We had a chance to get a sneak preview of the upcoming Ultrabook from Acer on our way back home from our Summer Adventure in Samal Island two days ago – the 13″ Aspire S5 is the upcoming Ivy Bridge Ultrabook from Acer.
The body is partly aluminum with rounded tapered edges. The base of the keyboard has a brushed metallic finish while the palmrest is plastic. The track pad is almost the size of the MacbookPro and performs nearly as well with its pinching, rotating, and even scrolling with two fingers is very responsive. Like most Ultrabooks (and notebook), the S5 has a chiclet-type keyboard but without any backlighting.
There are features that are new to Acer Aspire S5, among them are the concealed ports. On the left side, all you will see is the unconventionally-placed power button and the SD card reader, while on the other side is just the 3.5mm port for audio.
There is an unusual-looking button on the upper right corner of the keyboard that can be mistaken as the power button. That mysterious button when pressed opens up the hidden ports at back of the laptop. The laptop will lift a bit like hydraulic-powered machine to reveal the hidden ports: HDMI, 2 USB 3.0, and a Thunderbolt port which is rare on a Windows machine. Note that you cannot open the hidden ports if the laptop is off.
Cold boot takes only max of 18 seconds and about 3 seconds from sleep. It’s light, serious and is powered by the upcoming Ivy Bridge Intel processor and packs a full SSD drive instead of the hybrid type like the S3.
The Acer Aspire S5 comes in black and is expected to be launched this June with availability before the end of June. No word on pricing yet but be sure to tune in once in a while for further updates.
Acer Aspire S5 Specs: |
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13.3″³ LED display @ 1366×768 pixels |
Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge 3317U 1.7GHz dual-core |
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit |
Intel HD 4000 Graphics |
128GB Lite-On SSD |
4GB DDR3 RAM |
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n |
Bluetooth 3.0 |
2 x USB 3.0 ports |
1 x HDMI port |
1 x Thunderbolt port |
Card reader |