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Acer makes available Aspire S3 Ultrabook w/ Core i7

Teaser
The new model will include a Core i7 CPU and a 240GB SSD and will be available this week for $1299

In our review of the Aspire S3, we criticized Acer’s decision to include a hybrid HDD and SSD storage solution as other Ultrabooks with pure SSDs can perform significantly faster. Now, Acer has finally released an Aspire S3 model without the HDD and only with SSDs.

The new model otherwise shares similar features to the original Aspire S3. This includes the 13.3-inch display with 1366x768 resolution, 2-second wakeup times, and a thickness of 0.51 inches (1.29cm). The CPU, however, will be upgraded to a Core i7 model and the storage will be a 240GB SSD. While the CPU is generally more power hungry than the Core i5, overall battery life may not be too far off from the original Aspire S3 due to the lower power requirements of the SSD.

The Core i7 Acer Ultrabook will be available for a hefty $1299, which is $400 more than the Core i5 model. Online retailers such as Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect are expected to carry the notebook by the end of this week, although a quick check on these sites reveals no such Aspire S3 model as of this writing. But, for $1299, this Acer could have a tough time fitting in with other similarly-sized Ultrabooks that are priced much lower, such as the Asus UX31 and Toshiba Porege Z830.

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Allen Ngo, 2011-11-17 (Update: 2012-05-26)