Pros

  • SSD, superior audio, dual-band Wi-Fi
  • Exceptionally thin and light, yet powerful

Cons

  • No ethernet, has bloatware, and is a tad pricey
  • SSD limits storage to 256GB

At A Glance

The sleekly designed Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook poses one of the most credible threats to the MacBook Air we've seen to date.

Manufacturer’s Description

The S3 Ultrabook weighs in at just less than 3 lbs and measures only 0.5" thin! Comfortably carry it under your arm or simply slip it into a backpack or tote bag. This pure, uncluttered design not only looks good- but also enhances your everyday computing experience. Every single detail has been carefully selected to give you the very best, from the large multitouch Touchpad for seamless interaction to the essential ports you need.

The Specs

Pricing
Part Number LXRSF02079
Processor
Cache size 4.0 KB
Processor count 2
Processor speed 1900.0 MHz
Processor type Intel Core i7
Memory
Memory speed 1333.0 MHz
Memory type DDR3
Memory size 4000.0 MB
Memory max 4.0 GB
Display
Display type Glossy LCD with LED Backlight
Resolution 1366 x 768 pixels
Display size 13.3 inches
Storage
Drives included 1.0
Other storage
  • SD/MMC Card
  • SDHC Card
Drive type Solid-State Drive
Drive size 256.0 GB
Battery
Vendor Rated Battery life 6.5 hours
Ports and Connections
SD/MMC Card 1
Video Interfaces HDMI
MultiMedia Card (MMC) or MultiMediaCard (MMC) Yes
Wireless connection 802.11 n
Available Interfaces
  • Bluetooth
  • Thunderbolt
Slots
  • SD/MMC Card
  • SDHC Card
SDHC Card or Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) 1
Green
Energy Star compliant 1.0
Dimensions
Weight with Accessories 3.3 pounds
Height 0.7 inches
Weight 2.6 pounds
Depth 8.9 inches
Width 12.8 inches
Sound
Speakers Stereo
Included Software
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Other Features
Devices
  • Built-In Microphone
  • Built-In Webcam
Input devices
  • Keyboard
  • Touchpad

Performance

Overall Performance
Worldbench Score 195
Worldbench Version 7
Battery
Battery Life 5:28  (hh:mm)
Start Up
Start Up 12.3  seconds (lower is better)
Office Productivity
PCMark 7 Productivity Suite 4039  score (higher is better)
Web Browsing
Web Performance 12.8  Frames per second (higher is better)
Storage Performance
File Compression 493.1  seconds (lower is better)
Hard Drive File Operations 49.4  seconds (lower is better)
Power Usage
WorldBench Green Score 92
Idle power usage 6.2  Watts
Working power usage 1.7  Watt hours
Content Creation
Image Editing 204.9  seconds (lower is better)
Audio Encoding 134.8  seconds (lower is better)
Video Encoding 184.7  seconds (lower is better)
Gaming
Crysis 2, Low Quality, 800x600 27.5  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 3, Low Quality, 800x600 44.5  Frames per second (higher is better)
Crysis 2, Low Quality, 1366x768 17  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 3, Low Quality, 1366x768 36.1  Frames per second (higher is better)
Crysis 2, High Quality, 800x600 19.5  Frames per second (higher is better)
Crysis 2, High Quality, 1366x768 12.3  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 3, High Quality, 800x600 25.3  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 3, High Quality, 1366x768 19.1  Frames per second (higher is better)
Gaming Score 72