Acer S7-391 review: a serious edge for Windows 8

November 22, 2012

Acer isn't kidding when they describe the $1699, S7-391 ultraportable as cutting edge. This Windows 8 laptop is so thin (11.9 mm) and stiff, it could double as a weapon in the wrong hands. Did I say wrong hands? Assuming you can afford it, there are no wrong hands for this laptop. It's forward thinking in its design, eye-catchingly attractive, travels light, and is a heck of a performer. The S7 is a touchscreen laptop, which partly explains the extreme rigidity--you're can't get away with users poking at a display that's not sturdily constructed or flexes too much. The white Gorilla Glass 2 outer panels and an anodized aluminum keyboard deck that are in play also give the S7 a modern look that's vaguely Mac-like. The keyboard is short-throw yet types nicely, and the one-piece touchpad is very responsive, perhaps overly so for my ham-handed use. The touchpad's placement is spot on and it's also press-to-click so you can turn off tapping if you'd like. Features and performance Component-wise, our S7-391-9413 (a Canadian SKU identical to the US S7-391-9886) test unit boasted a state-of-the-art selection: a Core i7-3517U CPU, 4GB (the max) of DDR3 memory, and twin integrated 128GB SSDs striped in RAID 0 for 256GB of total disk capacity. These lifted the laptop to an impressive 72 score on our new WorldBench 8 test suite. That compares well with the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga, which posted a WorldBench 8 score of 60, although the Yoga PCWorld reviewed used a mobile Core i5 CPU and costs $600 less. The S7-391 utilizes Intel's integrated HD 4000 graphics which in most cases delivers playable games rates up to 1366 by 768 resolution; some games will require stepping down further in resolution. DiRT Showdown posted 35 frames per second at 1366 by 768 low detail levels, and eked out 11.4fps in the demanding Civilization V late game test at low detail and 1366 by 768. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2015460/acer-s7-391-review-a-serious-edge-for-windows-8.html