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The Acer Aspire S 13 may not win prizes for being the thinnest nor the lightest Ultrabook around, nor does it come close to the 13 hours of battery life it promises when it's used extensively. But the impressive list of features, coupled with its relatively high performance, make it a very attractive buy. The sweet price for a system that includes 512GB of SSD storage and touchscreen doesn't hurt either.
We liked
Acer packs a ton of features into a small package, so you can have a highly portable notebook without having to sacrifice performance. The matte screen is excellent, even if it is a little too dark for our liking.
Additionally, applications, web pages and streaming services all loaded with exceptional speed. Best of all, you get features such as a 512GB SSD and a matte touchscreen at a very competitive price.
We disliked
Although the white etched exterior is attractive, we're not a fan of how it makes everything except the hinge feel like it's plastic. More importantly, we were disappointed by how the Aspire S 13 doesn't live up to its promised battery life when running applications locally.
The annoying high-pitched whine of the fan, which blows heat out from the back hinge, practically sounds like a scream for mercy when the computer is exerting itself.
Final verdict
In an increasingly crowded Ultrabook market, the little Aspire S 13 manages to stand out among the competition. It's tough to find an affordable notebook with as many features. While the Acer has its flaws, its performance more than makes up for it, and the price for all those features is too good to overlook.
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