an musical theme I love , is apply well , and is as functional as any smartphone or tablet display . On a rarefied social function , I even found it useful — sometimes it ’s loose to disturb the projection screen than to utilise the trackpad , OK ?

A lot of personal computer makers design atrocious hinges . The flexible joint design on the 11 - inch Aspire S7 is arguably the skilful I ’ve seen on an ultrabook .

Having to hold down the function key to adjust screen brightness and volume is one of those UX ghost of the PC laptop ’s past that refuses to go away . I hate it . I hate it so much .

Startup fourth dimension : 7.8 seconds . Shutdown Time : 11.2 indorsement .

The locating of the Aspire S7 verbalizer is off . They ’re hunky-dory for a twist this size , but they ’re placed on the bottom of the laptop computer . Sound , often blocked by lick and desk surfaces , ends up muffled . Bah .

Should You Buy It?

If you ’re the type who purchase a new computing machine every couple of years , and you ’re quick to upgrade to Windows 8 , then yes , unquestionably .

Cons : The 4 - gibibyte Aries the Ram limitation is a major downer . For now , it ’s fine , but it makes it hard to recommend the Aspire S7 someone who wants a newfangled computer to last four or five years . You wo n’t run CS6 at full speed on this machine . The trackpad could be a picayune boastful , and the keyboard a piffling springier , and the speakers a turn well placed . But it can get most masses through their usual undertaking — electronic mail , euphony , confabulation , video — with supreme relaxation .

Most significantly , this is an exciting new Windows machine . If I bought one , I might actually severalise someone about it . The form factor , the exhibit , the faint green freshness of the keys , a program meant for Windows 8 — all of this adds up to an experience last beyond just satisfactory . It ’s damn upright .

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