More details on the spot during the last months before the release of the S5. The final model is seen with a Core i7 Ivy Bridge, in order that a lot of S3 refined and improved over the previous year, and adjust the prices of everything: the $ 1,399 it is one of the most expensive ultra-books on the market. You can compete with devices like the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 $ 799, Acer has a lot to do to prove that the S5 is worth the extra cost. How it fares? Let's find out.
Hardware / design
ACER ASPIRE S5 pictures
S5 perk of business class: dark gray, brushed aluminum body and minimalist, self-contained, broken only by a shiny silver Acer logo on the lid. Body without the sticker is clear: Intel and Windows Logo on painting at the bottom of the device banned. There are some small signs on the face of the laptop - Dolby logo and the words "professional Tuned" on the keyboard, and the Aspire S5 emblem below - but they also mix in the unit largely unnoticed.
This is the thinnest book and we are ultra one of the lightest we've tested, tested, 15.2 mm thick and 2.65 pounds - is it feels lighter than the MacBook Air small bites, but it seems the whole world as the unibody to save a little piece at the bottom. This is a machine, elegantly formed, and it is clear that care in the design of Acer. It is probably not immediately eye-catching out there, but I'm definitely a fan
DIMENSIONS (in.) Thickness Weight (lbs)
S5 has a special feature, however, you'll probably hear of them before they see you. At first glance, there are exactly two ports on the S5 - SD Card Slot (itself pretty well hidden in a tapered edge, although the card is used sticks in the middle) and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The rest of the I / O lineup lives in a hidden panel on the back called MagicFlip who got out of the bowl as needed (or when the fan is needed, ie on the same field). You press a physical button on the right side of the keyboard, and the motorized door on the back of the machine lifted the back of the entire laptop about a quarter inch of soil. MagicFlip seems completely unnecessary, but even worse by a horrible grinding noise caused panel quirk when it is best to describe how moved I will never get used to it, no matter how long I use the S5 "Something terrible abuse." Wish there is noise, horrible shrill, and it does not make you to lower the panel, but of course it does automatically every time you turn off your computer (unless something is in, plugged in obviously), and then raised again - each time the S5 gets hot and takes power fan
SHE is not a sound to THIS
MagicFlip is weird but at least contain a relatively complete port option: You get a full-size HDMI, two USB 3.0 jacks and Thunderbolt port. Important is not the only one Ethernet port, but fortunately the USB to Ethernet adapter is easy to obtain. Port next to the big hole in the plate MagicFlip, and under the rear-facing speakers. The power button on the left side of the S5. It feels much more like the power of a phone - a key, soft sole that feels like it belongs on the slide keyboard - and it's also very easy, by chance, just a bit weird to press set for a laptop.
A quick note about the port Thunderbolt: S5 ultra book is the first to add a cover, and one of a handful of Windows laptops, period. At this point, Thunderbolt is not a very important feature for laptop - there are not many accessories or drive that sets the standard. But all signs indicate that the rapid changes, with Thunderbolt as a portal for everything from storage to display, an external graphics card for less powerful computers like the S5. Thunderbolt future purchase of a computer security step is intelligent, and definitely something worth considering if you plan to keep your ultra-book for a while.
Display and speakers
1280 x 800 IPS panel, which is the same as almost every other tablet before. "Now the S5 a 13.3-inch, 1366 x 768 LCD panel is almost identical to most other ultra-book ever. This is a nice view, but frustrated that covers the screen with Acer Lenovo U310 $ 799. But again, this is a very handsome appearance, great is bright enough and with decent (if a little washed) color. horizontal viewing angle, but look at the S5 from the top or bottom and color are almost reversed, I just worry about for lying bed with the computer next to me playing video Netflix, and with some trickery, you can always be the angle that works -. Fortunately MagicFlip not get much of a good angle with each other.
