We've tested the first generation of ultrabooks, and so far we've liked what we've seen.

This attractive blend of performance and portability might not be new (as Apple fanboys will be quick to point out), and we're not sure why it's taken Intel's intervention to stimulate manufacturers into producing mini laptops such as the Acer Aspire S3-951. However, for anyone who's a regular road hog, the ultrabook is an enticing prospect.

We liked

The Acer Aspire S3-951's slender chassis may not be as stupefyingly thin or sleek as the Asus Zenbook, but it's still compact enough to fit in almost any bag. It's also impressively tough considering the girth, with a firm lid and tough body.

We were impressed by the excellent Intel Core i7 processor performance, and saw next to no slowdown when running several applications at once. Multimedia software runs fine, and the ultrabook starts up and shuts down in no time at all.

If you need a machine to bash out emails and documents on the move, the Acer Aspire S3-951's keyboard will do the job. It isn't too cramped, despite the compact frame, with the exception of the miniscule arrow keys.

We disliked

Unfortunately, for a laptop marketed on its portability, the Acer Aspire S3-951's battery life is pants. Just two and a half hours of movie playback on a single charge is below average, even for a bog-standard entry-level laptop.

We also had massive issues with the touchpad. Those integrated mouse buttons are a massive pain, and we resorted to tapping the surface to select menu options instead.

Anyone with a huge media collection will need to cart around an external hard drive, because only 200GB of storage space is available on the 240GB SSD.

Final verdict

While the Acer Aspire S3-951 is a well-built and powerful ultrabook, which offers good value for money, we were more drawn to the Toshiba Satellite Z830 and the Asus Zenbook. However, a cut-price Core i5 version of the Acer Aspire S3-951 can be had if your budget is tight, and nobody will be disappointed by the excellent performance of this Core i7 model.