Acer Aspire S5 nabs 'world's thinnest' ultrabook crown

Acer Aspire S5 nabs 'world's thinnest' ultrabook crown
S5 - a bit thin on the ground

Acer has kicked off CES 2012 with the announcement that it has created the world's thinnest laptop – the Acer Aspire S5 ultrabook.

The Acer Aspire S5 is only 15mm from its thickest point, is made of magnesium alloy and brushed metal and has a screen size of 13.3-inches.

You can check out TechRadar's video of the Aspire S5 from sunny Las Vegas below:

Acer announced it at its press conference in Las Vegas, with TechRadar in attendance, explaining that the ultrabook can be 'woken up' in just 1.5 seconds and includes a number of interesting features, such as Acer Always Connect. This handy little service allows those who are using it to manage the data on their computer without having to take it out of sleep mode.

There is also a feature where you can turn the computer on from a smartphone and log into such things as your emails and social networks.

Thunderbolt and lightning

Like the laptop it rivals, the MacBook Air, the Acer Aspire S5 has been given Thunderbolt technology so you should be able to manage transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps.

There's also USB 3.0 ports on board, an as-yet-unspecified Intel Core processor, SSD storage and audio functionality in the form of Dolby Home Theatre Audio.

When it comes to how well the battery works, Intel didn't actually show off the technology but did note that it will be up to three times as powerful as batteries on similar specced machines.

As this is the first the world has heard of this new ultrabook, the Acer Aspire S5 UK release date is still unknown but expect it to be in shops by the summer.

CES 2012 is set to be the year ultrabooks hit the mainstream, with the CEA predicting at least 50 new models to be released at the show this year.

TechRadar is in Las Vegas for CES 2012, so expect to see our Hands on: Acer Aspire S5 review shortly.

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.