What you should know:
The Acer Aspire S7 is one of the sharpest-looking laptops of 2012. It's incredibly thin and light, although the glass-covered lid makes it a bit top-heavy. The HP Envy Spectre had a similar glass-heavy design, putting glass on the back of the lid and the wrist rest. Here the wrist rest is thankfully glass-free.
The rest of the body is aluminum. Acer calls it a unibody chassis, much as Apple does, which means the base of it is carved from a single block of material. Its materials and coloring are different from a MacBook, but there's a certain stylistic similarity.
The Acer Aspire S7 is one of the sharpest-looking laptops of 2012. It's incredibly thin and light, although the glass-covered lid makes it a bit top-heavy. The HP Envy Spectre had a similar glass-heavy design, putting glass on the back of the lid and the wrist rest. Here the wrist rest is thankfully glass-free.
The rest of the body is aluminum. Acer calls it a unibody chassis, much as Apple does, which means the base of it is carved from a single block of material. Its materials and coloring are different from a MacBook, but there's a certain stylistic similarity.
The screen itself has a full 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, which is a great premium feature to have on a 13-inch laptop, and at least part of the reason this system is so expensive. Many PC makers have told me that adding touch to an ultrabook screen will add some thickness, but in this case, the lid still seems very thin, with decent off-axis viewing and a screen that's glossy, but not overly reflective.
What it offers:
One of the few standout products from the first wave of Windows 8 laptops, the Acer Aspire S7 proves that Apple does not have a monopoly on great design.
The advantage:
The Acer Aspire S7 is a premium-looking ultrabook, with great performance, strong battery life, and a high-res touch screen.
The unfavorable:
The expensive S7 is priced well beyond most other touch-screen Windows 8 laptops. The touch pad is not as responsive as it should be.
The price:
$1,649.99
What it offers:
One of the few standout products from the first wave of Windows 8 laptops, the Acer Aspire S7 proves that Apple does not have a monopoly on great design.
The advantage:
The Acer Aspire S7 is a premium-looking ultrabook, with great performance, strong battery life, and a high-res touch screen.
The unfavorable:
The expensive S7 is priced well beyond most other touch-screen Windows 8 laptops. The touch pad is not as responsive as it should be.
The price:
$1,649.99
