Acer’s new Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 is the first ultrabook to hit the US with discrete graphics on board. Acer and NVIDIA tout it as the first “true ultrabook” thanks to the power under the hood. But with a 15.6-inch display, will most consumers really place it in that category?

The screen size coupled with the inclusion of an optical drive means that most will compare this laptop with other mainstream machines. And with an expected price of around $999, buyers on a budget will want a notebook that can do more than just the basics.

Can the Ultra M3 live up to those expectations? Read our full review to find out.

Who is the Timeline Ultra M3 for?

Consumers who like the ultrabook form factor but need a larger screen size will appreciate the real-estate that 15.6-inches offers. Users who need a machine that can handle resource-intense tasks — such as master multitasking or editing images and video — with speed and efficiency can count on the power of discrete graphics. Shoppers looking for a machine that can handle most popular games but don’t want or need a rig exclusively for that purpose will be impressed by the power of Nvidia’s newest GPU. Students who need a laptop they can carry to class and get them through both finals and downtime. Anyone who needs a laptop that is portable and powerful in equal measure.

Design

The Ultra M3 definitely earns the ultrabook moniker with its slim frame and light weight. Though saying “it’s light for a 15-inch laptop” may seem like faint praise, it’s a pretty big deal for users who just can’t get real work done on 13-inch machines yet don’t want to give up on portability. At 4.5 pounds this Ultra M3 is the same weight as the 13-inch MacBook Pro and just slightly heavier than the 4.4 pound, 14-inch HP Pavilion dm4.

Many ultrabooks are razor thin for the sake of razor thinness and in the process sacrifice important ports. The Ultra M3 is only 0.78 inches thin with a 14.75 x 10.0 inch footprint. This size allows for an optical drive, found on the left, as well as an SD card slot, three USB ports (one of them USB 3.0), HDMI and Ethernet.

My only complaint is that everything except the optical drive and the card slot are on the back of the laptop, so they’re less convenient to get at when plugging in flash drives, peripherals and the like.

Aesthetically, this notebook is simple but well-designed and attractive in a black tie kind of way. Acer kept it basic with an all-black paint job with the exception of slate grey around the keys.

The power button is on the front edge and slightly wkward to press

Keyboard and Touchpad

Like most ultrabooks the M3 sports an island-style keyboar with flat keys. Since it’s a 15-inch rig users also get a full-size number pad on the right. The keys have decent travel but are a little small, which is odd since there’s plenty of room for more surface area. Due to this and the minimal travel I often missed letters when typing, especially when going fast.

The lack of backlighting is disappointing, especially for a premium laptop, but not a dealbreaker for everyone.

The large clickpad is problematic, but what else is new with PC clickpads? On the Ultra M3 I most noticed issues when trying to perform tasks that took precision, such as selecting text.

The touchpad also doesn’t deal well with one finger resting on the surface while the other moves around. The bottom corners are stiff, which won’t be a problem for people trained to tap to click and will annoy people who prefer mouse buttons.

Display

The 15.6-inch display impressed me with bright, rich colors and deep blacks. Since the surface is glossy it doesn’t do well in the sun, but the viewing angles are good. At extreme angles you’ll encounter color distortion, but within a normal range things look as they should.

The disappointment comes in the resolution: 1366 x 768 pixels. While you might be able to convince me that this res is acceptable for a 13-inch display, on a 15-inch one it borders on sad. A screen this size should be at least 1400 x 900, even if this is just an ultrabook.

Performance and Battery Life

Acer packed the Ultra M3 with speedy components, so it’s no surprise that it performs well. A 1.7-GHZ Intel Core i7-2637M processor drives this ultrabook, backed by 4GB of RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD). And, as I mentioned before, Nvidia’s GeForce GT 640M graphics card backed by 1GB of dedicated VRAM. Though the Intel processor is an ultra-low voltage model, most users will get the same performance out of this as mainstream laptops with Core i5 CPUs.

In my time with the Ultra M3 I multitasked like mad, regularly switching between up to 40 tabs each in FireFox and Chrome with Photoshop Elements, Microsoft Word, Skype and Digsby running as well. Normally the massive FireFox tabbing is enough to make a computer groan since the browser is such a resource hog, but this ultrabook didn’t sweat.

The SSD is also very fast, which helps when copying files, opening programs (usually less than 5 seconds), and booting or resuming from sleep. Acer’s Instant Connect promises to get you on the Internet in 2.5 seconds after waking, and in my experience that rang true whenever connecting to known networks.

