The Aspire S3 ships with a 1.6GHz Intel Core-i5 2467M low-voltage CPU that clocks in at 1.6GHz and offers a maximum Turbo setting of 2.3GHz. The laptop has 4GB of total system memory, but 0.15GB of that goes to the Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics. The 2467M CPU, with its 3MB of L3 cache, probably contributed to the model's middling WorldBench 6 score of 97. Battery life was a bit low for an ultraportable laptop, too, at just under 5 hours (the average for the category is around 6.5 hours).
Owing to Acer's use of integrated graphics, the Aspire S3 is no gaming powerhouse either. You can play some games at limited resolutions and detail settings, but serious gaming is best left to other systems.
The display has an average, 1366-by-768-pixel native resolution. When I sat in the sweet spot, the screen looked bright and colorful. Still photos looked good and HD content streamed over the local area network smoothly. However, streaming Netflix HD content looked even softer than it usually does. In addition, the LCD panel's range of angles for high-quality viewing is rather restricted, with noticeable color and contrast shifts at minor displacements from dead center.
Audio is another weak point. Even with the supplied Dolby Home Theater activated, stereo imaging was vague and seemed to wander from one side to another. Bass was utterly lacking, and volume levels were so low that I kept checking system volume levels and Windows Media Player volume controls to make sure that their levels were maxed out. You'll definitely want headphones for any serious audio work.
The Aspire S3 is deficient in ports and network connectivity, in part because of design constraints common to all Ultrabooks. On the rear are a pair of USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI connector. A lone audio jack appears on the left, and an SD Card slot on the right. There are no USB 3.0 ports. Admittedly, that array is only slightly worse than what you'd get with a MacBook Air, but the Air has a high-speed Thunderbolt port than can serve as both an I/O and a digital monitor connection.
Also like the MacBook Air, the Aspire S3 lacks an ethernet jack; the only connectivity is through 802.11n Wi-Fi. And unlike the Air and most other Ultrabooks, Acer's model lacks Bluetooth support.
Acer Aspire S3-951
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