Acer's Aspire S7 is an attractive ultrabook, with a glossy white exterior.
It is just 11.9mm thick and weighs a light 1.29kg. Running Microsoft's Windows 8, the S7 packs a Intel Core i7 process and 4GB RAM, providing solid performance and a spacious 256GB hard-drive.
The Windows 8 platform was built with touch capabilities in mind. The 13.3-inch touchscreen with full HD display is responsive enough, but lacks the precision of some other touchscreen laptops on the market. Colours on the 1920x1080 resolution screen were bright and vibrant.
It is rigidly rectangular with sharp angles and a lid made with Gorilla Glass 2, one of the toughest materials around. The shape, however, makes it a little difficult to open.
Inside it is all silver - pretty standard as laptops go. The keyboard is comfortable, but quite packed. Simple functions such as increasing or decreasing the volume or screen brightness require the arduous task of simultaneously pressing the "function" key and F-whatever. Annoyingly there is a lot of space around the keyboard that hasn't been used. It also took a little while to find the power button on the left side of the deck.
Unlike the Lenovo Yoga or hybrid laptop/tablet offerings, the Aspire S7 screen while flexible, does not go all the way around. There are two USB ports, an SD card slot, micro-HDMI port and 3.5mm headphone jack.
Battery life is OK, averaging about four to five hours, the charger is refreshingly light, so it won't weigh you down wherever you go.
The S7 has been designed with portability and style in mind. It is not as fast as some other laptops, but it provides a decent enough performance for the average user.