With Wi-Fi on and the screen brightness set to 40%, I ran the LAPTOP Magazine Battery Test, which surfs constantly until the battery dies. The Ultra M3 lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes under these conditions, which is 40 minutes shy of the promised 8 hours. In my time using this machine I was able to get up to 10 hours out of it with Wi-Fi on for between 4 and 5 hours and the screen set at 25% brightness.

This impressive battery life is possible even with discrete graphics because the ultrabook has Nvidia’s Optimus technology inside which switches to the graphics card automatically only when needed, allowing the integrated graphics to take over and save power.

Bottom line: you can leave the A/C adapter at home most of the time, which means less weight in your bag.

Graphics, Gaming and Multimedia Performance

The Nvidia GeForce GT 640M graphics card inside is built on the company’s Kepler architecture, which means that it’s powerful, but efficient. The efficiency is key to the Ultra M3′s good battery life, the power is important for consumers who want an ultrabook that can do everything.

The graphics card not only makes playing resource-intensive games like Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City possible, but also means that users can edit images with a program like Photoshop and video with a program like Premiere or PowerDirector without having to wait for the computer to catch up. When exporting a 720p 30fps 5 minute video to MPEG 4, Adobe Premiere Elements completed the export in under 5 minutes with quality set high. While using Photoshop Elements I noted that I was able to crunch, add filters and do edits on even large image files in just a few seconds instead of having to wait.

Though hardcore gamers won’t find the Ultra M3 suitable for their everyday needs, this ultrabook does have great gaming chops. Players will see well over 100fps on average-intensity games like World of Warcraft and between 50 and 70fps on more graphics-intense games like Battlefield 3. Even super resource hogging games are playable, though with those you’re getting into needing a gaming rig, anyway.

With all this power, playing HD videos well is a given. Thanks to the Dolby speakers and the large display, watching movies is a great experience. Just as with games, I didn’t note any pixilation, hitching or anything to mar my enjoyment.

Price and Availability

Acer hasn’t announced the final US price for the Ultra M3, though it should be available on Amazon.com and NewEgg.com within the next two weeks. Without knowing the price, it’s hard to determine whether this ultrabook is worth buying. Since it’s an ultrabook, most predict a price around $999.

The Bottom Line

The Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 may not fit into most people’s pre-conceptions about what an ultrabook is (or isn’t). But even if you think of it as a thin and light mainstream laptop, it still holds up pretty well when compared to systems like the Sony VAIO SE, Dell XPS 14z and the HP Envy 15. You get enough power for both typical usage and more intense, specialized tasks in a package light enough to carry around everywhere, should you need to.

The disappointing resolution is a big drawback for multimedia lovers and hard core gamers and the sub-par touchpad is a downer for everyone. But neither of these issues is enough to put me off the Ultra M3 completely.

While most ultrabooks make great companion laptops but won’t do as primary computers for power users, the Ultra M3 is good enough to be the only notebook you’ll need. However, until Acer finally releases the price, it’s hard to know if the whole package represents a good value.

Gallery

Specs

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 Review – The First True Ultrabook? is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

The Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 has the distinction of having the longest laptop name ever and of being the first ultrabook to come to market with discrete graphics. Okay, maybe the name isn’t the longest ever, but the discrete graphics thing is no joke.

Intel’s integrated graphics are good enough for mainstream tasks and usage, but for intense tasks and power users, they don’t quite cut it. NVIDIA’s GeForce GT 640M GPU provides extra power, boosts performance, and promises to do so efficiently.

If you’re addicted to power the Ultra M3 probably looks really tempting. An ultrabook that’s as powerful as it is thin? Yes, please. I’m putting it to the test for our full review, but thought I’d let you in on my initial impressions.

Starting outside, the Ultra M3′s design is very simple, yet attractive. Acer is good at this. The all-black, matte chassis feels sturdy. I don’t have any worries about this bad boy coming apart or getting messed up by a few bumps.

This rig is bigger than your average ultrabook since it sports a 15.6-inch display. And for a notebooks of this size, the 4.5 pound weight is pretty impressive. Still, if you’re an ultimate mobility type you might eye the whole thing with suspicion. It’s fair to say that the Ultra M3 feels lighter than it looks and is impressive for a notebook with this display size.