The audio quality is functional, but far from impressive. Two of the speakers S5 at the lower edge of the computer and is disposed of the third MagicFlip that the back. Setup worries, but they are much harder and really spread a good job with the help of a table or your lap to the sound. Sound does not get damaged at maximum volume, but that's because the compression is raging here: cut the top and bottom of almost every song, to the point where the bass-heavy songs in total appear to lose track and instruments. There is some software that you choose which Dolby EQ several different profiles, but the changes are relatively small. Speaker S5 was good enough for parents to watch how I met your mother repeats, but if you want to listen to music in order to reach a pair of external speakers or headphones.
Keyboard and Trackpad
Love: a chiclet keys are arranged well and have a good clack beautiful and pleasant journey, even if they do feel a bit flat and thin. Hatred: The PgUp and PgDn are next to the arrow keys, the little stuffed all - I've never had the right to hold any link. Love: There are many function keys, and very easy to get things like the volume or the brightness of the screen to do. Hatred: They are all secondary functions, so you have the blue Fn key first press - I hope they are the primary key, and you have to press an extra button to press F12. (Has anyone even the F1-F12 again?) Love: The key is also set slightly lower than the palm rest, so that you can rest your finger on the button perfectly without undue strain. Hate: no backlight, so it often fold the screen down so you can see the button.
Get purely for the purpose of typing, you really like the S5 keyboard, and write straight to the point where I as fast as I could on your MacBook Air. But (God forbid) for navigation, tweak settings, and a game that goes with the arrow keys, it's a bit chaotic.
GREAT for writing, SO-SO for everything else
Why Create Windows Trackpad
Trackpad is on the other side a bit messy all the time. Beginning with the materials: matte texture, almost sticky, so that the fingers (and hence the cursor) glide pad instead of stuttering on gently. Surprisingly, I found that lick my fingers before using the trackpad really helps a lot - it's like the S5 needs just a little WD-40. Two-finger scrolling is very stuttery, like pinch-to-zoom. On the bright side, palm rejection very well, so you will not accidentally brush the trackpad and move the cursor while typing.
Of the people I try to count the number on a Windows machine with an external mouse, and those using a Mac with an external mouse. The majority of Windows users who use an external laptop, and see only one or two Mac users with a separate hand. Could not be clearer: people out of their way to avoid Windows trackpad even on a small table, and the least able to tolerate Apple. MacBook trackpad is one of the biggest reasons that our favorite ultra-air book running Windows, and if the S5 is any indication of a steady state.
Software and Performance
refer to the amount of bloat software on Aspire S5. In addition to the standard faithful ol '- a McAfee anti-virus applications that nags constantly update and scan and give the money - there are many surprised many third party applications. Evernote and Skype comes pre-installed, along with Barnes & Noble Nook applications and AUPEO! Online radio service. There are a lot of Acer crapware also inspired by a backup manager for webcam applications and applications for the cloud, Acer Group and DLNA service - nothing bad, but nothing is really needed. There are also crippled version of Office 2010 installed, which is good to do things like read and edit Word documents, but not much.
Fortunately, most applications are not dangerous (many can be removed, even), and they do not appear to adversely affect the performance of the S5 have. Aspire 1399 USD S5 which is powered by an Intel 1.90GHz Core i7-3517U, 4GB RAM, Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics and 256GB SSD (RAID 0 actually two 128GB SSD, which is still better performance and use Thunderbolt) powered . This is how we would expect in view of these requirements and are in practice very excited about this. Last game pretty unplayable on integrated graphics, although lower resolution setting, I can sometimes beat themselves with functional experience. But the S5 is not to interfere with a couple dozen browser tabs, a lot of movies and lots of music and use of applications. S5 boots in about 15 seconds, and wake from sleep in three.
PCMarkVantage 3DMarkVantage
Sequential read and write performance of the two stars - a standard AS-SSD, the drive is theoretically capable of about 650-700MB / s, you probably will not get more than one USB 3.0 port or even a bang blazes but in practice still: I transferred a single 2.03GB file from the USB drive was 3.0 in 16.9 seconds, and 87 1.67GB of files in 16 seconds yet. With the SSD External ELGATO Thunderbolt port, things are even faster: large file took 12 seconds or folder and take 11th That's pretty fast, and was supported by a two-drive RAID setup - the computer can write to them at the same time, so that the transfer occurs more rapidly.
