Acer Ultrabook Spotted Early For $1,130 USD

By Kevin Parrish
published

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.

Kevin Parrish
20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Kamab
    Some competition in the aesthetic appeal category, finally.
    Reply
  • Assmar
    KamabSome competition in the aesthetic appeal category, finally.You knew it had to be Acer.
    Reply
  • drumsrule786
    Those asus ones sound pretty promising. Although I would still never buy one of these, sticking on an extra 25-50% to the price just for a thin notebook isn't worth it.
    Reply
  • Any 16:10 screens? That's what keeps me buying MacBook Pro's...
    Reply
  • ikyung
    drumsrule786Those asus ones sound pretty promising. Although I would still never buy one of these, sticking on an extra 25-50% to the price just for a thin notebook isn't worth it.Yeah, I agree. Until mobile computing progresses through heat dissapation and battery power problems, I'll stick with the regular 500-750 dollar laptops. But, it is really good to see them packing that much hardware in such a small form factor. Very close till we see the next giant step in mobile computing since the laptop.
    Reply
  • I'm very interested in these, a tablet is ok but I think an Ultrabook would be better.
    Reply
  • joytech22
    Intel HD 3000 graphics

    Instantly put me off.
    Reply
  • >> Intel HD 3000 graphics


    > Instantly put me off.

    Opposite for me. Guaranteed Linux support
    Reply
  • That price is most likely including the 20% sales tax, this should put it under the $999 limit. Either way computer products are usually a bit more expensive in Europe than in the US so you can't just use the currency to calculate a equivalent US price.
    Reply
  • jungleboogiemonster
    Why is everyone trying to compete with Apple? And in this case they can't even beat the price, so it's going to be another disaster. Try being innovative and come up with low cost products everyone can afford. You're not Apple and never will be, so stop trying.
    Reply