To keep things skinny (the M3 tops out at 0.73 inches thick) Acer moved most ports to the back. The slim optical drive being the exception.

Once again we’re given a large clickpad that sent me running for an external mouse right away. I’m in the process of tweaking the settings now, but the more I use the touchpad the more angry I am at whoever is behind it.

The large 15-inch display offers a wide canvas for such activities, but it’s disappointing that you still only get a 1366 x 768 resolution.

On the performance side, I’ve only taxed the Ultra M3 with medium load programs so far to get a sense of how it runs for everyday tasks. So far I’m impressed with the notebook’s speed and battery life.

I used it off and on for 12 hours before needing to plug it in. All together it was probably about 7 hours put together. We’ll see how it does on our formal battery test.

My next step is to runs some batch processes via Photoshop, edit some videos with Premiere, then play Batman: Arkham City for several hours. For science.

What other tasks should I do to test the Aspire Timeline Ultra M3?

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 Review: First Impressions is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Ever since ultrabooks first debuted a few months ago I’ve been both excited and disappointed by them. I love me some super skinny and light enough to carry everywhere hardware, but I also need me some serious power.

Last week at CeBIT Acer set out to answer my prayers when they introduced the Aspire Timeline Ultra M3, a 15-inch ultrabook with discrete graphics. That’s right, kids: Nvidia GeForce GT640M GPU goodness coupled with an Intel Core i processor. I remember thinking: maybe, just maybe that laptop will be decent at crunching video.

However, now that I’ve seen it in action, I cannot wait to get my hands on one.

Today Nvidia showed off the gaming prowess of the Timeline Ultra M3 by firing up Battlefield 3. Keep in mind that this is an ultrabook, even though it has a 15-inch screen, so the CPU is still low-voltage. Thanks to the new Kepler-type GPU Nvidia is able to deliver more power and performance twice as efficiently. That means you can get powerful chips in thin laptops and not cause a fire hazard.

Ultrabooks are about to get a lot more interesting.

The Timeline Ultra M3 can play games as detailed and graphics intense as Battlefield 3 with settings turned up to Ultra with no problems. We’re talking smooth gameplay, graphics, movement, everything. You’ll get the full gaming experience with Kepler GPUs no matter what kind of laptop you have.

Even if you aren’t a gamer you can benefit from the power the GPU provides. Photo editing, video editing, and 3D rendering speed up considerably when compared to the integrated graphics found in other ultrabooks. Even if you only do a little video editing with movies from your phone or only fire up an image editor to get rid of red eye, all of those tasks will take even less time.

Plus, for laptops with Nvidia’s Optimus technology, you won’t see a major hit in battery life. The GPU will only kick in when needed, not when you’re just typing something in Word or checking email.

As for the Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 itself, I am very impressed with how light it is for a 15-inch notebook. I can see myself carrying it on trips, to meetings, and anywhere I need both portability and power.

Inside you can get up to a Intel Core i7-2637M processor, up to 6GB of RAM, and configurations with a hybrid hard drive/SSD combo or SSD only up to 256GB. This ultrabook also has an optical drive. It weighs just 5.07 pounds and is made form an aluminum alloy that feels as sturdy as it does lightweight. Acer promises up to 8 hours of battery life.

The only drawback specs-wise is the resolution: 1366 x 768. I asked the Nvidia reps I met with today about that and it turns out this isn’t just the result of notebook makers keeping costs down by not using higher density panels. When you up the resolution, the CPU and GPU have to work harder to support it. And given that ultrabooks need to keep the voltage low for the sake of a thin chassis, we’re not likely to see many higher resolutions in the near future.

However, I’m willing to deal with “just” HD resolution in order to get my portable powerhouse.

The Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 will hit retail stores soon. Official pricing isn’t available, but the laptop is selling in Singapore for the equivalent of $1035 (according to PCWorld), so I suspect a $999 price announcement is forthcoming.

First Hands-On: Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 Ultrabook With Discrete Graphics (Video) is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Remember when I said that netbooks are still relevant? Apparently Acer thinks so, too. Sort of.

After a ceremony celebrating the Lunar New Year chairman JT Wang talked strategy for the new year and said they would compete not on price, but on user experience. The notebook maker rose to the upper echelon in global sales a few years ago thanks to the popularity of netbooks, which put it on the map for many consumers.

Now that netbooks are no longer rising steadily, Acer doesn’t intend to let the momentum drop off. They’re going to dominate the mid market of $299 – $499 priced devices. That’s tablet and netbook country.

