Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the Acer Laptop Battery
Acer's new 13.3in. Aspire S5 ultrabook pushes the super-light, super-slim notebook format close to its current zenith in design terms. The system's innards are pretty impressive too, with new Intel Ivy Bridge processors across the range. But does it deliver enough to justify the high price, which ranges from £999 to £1,249.99 (inc. VAT; £832.50-£1,041.66 ex. VAT)?
We defy anyone to glance at the Aspire S5 and not be drawn in by its sleek, slim appearance. At 1.5cm thick, 32.4cm wide and 22.7cm deep it's not far off tablet sized. Only slightly thicker than the 0.94cm iPad and a good match for the 13-inch MacBook with battery such as Acer BTP-43D1 Battery , Acer TravelMate 220 Battery , Acer BTP-58A1 Battery , acer BTP-60A1 Battery , Acer TravelMate 240 Battery , Acer BTP-52EW Battery , Acer BTP-63D1 Battery , Acer BTP-42C1 Battery , acer BTP-44A3 Battery , Acer Aspire 8943G Battery , Acer Aspire 8950G Battery , Acer AS10C7E Battery Air's 32.5cm by 22.7cm by 1.7cm, it's clear which market segments Acer is targeting.
The all-black chassis is somewhat undermined by Acer's large silver branding on the lid — the company could perhaps have toned it down here for maximum effect. We like the way the chassis tapers to a point at the front, though, and how the lid section forms a slightly overhanging lip that makes it easy to open the notebook up.
The base and lid are weighted so that you have to anchor the base onto a table when opening the device, but that's not uncommon. The Aspire S5 weighs 1.2kg, making it light enough for most people to carry easily. By way of comparison, Apple's MacBook Air weighs 1.35kg.
The build is quite solid: there's some flex in the lid, and we wouldn't want to stand heavy objects or piles of books on top of the Aspire S5 when it's closed on a desk, but we've seen worse.
There's a very interesting design feature called MagicFlip, controlled by a slightly raised button to the upper right of the keyboard. Press this and a section at the back of the notebook emerges, accompanied by a mechanical grinding sound from its motor. The keyboard is then raised at a slight angle, and one HDMI, two USB 3.0 and one Thunderbolt port are accessible in the newly-revealed section: