ORIGINAL 7/4/2012 REVIEW:
I've been waiting for (stalking) this laptop since it was announced at CES, so when word came out that it was finally going to be available in June, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, Amazon kept saying it was still a pre-order, even well past the June 24th release date that Amazon published on their site (as of writing this review, Amazon provides for a 3-4 week shipping time). I was able to order it from another online retailer on July 2nd, and with overnight shipping had it in my hands on the 3rd.
At this point I've had the S5 for a little over 24 hours... but here is what I've seen.
The Good:
-Super fast load times, fast install times, just overall snappy response.
-The metalic case has a nice feel. Much nicer than the last Acer laptop I used (an Acer One Netbook)
-Video is clear and sharp to my eyes. I saw some of the forums complained about the resolution, but I use my computer for work and browsing, not gaming or watching hi-def videos.
-Comes with a blue-tooth mouse. This is probably in the product description someplace, but I hadn't noticed it. It appears to be the logitech V470.
The Mediocre
-The keyboard has a bit of a weird feel to it, though I understand this is a common issue with ultrabooks due to the lack of depth in the case. Doesn't feel bad, just weird.
-A couple times I've come close to dropping it when it started to slip out of my hands, may need to add some grip tape or something. This may just be me though.
-The Magic Flip I/O port is surprisingly noisy. I was expecting something a little more refined.
The Bad
-The screen hinge is a little soft, causing the screen to move back and forth when I type. More of an annoyance.
-In addition to the hinges being soft, the screen/clamshell-top is not very stiff, and feel a little flexy. It would definitely be nice if this were stiffer, just from a carrying around perspective.
So far I love this thing, but I'll update the review once I've used it for a few weeks in the real world. As this is a newly released hardware platform for Acer, I'm expecting to run into some bugs that require driver or firmware updates.
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UPDATED 8/28/2012
I've now been using this laptop as my main computer for almost two months (10+ hrs a day during the week, 5-6 hrs over the weekend), and still think it rates 5 stars. Here is my updated breakdown:
The Good:
-Battery Life: Still getting about 5-6 hrs depending on what I'm doing, I think if I turned down the brightness and ran in power saver mode I would have no problem hitting the advertised 6.5 hours.
-Thunderbolt: I was wondering what to do with this port until I tried plugging in a coworker's apple mini display port adapter, and was able to drive a 3rd monitor with no issues, so I picked up a cheap aftermarket adapter off Amazon. When I'm at my desk, I run two external monitors (1 off the thunderbolt, 1 off the HDMI) and the laptop monitor, and everything works pretty seamlessly.
-The keyboard: I'm completely used to the keyboard and have no issues typing on it.
-Still super light, super fast (even with all the junk I've loaded), and still very pleased with the machine overall.
The Mediocre:
-I had a few random shut downs and freezes, hard to tell whether this is the hardware or the OS, although this seems to have cleared up in the last 3 weeks.
-The Fan: It is noisy. And it runs a lot.
The Bad:
-It's 2012 and this is supposed to be an ultra portable, only desktops should have port in the back. Acer, why would you put the ports on the back when people are frequently picking up and moving the laptop? The ports would be much more convenient on the side rather than the back.
Things that no longer bother me:
-Magic Flip I/O port
-The soft screen hinge
Accessories I've purchased (and work):
-BlueRigger High Speed HDMI to DVI Adapter Cable (replace the HDMI/VGA dongle)
-Rocketfish Mini Display Port-to-VGA Adapter
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I got this laptop yesterday. I was in the market for an Ultrabook with all-SSD storage, which, it turns out, narrows down the options quite a bit. It turns out that most Ultrabooks have regular spinning drives for mass storage, plus a small SSD for quick booting, etc.
One unique feature is the "I/O door". Basically, during normal use, the USB, etc. ports are hidden. You press a button on the top-right area of the keyboard and a little motor activates and sort of extrudes the ports. The whole back of the laptop lifts a quarter inch or so. I didn't even know about the I/O door before I opened the package, so it wasn't a selling point for me. Seems like a decent idea--the ports should get less gunked up if they're hidden during normal unplugged use and when it's sitting in a bag.