However, ultrabooks are the big story these days, and no one (including Acer) is selling one for anywhere near that price point. Wong claims that netbooks and ultrabooks will merge by 2014.

Does that mean ultrabooks will get down to netbook pricing by that time, as others have predicted, or that ultrabooks will also come in 10-inch sizes, thus cutting down on some costs? That would make me happy — a super thin 10-inch machine with a Core i3 CPU and maybe even Nvidia’s Kepler graphics? Sign me up right this instant.

I suspect that Wong is thinking more along price lines, not size-wise.

It’s good to know that the company isn’t abandoning netbooks completely. But i think I’ll be sad when one day they merge into the ultranetbookmachine or whatever it will be called at that point.

Thanks NebookNews!

Acer: Netbook And Ultrabook Will Merge is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Intel has been quiet about the next Intel Core i family of processors, known as Ivy Bridge internally. At CES 2012 there were a number of notebooks using the new processor, but PR reps weren’t able to share much about the new processors.

While Intel is still hammering out the details of these new 3rd generation Intel Core i family of chips, Golem.de was able to run a sneaky performance test on the Acer Aspire A5 at CES 2012, and has posted the results of rhte benchmarking.

We saw the Acer Aspire S5, and you can check out the hands on video here, but we weren’t able to run any benchmarks.

The Acer Aspire S5 has an Ivy Bridge processor and Intel 4000HD graphics, which delivers an improved graphics experience. In the 3D graphics test which you can see below, the S5 was able to deliver 12.17 FPS, which is better than the 8.36 FPS that Ultrabooknews was able to achieve on the current generation of Ultrabooks.

The good news is that these results will likely be better when the Ivy Bridge processor comes out in the middle of 2012. The demo units shown at CES 2012 did not likely include final hardware and software, or optimizations which will provide better performance.

The CPU benchmark delivered by Cinebench was 2.38, an improvement of Ultrabooknews’ 2.11 result on second generation Intel Core i processors.

You can watch the Cinebench 3D benchmark in the video below.

We’re looking forward to the next crop of Ultrabooks using the new Intel Core i 3rd generation processor. Intel showed off a gaming demo at CES 2012, to highlight the abilities of the new processors, which you can see below for a more visual representation.

Sneaky Ultrabook Test Shows Off Intel Ivy Bridge Performance is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

At Acer’s global press conference today they unveiled their three newest ultrabooks, but only one of the models can actually claim the moniker as set by Intel’s specs.

Acer is touting the Aspire S5 as the world’s thinnest ultrabook. It is super sleek and small for a 13 incher, but so are most other systems in this category.

What gives the S5 an edge is the innovative way Acer managed to incorporate the ports. It’s reminiscent of the way ports fit on the first MacBook Air and Samsung’s Series 9 — flip-down drawers — but instead of putting them on the left or right sides, it’s on the back of the device. They’ve dubbed this MagicFlip, and the drawer is controlled by a button on the deck, opening and closing smoothly.

When open, the port drawer tilts the back of the system up a bit and it will stay that way until you press the button again.

Acer Aspire S5 MagicFlip Demo

It’s not clear if keeping the port drawer open while you type on and use the notebook is good for the mechanism, but they have to expect people will do since most of the ports are back there. The S5 has two USB 3.0, a full-size HDMI, and a Thunderbolt port in the MagicFlip drawer plus an SD card slot on one side.

The notebook itself has a sturdy magnesium alloy chassis and a tapering design, but it manages not to just look like a MacBook Air clone. It’s also not too flashy, just a dark brushed finish, which we’ve come to expect from Acer laptops in general. At the thickest point the S5 measures just 0.59 inches and the notebook weighs just 2.97 pounds. Though not the lightest ultrabook on the block, it feels lighter than it is and has a nice holdability factor.

Acer Aspire S5 Hands On

Specs-wise the Aspire S5 will come in several SKUs with a range of Intel Core i processors. The one we saw today had either a Core i5 or i7. Either way it opened applications nice and fast due to the SSD inside and the 8GB of RAM. It’ll resume from sleep in 1.5 seconds; sweet. I’m also a fan of the power adapter which has a MagSafe-esque connector.

Acer is also touting their new Always Connect technology with this ultrabook. It promises to get users online faster than “conventional connections” giving information from Facebook, Twitter and Outlook presented right away upon resume. It will also allow users to wake the S5 from sleep using their smartphones, so you can grab data even if you turned the machine off before you left home or the office.

No pricing has been announced yet but Acer reps pegged it to be “around $1,000.” It ships in the second quarter of this year, so not until April at least.

Acer Aspire S5 Ultrabook Hands-On Video is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Acer unveiled a collection of new notebooks at CES 2012, including the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra, a new set of two Ultrabooks which will be available in 2012.

The Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra comes in a 14 inch or 15 inch model, which Acer is aiming at the mainstream consumer. If you are looking for a super thin notebook, you’ll want to check out the Acer Aspire S5, which is billed as the “World’s Thinnest Ultrabook.”

The Timeline Ultra is 20mm thick and boasts 8 hours of battery life. The notebook uses a yet unannounced new Intel Core i processor with dedicated graphics, capable of 3D gaming, according to Acer. You’ll also have a DVD Super Multi-Drive inside the small chassis, allowing you to keep your old media around.

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra Hands On

Check out a quick look around the new Timeline Ultra at CES 2012.

Acer has packed in the Acer Always Connect, which is part of the new Acer Cloud service that allows you to reach your media and data files from anywhere, even if your notebook is off. Acer Always Connect can even wake up your Timeline Ultra from your smartphone or tablet to get to your documents and music.

The Timeline Ultra has Dolby Home Theater v4 audio, two USB 3.0 ports and a new thermal technology which Acer claims will keep your notebook cooler while you use in your lap.

Acer has not announced any pricing for the Timeline Ultra, but it will ship in Q1 in the U.S.

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra Hands On Video is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Do you like ultrabooks? Do you like Acer? Are you on Facebook? Then this is your lucky day (one of many). This week Acer started a new sweepstakes in which they’re giving away one of their new Aspire S3 ultrabooks to one person every day until December 31st. All you have to do is Like the Acer page on Facebook then fill out the sweepstakes information.

Sadly, you’ll have to enter every day for your daily shot. Though that can get tedious really quick, your chances may increase if you hit it up on days when others are busy doing things like eating Thanksgiving dinner, opening presents, or getting really drunk in anticipation of midnight.

The grand prize is pretty sweet. The 13.3-inch Acer Aspire S3 is thin and light, making it great for road warriors or people who commute every day. Unlike other ultrabooks there’s a spinning hard drive, so you get more room for everything from documents to movies.

Inside is an Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM. The computer boots fast, wakes up in less than 3 seconds, and should last you for 6 hours on a charge.

Interested yet? If so, head over to Facebook and enter.

Acer Giving Away Aspire S3 Ultrabook Every Day Until 2012 is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

The Acer Ultrabook we saw a few weeks ago now has an official price: $899. That goes right along with Intel’s desire that ultrabooks come in under $1000 and it’s $100 less than the 11-inch MacBook Air. Pretty sweet. Acer’s 13-inch Aspire S3 has some stand out features beyond the price. It’s the only ultrabook so far with a traditional hard drive option.

The Aspire S3 (full model number: S3-951) comes with two drives, one 20GB solid state drive (SSD) where the operating system lives and a 320GB hard drive (spinning) for saving programs and files. The idea is to still offer speed where it counts plus a fast boot up time but also keep costs down. SSDs are expensive.

Granted, traditional hard drives aren’t as fast as SSDs. Even though the operating system will reap the SSD benefits, apps and files will still live on the slower hard drive. The tradeoff here is for space. An ultrabook with a 320GB hard drive is not likely to cost under $1000. If this is going to be your main computer, the space might be necessary.

Even with a hard drive inside the notebook itself is still very thin and light — 0.51 inches thick and 2.98 pounds — and worthy of the ultrabook moniker. It will resume from sleep in 2 seconds, according to Acer, and even when it goes into a deeper sleep (not quite Hibernation) it should only take 6 seconds to resume.

Other specs include an Intel Core i5 processor, intelgrated graphics, 4GB of RAM, a 1366 x 768 13.3-inch display, HDMI out, memory card slot, and Bluetooth 4.0+ HSR. Check out our hands-on for more.

The Acer Aspire S3-951 is available starting this week.

