Acer Aspire S7 Review: The PC Revival Is Late, But It’s Here

Laptops are at a spot right now where they should all be more or less excellent . Ultrabooks are into their third year of relevance , and the concealment and mainframe that are wide available are good enough that you’re able to piecemeal together a perfectly acceptable laptop computer from chaff , more or less . So making a outstanding one is about decisiveness . The Acer Aspire S7 made a cluster of good unity , against just a few obtuse ones . And the upshot place it in the vanguard of what ’s mold up to be a belated PC renaissance .

Laptops , as a chemical group , have undergo a massive shade over the past few twelvemonth . Three generations of ultrabooks , and the gap between the MacBook and Windows automobile has all but closed . The S7 is an almost perfect totem for that growth , with once - malign Acer run low from the tubby - but - pleasant S3 to the try - a - little - too - hard S5 to last yr ’s not - quite - there - yet S7 , Mark 1 . Acer ’s second effort here is a few points nearer to perfect , even if it ’s not quite there yet .

Design

The Aspire S7 is closely monovular to last class ’s 13 - inch good example . It ’s outstandingly thin , with a white Gorilla Glass lid and a glass panel 1080p touch display . Its body comprises a atomic number 12 bottom and a treated aluminium case . The metal give the physical structure a sturdy , no - flex feel ( though we still prefer the aluminium lid on the 11 - column inch fashion model ) , but the discussion do sort of leave you inquire if they ’re plastic .

Using It

A few things about the S7 are something close to perfect . The keyboard , for one , is endearing . The original S7 had keys that were sort of mushy , and did n’t have quite enough travel distance — that ’s fixed this yr . And importantly , there ’s zero flex to the keyboard ’s chassis . This is a crucial detail a lot of laptops make love up while try out to get tenuous or lighter , and they end up sense like junk . Not so here .

Acer ’s also stuck with the condense keyboard layout that has a few key in unexpected places . social occasion keys are gone , mean you guard the social function button for stuff like volume up or adjusting your brightness . It ’s an efficient and highly operational layout , even if the function symbols on the keys ugly them up some .

The projection screen is marvelous . It ’s got good colour public presentation and dividing line than just about anything that ’s not the Chromebook Pixel . That aver , it still suffers from Windows ’s misfortunate scaling ( yes , even in 8.1 ) . That ’s not Acer ’s demerit , but it ’s a reality you ’ll have to hold up with . At 1080p on a 13 - inch screen door , though , you wo n’t notice it as severely as you do on , say , the Toshiba Kirabook and its A-one hi - res screen . There is some light leak around the S7 ’s edges — the bottom especially on our social unit — but after look on a bunch of movies it was n’t visible unless you ’re attend at a pure black screen . In actual use , it ’s gorgeous . Just something to keep an heart on over long - full term use .

Hostinger Coupon Code 15% Off

There is some flex to the chapeau and blind , and it ’s still a shame that Acer insists on adhere with the Gorilla Glass hat instead of the flatly gorgeous aluminum intention on the 11 - inch . The flex , combined with the very minor beginnings of the promiscuous leakage around the border of the LED , is a little troubling . It ’s also worsened just a routine by a hinge that is n’t quite perfect . It ’s potent — Acer understands here that laptops should be slightly toilsome to move around when they ’re mostly open up than when they ’re in the procedure of opening — but is n’t quite steady enough when you ’re prod at it , and wobble a little .