Pros:
Very fast.
Very nice screen.
Boots hella fast.
All SSD storage, and enough of it for this to be your primary computer (256GB)
Good power consumption, although I haven't really tested it yet. It lasted several hours last night, and it was downloading gigabytes of updates and email the whole time.
Light (just over 2.5 pounds)
Thin
Comes with an HDMI-to-VGA adapter for older monitors
Cons:
Fan is somewhat noisy and runs most of the time. I guess that's what you get with so much awesome inside, but I feel like the cooling could be better designed.
I/O door is noisy. Not a big deal, but it surprised me the first time I opened it. If you have pets, they might freak out.
Could be a little sturdier. I was coming from a MacBook Pro, which was really solid. I don't expect problems with this, but you can tell it's made a little more cheaply.
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This is possibly one of the fastest laptops I have ever used in my life. With its usage of Solid State Drive and an Intel Core i7 Processor, its turning on time and shutting down time is blazing fast. From sleep mode, it will return to where you left at within 1 second and from a shut down mode to on, it takes less than 10 seconds. It's a ready when you need it laptop. A perfect one for business and school/college work.
It's slimness is fascinating considering the automated usb drives and such. The 250GB is a no problem if it is planned to be used for work instead of any media heavy/video game heavy files.
The Good/Benefits:
-It's ultra fast (1 second boot from sleep and 6 second boot from off)
-It's ultra slim
-Has Thunderbolt (Although there really is no purpose for this)
-Has 2 3.0 USB Drives
The Oks...
-Good enough screen (Not that clear, not that pixelized.
-Good enough Keyboard (The keyboard is a bit noisy when typing up in the night, and it could possibly disturb someone sleeping)
-A solid 6.25 Hours of Battery life
The disadvantages:
-Hot! Hot! Hot! (This laptop's temperature increases like crazy compared to others with just browsing)
-The screaming noise when you turn open and close the USB port thing.
-USB port thing opens and closes when it gets too hot for "more ventilation"
-Very noisy fan
Overall: If you don't mind the noise and put in ear plugs whenever you work, then you are completely find with this ultrabook. Just like how I'm writing this review with this laptop, you want to get more out of this speed!
Honest reviews on Acer Aspire S5-391-9880 13.3-Inch HD Display Ultrabook (Black)
I will probably keep this ultrabook, the geek hacker in me really likes the dark brushed maganesium/aluminum metal look everywhere including the keyboard. And the thin light nature of this, nice for taking in a backpack biking or to a coffee shop. My friend says the keyboard and touchpad look identical to the Mac Airbook, and given that the box said this is made in China, it would not surprise me if the same company makes some of the same components for both ultrabooks. I will likely buy a SquareTrade warranty off Amazon now that I have decided to keep this.
I don't use USB or Thunderbolt so the back ports that appear with the use of the magic button are not much use or of interest to me.
PROS:
Very cool brushed dark metallic magnesium aluminum finish, not 'plastic' like so many laptops.
Thin, and light
Boots insanely fast from both power on cold boot or from sleep suspend mode
Keyboard is fine, and I am a writer; I was worried about this from some reviews but it is not an issue for me.
Screen brightness and colors are fine, especially if you adjust the graphics (right click on desktop); some reviews talked about washed out colors-yes the screen is dimmer and more subdued if you are on power saving mode.
Audio is nice.
Touchpad is centered (i like that, so many today are way off to the left which makes no sense and is annoying when writing), large, wonderful, allows some gesture movements, etc.
CONS:
Battery life is not what one would hope given the competition of the Mac Airbook (12 hrs). Looking at something like 3-4 hrs out of the box here unless you dim the screen and turn off wifi (turning off wifi seems to give an extra 30 minutes, same with dimming screen. So, not listening to music or watching video, just typing, no wifi, dim the screen, you might tweak 4-5 hrs on a full battery charge.