Acer Announces $899 Price For Aspire S3 Ultrabook is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

The $1,399 Aspire Ethos AS5951G-9694 is the 15.6-inch version of Acer’s ultimate multimedia line. With this bad boy you get a powerful Core i7 CPU, discrete Nvidia graphics and a touchpad that detaches to become a remote control. Not to mention it’s got a pretty sweet design. So does this Ethos deserve the prime spot in your living room or dorm? Read on to find out.

Design

The 15.6-inch Ethos still feels like a large machine even though it’s not as massive as its 18.4-inch counterpart. It measures 15.0 x 10.6 x 1.2 inches and weighs 7.3 pounds, so it’s still not the most portable laptop on the shelf. Thanks to its slick lines and slimming black frame, the Ethos doesn’t come off as bulky. Since it’s not made to tote around easily, who is this laptop for?

Multimedia rigs like this are for consumers looking to create a multitasking entertainment center yet still want the ability to carry the laptop in a normal-sized bag. The Ethos fits into this niche nicely due to the detachable touchpad/media remote (more on that in a bit). It’s good for dorm rooms, small efficiency apartments or bedrooms where having a TV is impractical or not desirable. And thanks to the black, fingerprint-resistant aluminum and magnesium lid, it will make a nice centerpiece to the room.

As is fitting for a multimedia powerhouse, the Ethos comes with a wide array of ports, many of which offer speedy connectivity to peripherals, such as hard drives, so you can play media without a hitch. There are three USB 2.0 ports, a USB 3.0/Super Speed port, an eSATA/USB 2.0 port, and a Firewire 400 port plus a memory card slot and an Ethernet port. For display output there are both VGA and HDMI ports, so you can play Blu-ray movies from the optical drive on a much larger screen.

Keyboard

The Ethos sports a full size keyboard and number pad. The island-style keys are flat and slick, but not so much that I made many mistakes typing. Tactile feedback isn’t super springy, nor is it mushy. Overall, it’s a middle of the road keyboard that won’t get in your way, whether you hunt and peck or touch type. The best feature is the backlit keys, which you can turn on and off via a button on the upper left of the deck.

Touchpad / Media Remote

The star of the Ethos line is the detachable touchpad, which also acts as a media remote. It’s bigger than you’ll find on most laptops — 4.25 x 2.25 inches — and very slick on the surface. Due to this I encountered a lot of friction, keeping me from moving my finger smoothly across the screen.

When docked in the machine the touchpad isn’t always super responsive. I had a hard time pulling off multitouch gestures even though it should have been easier with a wider surface. Underneath there’s a single mousebar that’s the same width as the touchpad. It’s thick, so using it without looking presented no problems.

The touchpad has three modes that you can activate whether it’s docked or used as a remote. To toggle between them, tap the button on the upper right.

Touchpad with the second mode active

Normal touchpad mode is what you’d expect and active by default. Press once to activate the Acer clear.fi Music and Video launch icons. In this mode you can still use part of the touchpad surface for moving the cursor, presumably to choose your media. There are also two other icons for navigating the clear.fi library.

Touchpad with the third mode, media controls, active

Press a second time to activate the media controls — forward, back, play/pause, stop, volume up and down – which disables touchpad functions, giving the entire surface over to multimedia. This third mode will activate automatically when you play music or a video.

If you’re used to using your laptop to watch videos, you know annoying it can be to have to get up and go over to the computer when you want to pause, skip, or even select the next video. It’s like the days before TV remotes all over again. So the idea here is a good one. The execution could use some work – this setup isn’t quite as elegant or streamlined as it could be. There are either too few options or too many; the balance isn’t right yet.

Plus, the controls won’t work universally (except volume). They’re designed to work with clear.fi, obviously, and can control Windows Media Player, but not Quicktime or web-based media like Netflix.

The Media Remote / Touchpad will work up to 20 feet away

I was able to use the remote from up to 20 feet away, both as a touchpad and as a media controller, with no signal problems. In small rooms the couch or bed probably won’t be that far away. I wish that Acer offered a way to tap a button to make the cursor much bigger to make is easy to use when a few feet away. Also, the ability to right-click while in remote mode would be nice.

Display

The 15.6-inch LED backlit display has a 1366 x 768 resolution, which is disappointing. A multimedia machine with a Blu-ray drive and a 15-inch screen should have at least 1600 x 900 to take advantage of all that space.

The glossy display offers nice, popping colors and deep blacks. It definitely has the chops to display beautiful video. However, the viewing angles aren’t as wide as I’d like. To get the best angle, especially if you’re a few feet away, you need to position the screen precisely, else you might encounter a darkening/distortion.

