14 DAY TRIAL // The Ultrabook concept is one that has yet to spawn many working models, but this will start to change in September, provided a recent report is true and pricing issues don't shut down the form factor before it starts shipping in earnest.
When Intel outlined the Ultrabook initiative, the very thin form factor exhibited by the laptops definitely drew some attention.
After all, one cannot truly scoff at an item that, while integrating a physical keyboard and better than average laptop specs, is no thicker than a media slate.
Granted, the products might have to deal with less than stellar pricing conditions, what with Intel refusing to charge less for their CPUs, unlike for others.
Now, a report made by Digitimes has given something of a fairly accurate time frame for the arrival of the ultrabook developed by Acer.
September is when prospective buyers can expect the item to show up for order, at a price of $769 to $960.
The previously leaked Acer Aspire 3951 features a design that might turn out to be quite the threat to Apple's MacBook Air.
It has supposedly gone through two, or more, revisions to the internal workings and will have a screen size of 13.3 inches, at least at first.
The hard disk drive will have between 250 GB and 500 GB, though a 160 GB SSD can be selected instead.
Additionally, one needn't worry about connectivity and I/O, as Acer made sure to include Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI, USB, WiFi, a memory card slot, etc.
All things considered, the lower limit of the costs is actually fairly reasonable for a product type that had $1,000 as the expected price mark.
The main competition it will face will be on the part of the ASUS UX21, though whether the race manages to ensure any measure of general Ultrabook affordability is still up in the air.