It was a a painful experience to get the bluetooth mouse to work, might have had something to do with windows updates; ultimately if had to do updates, reboots, delete existing bluetooth mouse device then reinstall it, still unsure if it will 'stick'.
Why Acer put the audio earbud/headphone jack on the right side and far back near the hinge eludes me because that means the cord is all over in the way of where i normally use the fricken mouse. Why did't they put the audio jack port on the left?! Annoying design flaw! If I can figure out this bluetooth issue, i might just buy a bluetooth set of headphones and avoid the cord altogether.
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So far so good. This machine is a different experience. Let me set the stage.
I am 75, I do a lot of investing, I am big on photos, movies and the making of DVDs on a personal basis. I travel a lot. Add to that I have no cable service where I live in NH. And you can then see how important a mobile computer is to me. Smartphones will not do it for me and I really do not want to work in clouds or rely on some other system for my work.
I use a bigger computer for the big jobs. I currently have an HP 311 mini computer. It has been a great aid but it lacks power and is very slow. The S5 is clearly an incredible improvement. I can now process photos through Photoshop and make movies using Win Movie Maker with no problem while on the move. At a later point I can do DVDs on my larger computer. The 2.5 # weight of the S5 compares to 3.8# while the screen of the S5 is 13.3" vs. 11.7". The HP was a great machine for the price at the time. The S5 is much pricier at $975 but it's features make it worth having. The HP is 3 years oldan eternity in this business. When I think back of the days that it would cost me about 10 grand to do pictures with a Mac and windows got me in for $2500 with a 100 mb machine-something else.
We are always learning in this computer business. I can understand the frustrations some folks have with the USBs in the back and the raising of the ports using a mechanical device. At the same time it seems that you should have as much faith in mechanical as well as electronic systems. It is critical to realize that a lightweight device will sacrifice strength unless you use expensive sophisticated materials. Whether or not it will fail is up to the quality Acer is exacting from production. Since I do not hear well the noise is meaningless. The lightness and size of the screen more than justifies the location of the ports. It is only with flash cars where it is a problem and yes if you are wanting to put a usb device in while you are on a bus it could be difficult. For me I use external drives for all of my files. I only keep stuff on my desktop (not supposed to do that) on a temporary basis. I then clean it up and put it on an external drive for use in the larger computer. Mobility is important to me but I am always in my car or a residence. Where Photoshop would not even install on the 311 it installs and works well on the S5.
The typing is far better than on my HP 311. The 311 is the dark ages compared to the S5. But the HP did serve a great need. I use Verizon for my internet connection(we have no cable in my town in NH). So it is important for me to use the machine in the car to check on the markets. On volatile days it is critical to pay attention. I am a long term investor with a short term view if the market demands it. Originally the connection was through the computer. Now I am using a Verizon Jetpack. Since it serves up to 4 computers it was an obvious choice and the cost is similar.
Recently we had a power failure in Jersey and NY and my wireless jetpack did a great job. By using the S5 in a judicious way I was able to keep up with the market when it opened on Wednesday. We got power intermittently in my location and I was able to charge the S5 so I do not know how long it would have lasted. It recovered quickly when I started using it. So I have no real complaints yet. The only issue I have now is my Garmin Streetpilot 2723 software will not install because of the lack of a disk drive. But I can get around that issue.
Update: 11/12/12
The machine is performing well. Having conditioned the battery according to instructions I see it lasting about 5-6 hrs., depending on use.
?The Bluetooth mouse that came with it was a real buster. It turned out after all of the tech talk and uninstalling and whatever that what I needed to do when I saw the mouse in 'devices and printers' was to remove it and then 'add a device'. Computers can really be silly sometimes but there it is. Otherwise the machine is light,the ports are tricky but manageable and the typing seems better than the HP mini but not as good as a full size computer. Photoshop runs well and the speed of working with the usb ports is great. Right now it is difficult to tell of the wireless works as well as I would like but Sandy's effect on Verizon makes me wait in judgment-so that will come later. Also the size of the screen is great given the light weight.