Sitting up close this isn’t a problem – three people can comfortably share the screen. But if you’re lying on the couch or bed, you’ll likely have to tilt the screen forward close to a 90 degree angle instead of leaving it slightly tilted back as you would for normal use. Also, make sure to turn off any lights you don’t need, as the gloss reflects light.

Audio

A long speaker bar runs across the deck above the keyboard, aiming sound right at you if you’re sitting in front of the Ethos and up to the ceiling if you’re not. The Dolby Audio enhancements make the audio quality a cut above the average laptop, but the speakers don’t achieve a very deep or rounded sound. Certainly not as good as the Dell XPS 15z.

However, in small rooms it will provide enough volume and quality to satisfy most users when listening to music or watching video. If the room is bigger, opt for external speakers. Thanks to the sound drivers the output is good enough for anyone who’s not a serious audiophile.

Other Features

• Acer includes several media-focused programs with the Ethos. The company’s own clear.fi app is a nice enough media player, but doesn’t offer much that’s different from Windows Media Player (except a better UI. One nice aspect is that it will easily connect to other Acer devices running clear.fi, such as an Iconia Tab, to share media. This only works with Acer products, though.
• The company expects owners to do a lot of reading on the Ethos, so they pre-loaded the New York Times Reader, newsXpresso digital newsstand, and Barnes & Noble’s Nook for PC.
• For extra security (very useful in a dorm room situation), Acer includes a fingerprint reader so users can log on with a swipe.
• The webcam above the display captures images with noticeable noise but not much blur. Good enough for Skype or ooVoo chats but not for those YouTube reaction videos (those need more clarity!).

Specs and Performance

The Ethos may be built for media, but users will need it for more than that to justify the $1399 price tag. Under the hood it’s powered by a 2-GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 2630QM CPU, 6GB of RAM (max 16GB), an Nvidia GeForce GT 555M graphics card, 2GB of graphics memory, and a 750GB hard drive.

This amount of power meant that the Ethos easily handled everything I threw at it. I did some mega-multitasking by working with over two dozen tabs open across Firefox 6 and Google Chrome while playing a Blu-ray movie in the background and editing images with Adobe Photoshop CS5. While editing video with Adobe Premiere Elements 9 I didn’t have to wait for the laptop to catch up to me when I wanted to make a cut, move around, or add an effect. And rendering the final product didn’t take long at all.

While playing Batman: Arkham Asylum both cut scenes and fast movement/fighting moved smoothly without no dropped frames or hitching. The Ethos nicely rendered details on clothes and the environment.

Battery Life

The 8-cell battery is rated to last for 7 hours. However, it lasted for just 5 hours and 10 minutes while surfing on Wi-Fi continuously with the display set at 40% brightness. Granted, you likely won’t carry this around somewhere you might need longer battery life, so this isn’t a big drawback.

Value

For $1,399 the Acer Aspire Ethos AS5951G-9694 isn’t a bad deal given the powerful components inside. However, the Dell XPS 15z has quite a few advantages over it, including a more portable design, better audio quality and speakers, and a better display available with a 1080p resolution. The unit we reviewed cost $1,499, just $100 more, but doesn’t come with a remote or a Blu-ray drive, only DVD. The XPS 15z is configurable, though, and starts at just $999.

If you’re really looking for a multimedia laptop that stays in place most of the time, why not go for something bigger? The Aspire Ethos AS8951G-9600 is $1,599 (less at many stores), just $200 more, and has a big, beautiful 18.4 inch display. You get all the same specs except 2GB more RAM and full 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Conclusion

If you want a multimedia laptop that offers a sliver of portability, the Acer Aspire Ethos AS5951G-9694 is a decent choice, but not the best one in this price range. The detachable media remote is a good idea, but it’s not a very good touchpad, meaning users will need an external one for real productivity. Combine that with the lackluster display and the 15-inch Ethos only gets a so-so from me. Look into its big brother if the media remote intrigues you or the Dell XPS 15z if you want your media with more portability.

Pros

• Powerful overall and graphics performance
• Remote media and touchpad control
• Large port spread

Cons

• Heavy and big
• Underwhelming touchpad
• Narrow viewing angles
• Display needs higher resolution

Acer Aspire Ethos Gallery

Acer Aspire Ethos 15.6-inch Review – Multimedia Chops In A Flawed Package is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.