IT Maestro Starter of Conversations & Talent seeker at Discovery
Ultrabooks are nothing new. Ever since Apple famously launched the MacBook Air in 2008, PC enthusiasts were chomping at their collective bit to get a similar device for their Windows needs.
Fast forward a few years and most of the manufacturers offer an ultrabook alternative to the ‘cult of the Mac’. Whether it is a ThinkPad, ATIV Book or VAIO, an XPS, Spectre, or Portege, few have successfully been able to get the balance between performance and portability just right.
Cynics might add the hefty price of these machines but given that it is competing with Apple products in both the looks and functionality departments, I tend to be a bit more forgiving when it comes to budget. That doesn’t mean I’ll be lining up any time soon to buy one, but there are plenty of people who can afford to spend good money on these expensive toys.
Be that as it may, the Acer Aspire S7 ultrabook might just be the one to change my mind (if not the size of my available budget). It might seem trite to say that this is not your typical ultrabook but just one look at the S7 should be enough to show it. It is thin, it is light, and it is an absolute beauty to look at. Featuring an aluminium unibody, it is less than 13mm ‘thick’ making it one of the thinnest ultrabooks around. In terms of weight, well, it is completely negligible as traditional pen and paper notebooks feel heavier to carry around.
Some users who are not fans of Windows 8 might baulk at the idea of using the operating system on such a beautiful device but the performance you get from the S7 using both the keyboard and touchscreen make these arguments irrelevant. While I am used to using Windows 8 in ‘desktop mode’ almost exclusively, having a powerful touchscreen device made for a very pleasant (and intuitive) experience.
The battery life of approximately five hours might not be enough for some of the more power-hungry users, but it is a small price to pay considering the processing power of the S7. In addition, the fact that it is such a thin machine means the keyboard is quite flat on the surface when you type. Of course, this criticism is true for any ultrabook but it still takes a while to get used to typing with a slightly different wrist position than usual. This is a minor issue as you are bound to get into the swing of things within a few days of use.
An i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a solid state hard drive configured to your size specifications mean the S7 packs quite a punch for its diminutive size. Yes, the price of roughly R24,000 depending on where you go will pour cold water over many dreams of owning this beauty. Yet, it quickly became ‘my precious’ and a device I did not want to give back. So that has to count for something.
For the high-flying executive looking for an alternative to the Mac, then the S7 is definitely the one to get.
http://www.acer.co.za/ac/en/
Reviewed by http://bit.ly/1k2zdff
