An Italian online retailer is currently listing Acer's Ultrabook S3 – previously dubbed as the Aspire 3951 – for a non-Intel-friendly price of around $1,130 USD (€786). The base unit features a 13.3-inch screen measuring just 13-mm thick, an Intel Core i5-2467M processor, 4 GB of RAM, 320 GB of HDD space coupled with 20 GB of SDD space, and Intel HD 3000 graphics.
Tuesday Asus chairman Jonney Shih said the he expects both his company and Acer to rule the Ultrabook market for a while given that Dell and Toshiba are supposedly taking a cautious approach, and because HP is "abandoning" its PC business. Asus plans to hold a Ultrabook-themed press conference in October to reveal 5 or 6 models that are expected to ship this year alone.
By comparison, the upcoming Asus UX21 will measure 7-mm at the back and thinning out to a mere 3-mm at the front. It will be powered by Intel's 1.7 GHz Core i5-2557M processor (up to Core i7) and feature metal chiclet keys, a glass touchpad, 64 GB or 128 GB of storage, a mini-DisplayPort, a mini-HDMI port, USB 3.0 ports and more.
In related news, Samsung's upcoming Series 7 notebooks reportedly fall within Intel's Ultrabook specs, measuring less than an inch thick. Consumers will have a choice of 14-inch and 15.6-inch models which will sport an HD+ (1600 x 900) high resolution, a matte display featuring 16 million colors and 300 nit brightness.
In addition to the screen, the overall specs will include the second-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, AMD Radeon HD6750M or HD6490M graphics, up to 8 GB of DDR3 RAM and up to 750 GB of HDD space. There's also 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, 3W (1.5 W x 2) stereo speakers, a 1.3MP and card reader. The Samsung Series 7 will be available starting October 2, 2011, and will retail between $999 and $1,299 USD, depending on the model.
