Acer Aspire S7 Notebook Review, Specs: Acer is hitting the homerun with the new $1,499 Acer Aspire S7-392-6411 Ultrabook. The second generation of the company's S7 series guarantees some updates, such as improved battery life, a better keyboard and a fourth-generation Intel Core i5 processor. But the Aspire hasn't discarded the aspects of the S7 we loved, namely the super-slim, all-white chassis and the 1080p touch-screen that continues to turn heads according to Laptop Magazine.

According to reviews, Acer can definitely make a pretty laptop. The lid of the S7 is an absolute vision in white, all-aluminum, unibody chassis, covered in Corning Gorilla Glass 2 with the silver border that lines the lid as well as the light-up Acer logo in the center.

The lid is about a millimetre shorter than the deck that makes opening the notebook a bit difficult. When closed, the lid shows off the sturdy, rounded, silver hinge that enables the display to tilt back a full 180°.

The keyboard deck has its matte silver silky feel. The sides of the deck are curve upward at a gentle angle and how the keyboard resides in a subtle recess.

The power button is hidden along the left side of the laptop toward the hinge which according to Laptop Mag could have been better if on plenty of space on the deck.

The following is Laptop Magazine's comprehensive review of the Aspire S7 Notebook:

Display: The Aspire S7's 13.3-inch, 1080p display vivid colors particularly blues, greens and yellows. Viewing angles were broad that will allow viewers to move past 45 degrees in either direction.

This notebook's screen measured a bright 329 lux on our light meter, beating the 236-lux ultraportable average. The S7 also outshone the ATIV Book 9, the Air and the Pro 13, which scored 284, 263 and 237 lux, respectively, says Laptop Mag.

Audio: Acer Aspire S7's pair of speakers is on the bottom of the notebook. Making muffled audio that barely fills a small room that will serve for a small audience. The Dolby Home Theater v4 software did little to alleviate the hollowness on music. The keyboard was clear, as were the vocals, but the bass was virtually nonexistent.

Acer has also included its Purified.Voice technology, which the company claims will eliminate background noise and volume reduction during video chats and VoIP calls. During the magazine's test Skype call, the caller reported loud and clear audio when reviewers are in the general proximity of the Ultrabook. When they began to move around the room, however, the caller said their voice became distant. He could also hear the keystrokes as they typed.

Keyboard and Touchpad: The Aspire S7's gray, island-style keyboard has relatively well-spaced keys with electroluminescent backlighting, it's easy to keep typing in dim situations. Better yet, the lighting automatically adjusts depending on the ambient light levels. The Tilde button is much larger than the Caps Lock key, and the Left Tab button is undersized. There's also more than enough room for a row of function keys -- no need to double them up with the number keys.

Performance: For such a svelte laptop, the Acer Aspire S7-392 packs quite a wallop. Its 1.6-GHz fourth-generation Intel Core i5-4200 CPU with 8GB of RAM ably streamed an episode of "Breaking Bad" from Netflix while performing a system scan with 8 open tabs in Google Chrome, Firefox and IE.

Configurations: Our $1,499 configuration of the Acer Aspire S7-392 features a 1.6-GHz Intel Core i5-4200 CPU with 8GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD and an Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPU with 128MB of VRAM. The $1,699 model (S7-392-9890) has a 1.8-GHz Intel Core i7-4500U processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and an Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPU with 128MB of VRAM.

The 4.2 x 2.4-inch Synaptic touchpad is both spacious and responsive, a great improvement over the original S7. Performing Windows 8 gestures, such as summoning the Charms menu and switching apps, was a fluid experience. Two-finger scroll and rotate were also smooth and reliable.

After 15 minutes of streaming a full-screen Hulu video on the S7, the notebook's touchpad measured a cool 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The space between the G and H keys and the S7's undercarriage were slightly warmer, at 84 and 85 degrees, respectively. All of these measurements are below our comfort threshold of 95 degrees. Nevertheless, the previous S7 registered a cooler 75, 80 & 80° in the same locations.

On the PCMark 7 benchmark, the S7 notched 5,051, well above the 3,800 ultraportable averages. The Sony VAIO Pro 13 and its 1.8-GHz Intel Core i7-4500U CPU scored 4,698. The Samsung ATIV Book 9's 2-GHz Intel Core i7-3537U processor posted 4,490.

During Geekbench, the S7 notched 5,184, failing to meet the 6,082 average. However, the S7's score placed it only slightly behind the ATIV Book 9's showing of 5,187. The Pro 13 did somewhat better, with 5,507, while the MacBook Air and its 1.7-GHz Intel Core i7-4650U processor scored 8,333.

The Acer Aspire S7-392-6411 comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Source: www.kdramastars.com