14 DAY TRIAL // Just a couple of days after unveiling the Aspire S3 ultrabook at the IFA 2011 fair which we attended, Acer has started selling this notebook in Hong Kong where it retails for the equivalent of $898, making the first ultrabook to reach the retail shelves.
We had the chance of going hands on with the device at the IFA 2011 fair and were fairly impressed with the build quality of the notebook as well as with its ultra-thin profile that measures a mere 13mm at its thinnest point (17mm thickest).
More importantly, the high-quality exterior finish is also mimicked by the insides of the device as the notebook can be configured to feature a wide series of Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors.
These go all the way up to the Intel Core i7-2637M, which fits inside its 17W TDP two computing cores with support for the HyperThreading technology clocked at no less than 1.7GHz (2.8GHz maximum Turbo frequency), 4MB of Level 3 cache as well as an Intel HD 3000 integrated GPU.
Intel's fast processors are backed by 4GB of system memory, a 250GB solid state drive or by a 500GB hard drive, and the notebook also offers support for SSD caching.
On the connectivity front things are just as interesting as the Aspire S3 comes with a full set of features including 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0+HSR as well as an HDMI port and a pair of USB 2.0 connectors.
The rest of the features list includes a 1.3 Megapixel webcam, an SD card reader, a single headset jack and a 13.3-inch display with a native resolution of 1366x768 pixels.
Also worth mentioning is the Acer Instant On technology that allows the notebook to resume from suspend in a mere 1.5 seconds and connect to the Web in an also impressive 2.5 seconds.
In Hong Kong, the Aspire S3 retails for $6,998 HK, which is the equivalent of $898 US. The Acer ultrabook is accompanied by a one year local and international warranty. (via VR-Zone)