The Acer S3 isn’t the best looking Ultrabook. I think most agree on that but this Champagne-coloured version is a step in the right direction, especially with the high-contrast keyboard which fixes one of the minor complaints I had about the original S3. In this video I give you a quick overview of the changes. I’m assuming the S3-391 is available immediately.
The LGNote X330 is a smart-looking Ultrabook that I’d really like to get in for a review as soon as possible. In a short testing period today at CeBIT I was able to test the keyboard and screen, take a look at the build quality and ports. Unfortunately there’s a micro-sd card slot instead of a full SD card slot which limits its usability.
Overall though it seems to have some really good quality features. The keyboard feels really nice and the screen pops nicely.
Check out more in the video below.
Touch is coming!
I think myself and a number of other tech bloggers have written that more than once over the last 5 or so years but in this case, in 2012, we’ve got a market that appears to be primed, hardware that can take advantage of it and operating systems that are build around it. I’m not talking about Android or IOS tablets, I’m talking about Windows PCs.
With Windows 8 looking towards mobile touch and the Ultrabook and Tablet platforms from Intel and AMD pushing in that direction too there’s a very good chance that developers will hook into the ecosystem and complete the circle.
We’re once again working closely with the great team over at Netbooknews.com. Sascha, Nicole, Roland and Andrzej have put of some great CeBIT content for their English and German audiences so, after you’ve checked out our Vodcast below, head over to Netbooknews.com or Netbooknews.de to check them out.
In the vodcast Nicole Scott and I take the chance to talk about Touchscreen Ultrabooks, Windows 8, applications and app stores. We’ve also got the Intel touchscreen reference design and give you a little overview of that. Enjoy!
Touchscreen Ultrabooks are coming. Intel seems to be convinced, based on their research, that there’s a market for them and are pushing them with ISVs. They’ve created a reference design that’s very complete and, in my opinion, likely to appear in near identical form later in the year. We took a quick look around the touchscreen Ultrabook reference design and you can check it out in the video below…
Thin and beautiful but big and usable. The Series 9 15” is an exciting laptop to see, an exciting laptop to hold and and exciting laptop to use. The finishing on the Series 9 2012 is slightly less ‘out there’ compared to the 2011 Series 9, still a fantastic ultralight but loses nothing in terms of style. 1.4KG, 1600×900 screen, full SD card slot, Centrino 6230 Wi-Fi module and it looks like some great power consumption figures. We don’t have official figures but we think the battery capacity is a very usable 68Wh. [6200mah is given on specs and a (3×3) 6-Cell battery makes 68Wh] It would match Samsung’s claims of 10hr battery life. We measured some respectable minimum drain figures too…
At the Acer press event at CeBIT today we heard about the S5, the levitating Ultrabook!
It’s still the ‘thinnest in the world’ and still 15mm thick but we did manage to confirm some specs and get a little look at the device manager.
At the moment it’s being marketed as a 2nd-gen Core Ultrabook but it’s clear that unless Intel have some more, major delays on Ivy Bridge production that it will launch as a 2nd-generation Ultrabook with 3rd-generation Core CPU.
More images, along with the hands-on video, below. DOn’t forget to check the related posts below for information from CES.
The 11.6” version of the V5 (AKA as the Aspire One in low-end version) will launch at an entry-level price of €499. There was talk of discreet graphics, Core CPU and optical drives but this only applies to larger models with 14 and 15” screens. There will be a V5 11.6” with Core CPUs though and later this year you can expect an update to Ivy Bridge.
It’s an interesting low-cost ultrathin option although we’re seeing a rather small battery and learning that there won’t be an SSD version. The Acer Aspire One will be targeted at the netbook market although with no Atom versions planned, it’s an indicator of price and not performance.
See this article for press release and further specifications.
Check out the video, below the images.
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