Trackpad public presentation is top notch . The Synaptics trackpad on ours does n’t have quite the same expectant - car - door feel of the Pixel , but it ’s damn confining . It ’s decidedly on the top tier of trackpads , and its performance for canonical gestures ( two - finger scrolling being the independent one ) is as skilful as you ’ll see on a Windows outfit .

barrage spirit , as with everything else run on Intel ’s novel Haswell microprocessor chip , is telling . I got through full 9 + hour workday on a single charge a few times , typically running at just under 50 per centum cleverness , but pumping it up when adjust images . More commonly , I ’d run dry toward the terminal of the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. if I ’d been play a lot of video or had a gazillion lozenge opened , but it scored 5 hours 19 minutes on our fairly laborious battery trial ( 20 tabs , one-half of which ego - refresh , 10 - minute Nyancat picture streaming , 50 percent brightness , run until first shutoff around 5 percent , not final 0 percent ) , which is a massive improvement over last year ’s ultrabooks , and just a bit myopic of the high mark for this year .

Burning Blade Tavern Epic Universe

The full allotment of ports ( miniskirt - DisplayPort , HDMI , two USB 3.0 , and an Mount Rushmore State card one-armed bandit ) is also a surprisingly overnice feeling . The S7 does n’t have an Ethernet port ( the consistency is literally too thin for that ) , but it can handle pretty much anything else you ’d fuddle at it .

Like

The battery life , obviously , but exceptional if not selfsame assault and battery life is standard across every Haswell generation ultrabook . The cover is rattling , and especially good on colors compared to some other control board . It ’s only really matched by the new Sony Vaio . The keyboard is howling as well , and the trackpad performance is top pass . The things that are unspoilt about it are the things that are most functional .

The design is n’t quite beautiful , but the computer always feel well made . And , once you pluck what you desire within Windows , the fundamental carrying into action of the keyboard , trackpad , and display are all on peak . Those are the three most crucial points of interaction for any laptop , and the S7 nails them .

No Like

There ’s only one unfeignedly unintelligent thing about the S7 , and that ’s its might button . It ’s on the back - entrust side , and it is surprisingly easy to press . In fact , it ’s in the accurate location your index finger in all likelihood go when you go up an subject laptop . It ’s very annoying .

Otherwise , the keyboard layout deal a little getting used to , though it ’s ultimately fine . The hinge is decent , but for a touchscreen laptop computer , it ’s not quite firm enough where it needs to be unfluctuating , and a picayune loose where it should be unaffixed . It ’s still above medium , but it makes adjusting the projection screen or poking at it experience more shy than it should . The Speaker are also still in a really dim place for laptop ( bottom - front ) and do n’t redeem sound as well as they could . A few times , I found myself cup my hands under them to reflect auditory sensation when I baby-sit the calculator on my lap . And the baron cord is kind of a bummer , with a smaller than medium nub that slips out from time to time — it ’s hunky-dory for now , but you get the sense that within a few years it might not be .

Test Notes

The S7 played BioShok Infinite on intermediate options at 720p at 40 + FPS , with no real publication .

Giz Standard Battery Test : 5 hours 19 moment

For some idiot grounds , the SD card placeholder is n’t a get-up-and-go - to - exhaust — you’ve bring forth to jam your fingernail in there . I bite mine , so it was a pain .

Ideapad3i

The S7 comes with a fairly well made and deeply , inexcusably surly showcase . Replace this as shortly as you mayhap can ; if you ’re spending this much on a laptop computer , get it a right example .

devotee are very quiet , even while running a plot .

passion licentiousness was never an issue either , with most of it congregating in the large , cleared out area above the keyboard .

Last Of Us 7 Interview

During battery testing , Chrome crash once or doubly , but was fine for day - to - day , less idiotic uses .

Should You Buy This

Yes . Hell yes . This has been my favorite Windows laptop to date . The14 - inch Razer Bladewas pretty wonderful as well , but its screen was too much of a letdown . We still need to take a expression at the refreshed versions of other top ultrabooks — especially the Samsung Ativbook 9 ( formerly Series 9 ) and Lenovo Yoga — but this is a damn fine laptop .

https://gizmodo.com/razer-blade-2013-now-this-is-how-you-make-a-damn-windo-647053117

Processor : Intel Core i5 Haswell 1.6GHz ( up to Core i7 )

Anker 6 In 1