Acer Aspire S3 ultrabook out globally

Ultrabook madness continues as manufacturers flee the margin-free netbooks and push ultrabooks out the door as fast as possible. Continuing this weeks launches, Acer has got its $900 Aspire S3 out to the rest of the world (it launched in US in October). Good looking, reasonably specced, affordably priced. Welcome to the race to the ultrabook bottom.

While the Aspire S3 may be a bit light on the stuff you want in a modern notebook (no Bluetooth, no USB 3, alloy rather than plastic shell), it is aimed at the less flush buyer.

It’s 1.3cm thick and 1.4kg, with a Core i5 processor at 1.6GHz (there is a 1.7GHz Core i7, but a hell of a lot more expensive at $1300). To keep costs down it uses a small 20GB solid state drive for the OS, and a 250 or 320GB HDD for user data. Big selling points are the “instant on”, which means an almost instant wake from sleep, and six seconds on from deep sleep (hibernate-ish).

If you live in some developing market you’ll be brutalized as usual on price, the $900 US price translates into US$1400 in South Africa (although India gets it at only a $50 price premium).