Acer Aspire S5-391-9880

The Acer Aspire S5 - 391 to 9880 is aptly named . It aspires to be something special, to combine good design with uncompromising performance , to be a worth every penny of $ 1,399.99 ( direct ) price premium ultrabook . It Achieved most of its goals , just not enough of them. Offers the Aspire S5 strong performance and is equipped with a Thunderbolt port - a lightning - fast 10Gbps port previously found only on Apple laptop , but it falls short of delivering the kind of user experience we expect from a machine in this price range . The end result is an ultrabook that is perfectly adequate , if slightly dissatisfying .

Design 
The Acer Aspire S5 has a unique design , anchored in MagicFlip I / O Panel Acer , a powered rear hatch system . With the press of a button , has concealed panel opens up , revealing the laptop 's port . This motorized panel is a neat idea , but the execution left something to be desired . Port cover of plastic or rubber is in no need and irritating , but when pressing the button to open the hatch - you need to do any time you want to plug anything other than the headphones - it opens slowly with an electronic grinding sound . It is not a sound that inspired confidence , and I came away from the test concerned that , with long-term use , can not always open the hatch and I wish I could have access to even basic port . Although nothing ever goes wrong with the panel , it is an inconvenience that introduces another potential point of failure in design but adds nothing to the experience anyway.

While we are choosing to design flaws , we talk about some more advise. The chiclet - style keyboard is adequate , but in a laptop at this price should be backlit . And last but not least , although the clickpad is large and responsive , it does not have any marks or textures that distinguish the right and left buttons from the contact surface . Since the entire surface is clicked , users can see their own tend to accidentally right - click .

Display is pretty underwhelming , with the same 1366 -by - 768 resolution found in much cheaper system rather than something to match 1920 -by - 1 , 080 display found in the Zenbook Prime theAsus UX32VD - DB71 ( $ 1,299 list , 4 stars ) , or even the 1600- by- 900 screen of the Dell XPS 14 ( Summer 2012) ( 3.5 stars ) . Built - in speakers Aspire S5 is similar average : it is sufficient for understanding dialogue video , but audiophiles will not be met by their vain flat bass and overall quality .

These small issues are easy to recognize because the rest of the design is so good . The keyboard is slightly recessed , not a cookie - cutter inset , but with a gentle curved deck . Covered Burnished black aluminum lid and palm rest , and a magnesium - alloy frame keeps things light and durable , although the screen bezel and the underside of the laptop is black plastic . It is a look that is almost identical to that of the HP Envy 4 - 1043cl ( $ 1,034.99 direct , 4 stars ) . The laptop is also very thin , measuring 0.59 by 6.12 by 8.9 inches ( HWD ) , but it is worth mention that the Aspire S5 with a size less than 0.6 inch thick when closed . Open MagicFlip Aspire S5 panel and fattens up almost a full inch . It is also light , weighing a scant 2.58 pounds , lighter than the 2.85 - pound class - defining the Apple MacBook Air 13 - inch ( Mid 2012) ( $ 1,199 direct , 4 stars ) .