Everything was a solid player, and if you try to play Max Payne 3, you have some performance problems when using the S5, and nothing I have not seen on other computers.
Batteries, heat and noise
No two ways about it: S5 Aspire can be hot. Such as burning - foot-hair-heat. The heat is concentrated in the back of the computer, just below the odd pop-up panel I / O. The rest of the chassis remains relatively cool, so if you should use the S5 over the counter to be a problem, but with this laptop at your own risk namesake position. (For what it's worth, MagicFlip trick also works on her lap, and open or closed panel does not change much about how to use the machine.) The tradeoff is that the device is relatively quiet - the fan kick almost immediately but it is never very hard. It is quieter, but much hotter than the MacBook Air, 2011, and I'm definitely trading volume for the round cooler.
The battery was not impressive: a 4-hour and 24 minutes on the test battery, and the length in regular use. The test consisted of cycling through the 100 Web site popular and high-res images with brightness set to 65 percent, and daily use of a write much tweeting, e-mail, Rdio listening, and the hunt for the latest episode of The Newsroom online. 4.5 hours for an ultra disappointing book (though still solid for the laptop in general), but not too surprising, given the relatively meager S5 2310 mAh battery. This may not be the machine for field staff, especially when we have upwards of seven hours of devices such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X230 and nearly six hours in Zenbook Prime UX31A.
At least you are warm in winter'S DAY
BATTERY LIFE
Wrap-up
Almost the whole package, BUT is too expensive, $ 1,399 for "fast"
It is undisputed that the Acer Aspire S5 is a nice piece of technology. There is also a fairly strong, do the ultra-books, and for the average user to almost anything you have not only a good trackpad. RAID SSD is very fast, and offers more storage space than most ultra-books. Thunderbolt port is also a great addition and is something everyone should at the next computer start to consider - a standard that will only spread further, and you can future proof your machine now do well. But that may not be important for many users, and the S5 does not have other benefits that it pays to make hundreds of dollars more than the competition. The battery is not impressive, the odd weak MagicFlip sure trackpad, and a few thorny issues, he has some real drawbacks. S5 is a good laptop, sure, but would expect for $ 1,399, better than "good."
Part of the appeal is ultra-books, that there is only so much variation. The current round of ultra-books almost everywhere have a long battery life, faster processor, and a thin body. What makes the Acer even harsher statement, please contact one of the most beautiful models we have seen, but if the performance is not significantly better, it is may be difficult to justify the cost.
HARDWARE
Laptop type Ultraportable
Weight 2.65 pounds
SOFTWARE
Operating system Windows 7
DISPLAY (BASE)
Screen size (diagonal) 13.3 inches
Technology LCD
Backlight LED
Resolution (X) 1366 px
Resolution (Y) 768 px
KEYBOARD
Type Chiclet
MOUSE
Type(s) Trackpad
PROCESSOR (BASE)
CPU brand Intel
CPU family Ivy Bridge
Model Core i7-3517U
Turbo clockspeed 3 GHz
GPU (BASE)
Graphics type Integrated
Integrated GPU brand Intel
Integrated GPU model HD Graphics 4000
MEMORY
Base RAM size 4 GB
RAM type DDR3
STORAGE
Options Flash Memory (SSD)
Base drive type Flash (SSD)
Base drive capacity 256 GB
Card reader Yes
AUDIO
Speakers
2
Audio brand Dolby Home Theater
WEBCAM
Effective pixels 1.3 megapixels
PORT OPTIONS
USB 3.0 2
Thunderbolt 1
HDMI 1
3.5mm mic / headphone combo 1
CONNECTIVITY
Wi-Fi Yes
Wi-Fi options 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a
Bluetooth Yes
Bluetooth version 4.0
BATTERY
Size 2310 mAh
Chemistry Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)
Quoted time 6.5 hr
