Acer Aspire S7

Bottom line

Breathtakingly slim and gorgeous, the aluminum and glass Acer Aspire S7 wows testers with swift performance to match. Despite a few glitches, it quickly became critics' favorite ultraportable laptop when it was first introduced, and reviews say Acer has fixed those flaws with the latest version.

Performance

Super-fast, and the battery lasts. The newest configurations of the Acer Aspire S7 were released just in time for this update. Already speedy enough to blow away benchmarks, it now comes with the latest Intel Core processors code-named Haswell -- choose between Core i5 and Core i7 -- 8 GB RAM instead of 4 GB and faster RAID 0 solid-state drives. With the latest integrated graphics chip and 128 MB of dedicated system memory, it's fine for light gaming.

Acer also shoehorned in a bigger battery, "which is a big deal, because battery life was actually one of the biggest flaws that we found" on the original, says Dana Wollman at Engadget.com. Expect up to 7 hours of normal to heavy use. That's good, but not as good as the 12 hours you get with the 13-inch MacBook Air (Est. $1,100 and up) .

Ergonomics

Thinnest you can buy. The Acer S7's stellar touch screen makes navigating Windows 8 a breeze: You can pinch, tap and swipe to your heart's content. Usually a bulky item, this touch screen is packed into the thinnest Ultrabook in existence. At just a half-inch thick and well under 3 pounds, the Acer is even thinner and lighter than the 13-inch Air. Its multi-touch clickpad is more responsive than before, the keyboard's keys have deeper travel, and the fans are quieter and cooler, reviews say.

Port selection is still slim, as usual for an Ultrabook; you get two USB 3.0 jacks, an HDMI port, headphones jack and memory card slot.

Design

"Stunning" style, screen. "Absolutely stunning," says Laptop Magazine of the Acer S7, and other critics wholeheartedly agree. Its tapered aluminum unibody looks minimalist and clean, with a scratch-resistant white Gorilla Glass lid. Rare for an Ultrabook is the S7's gloriously sharp, rich, full 1,080p HD, 13.3-inch display; Acer axed the 11-inch version this year. You could upgrade to an even sharper 2,560 by 1,440-pixel MacBook Retina-style screen, although those S7 models weren't for sale yet as of this update.

The WiDi display can wirelessly extend to a second screen, assuming that display is also WiDi compatible or equipped with an adapter. The original S7 already had good-sounding speakers, and Acer has moved the microphones to the front for better audio input.

Support & reliability

Facebook and Twitter are best for tech support. Acer's 1-year warranty is nothing special and doesn't win a Reader's Choice award at PCMag.com, whose editors consider reliability. It does score highest among all brands for ease of setup, however, with everything almost always working perfectly right out of the box. Acer's tech support has also improved dramatically in the past year, according to a Laptop Magazine test. The company flawlessly answers staffers' anonymous questions via Facebook and Twitter, but its phone, email and live chat techs give incorrect advice.

Value

The best doesn't come cheap. You can get Haswell-powered Ultrabooks for less cash, but they won't have the Acer Aspire S7's super-svelte body or gorgeous design. If you want the total package, experts agree that the S7 is worth its price.