Acer Aspire S3-951-6646
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Average of 15 scores (from 21 reviews)
Reviews for the Acer Aspire S3-951-6646
The first Ultrabook. Designed to directly tackle the MacBook Air for hundreds of dollars less, the Acer Aspire S3 has a lot to live up to. Find out here if this early Ultrabook has what it takes to take the ultrathin category crown away from Apple.
Source: T Break Archive.org version
Overall, the Asipre S3 is a good machine, however, it does not feel like a new category of a laptop. Yes, it it quite slim and wakes up and connects to your Wi-Fi fast along with offering a decent battery life and decent performance- but that is certainly not something unheard of. I think Intel should have made some more things mandatory for the Ultrabook platform- such as an SSD and a higher resolution screen.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 12/12/2011
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: PC Authority Archive.org version
The Ultrabook has landed and it delivers on the promise of ultra-thin and light computing for a reasonable price.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 12/07/2011
Rating: Total score: 83% price: 100% performance: 83% features: 83% ergonomy: 83%
Source: PC World Archive.org version
In the end, the Acer Aspire S3 attempts to be an affordable, visually attractive, and usable Ultrabook. It only partly meets those goals. The keyboard is mostly good, but the laptop's mediocre audio quality, lack of high-speed USB, shorter-than-average battery life, and modest performance make it less than appealing. Still, if you need a very thin, very light Windows PC for mostly nondemanding office and Web chores, the Aspire S3 may suit you.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 11/17/2011
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Good Gear Guide Archive.org version
While Acer is the first vendor to get its Ultrabook 'out there', the Aspire S3 unfortunately suffers from a lack of features and just feels a little underdone overall. It could use a backlit keyboard, some more connectivity (such as USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet) and we think a solid state drive should be standard for the price you're paying.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 11/07/2011
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Wired Magazine Archive.org version
The bottom line is that with this ultrabook, Acer is at least sending a message that real price competition can exist in this rarefied category of notebooks. Whether that will actually amount to a real price war is still an open question, but if nothing else, this category has at least become one worth watching now.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 10/18/2011
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: PC Mag Archive.org version
The Acer Aspire S3 is the first ultrabook we've seen, so it's a bit early to tell where it fits within the overall category. It has some definite high points, like a super thin profile, larger storage capacity, and affordability that is currently unmatched. But it also rang hollow on a few important notes: the build quality simply feels cheap, despite the magnesium lid, and the screen doesn't offer the same resolution offered by competitors. At the moment, the MacBook Air 13-inch or the Editors' Choice Toshiba Portege R835-P50X are stronger choices, but the ultrabook landscape will be changing rapidly, so stay tuned.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 10/15/2011
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: Engadget Archive.org version
We wanted to love the Acer Aspire S3, the same way we're rooting for all of these reasonably priced, impossibly skinny, long-lasting laptops that have the potential to give the MacBook Air a run for its money. Indeed, it's priced aggressively -- $200 less than the UX31 and $400 off the 13-inch Air.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/14/2011
Source: CNet Archive.org version
Call us skeptical (please do, we like it), but the Ultrabook concept always struck us as being a bit suspect. Intel has been pushing for several months the idea of a new class of laptops that are slim and powerful with excellent battery life. The Acer Aspire S3 is the closest you can get to the look and feel of a MacBook Air for less than $1,000, but it requires a few compromises.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/14/2011
Rating: Total score: 80% performance: 80% mobility: 70%
Source: Laptop Mag Archive.org version
Priced at $899, it's clear that Acer is trying to undercut its Ultrabook competitors, but in doing so, it had to make a few sacrifices. For example, the Aspire S3's chassis is plastic, not metal, and it has a mechanical hard drive, not an SSD. It's also missing the little niceties, such as a high-res display and a backlit keyboard. While we might be willing to compromise on those issues, the one area where we can't compromise is battery life, and unfortunately the S3 falls way short in that category. The less-sexy ASUS U36SD is also less than an inch thick, and it offers much better performance and 8 hours of battery life for around the same price as the S3. Or, for just $200 more, you can get ASUS' Zenbook UX31, which has a higher-res screen and a powerful 256GB SSD.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/12/2011
Rating: Total score: 50%
Foreign Reviews
FedergewichteSource: ZDNet DE→EN Archive.org version
Comparison, online available, Long, Date: 12/06/2011
Source: Connect - 1/12
Single Review, , Long, Date: 12/01/2011
Rating: Total score: 80% features: 80% ergonomy: 80%
Source: PC Welt DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 11/03/2011
Rating: Total score: 74% performance: 67% features: 71% display: 74% mobility: 80% ergonomy: 89% emissions: 82%
Source: Computerbild - 24/11
Single Review, , Long, Date: 11/01/2011
Rating: Total score: 88% performance: 95% features: 83% display: 87% ergonomy: 83% emissions: 89%
Source: Notebookcheck DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/31/2011
Rating: Total score: 76% performance: 74% display: 68% mobility: 83% workmanship: 80% ergonomy: 84% emissions: 88%
Source: ZDNet DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/21/2011
Rating: Total score: 72% price: 80% performance: 70% mobility: 60% ergonomy: 80%
Source: Blogeee FR→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 09/05/2011
Source: 3DNews.ru RU→EN Archive.org version
light, thin, cheap
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/17/2011
Source: Hi-Tech Mail RU→EN Archive.org version
Display too small and glossy, few ports, cheap
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/17/2011
Source: Laptop.bg BU→EN Archive.org version
Positive: slim, light, optics, battery; negative: sound
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 10/12/2011
Source: Notegear KO→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Very Long, Date: 10/15/2011
Comment
Series:
The Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook was one of the first ultrabooks to hit the market. The idea of the Ultrabook was introduced by Intel but not much of marketing had been done by them. As one of the firsts, all it had was the ‘Macbook Air lookalike’ identity. This isn’t that good to start with for the Aspire S3 as it doesn’t look as thin as the Macbook Air. The Aspire S3 also has the option to use a mechanical hard drive which gives it a significant disadvantage due to the inferior performance offered by a solid state drive offered by other manufacturers. The asking price is another unjustifiable issue. The Asus Zenbook and Dell XPS 13 are also priced around the same price range but they have much more to offer. Another issue with this ultrabook is its plastic-feel construction compared to the aluminium chassis on the Zenbook and carbon fiber feel of the XPS 13. The lack of a USB 3.0 port and backlit keyboard puts it behind most 13 inch ultrabook out there.
Being one of the earliest Ultrabook certainly has its downside. However, it’s not all bad. The Aspire S3 has a display that can tilt far back, more than any other ultrabooks that we’ve seen. It looks very much like the MacBook Pro but is much lighter and has the excellent boot time of Ultrabooks. It can wake up from sleep mode in about less than 2 seconds.
Intel HD Graphics 3000: Integrated graphics card in the Intel Sandy Bridge processors (Core ix-2xxx). The HD 3000 is the faster (internally GT2 called) version with 12 Execution Units (EUs).
Only some 3D games with very low demands are playable with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
2467M: Power saving ULV processor clocked at 1.6-2.3 GHz due to Turbo boost. Offers an integrated HD 3000 clocked at slow 350 / 1150 MHz and a DDR3-1333 memory controller.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
13.30":
There are hardly any tablets in this display size range anymore. For subnotebooks, on the other hand, it is the standard format.
The advantage of subnotebooks is that the entire laptop can be small and therefore easily portable. The smaller display also has the advantage of requiring less power, which further improves battery life and thus mobility. The disadvantage is that reading texts is more strenuous on the eyes. High resolutions are more likely to be found in standard laptops.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.Acer: In 1976, the company was founded in Taiwan under the name Multitech and was renamed Acer or Acer Group in 1987. The product range includes, for example, laptops, tablets, smartphones, desktops, monitors, TVs and computer peripherals. Since 2007, the group has merged with Gateway Inc. and Packard Bell, which also market their own laptop product lines.
Acer computers are designed for a variety of purposes, including ultrabooks for mobile use, gaming laptops for gamers, affordable options for everyday tasks, and 2-in-1 convertible laptops for versatility. Acer's product portfolio also includes tablets that offer portable computing and multimedia capabilities.
71.13%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.