beanboy89 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I work at a big-box retailer, and we've recently cut the prices of an Acer S3 Ultrabook. We got a bunch of them for Black Friday this past year, and we've sold very little of them. They had been originally $628 and then cut to $395 a few months back, and have been cut again to $278. The laptop has a 1.6 GHz Core i3 (Sandy Bridge), 4 GB RAM (soldered to the motherboard, apparently), a 320 GB HDD, and a 13.3" 1366x768 LED screen, powered by Intel HD 3000 graphics. I also believe it has two USB 3.0 ports, and an HDMI output. My current laptop is an old Dell from 2008. I used it all the time in school, but ever since I graduated, I rarely ever use my laptop; I really have no need for it, because I'm always in front my desktop, but it when I do use my laptop, it seems really sluggish compared to my desktop (specs for both are in my signature). Would a 1.6 GHz i3 Sandy Bridge be faster than a 2008-era 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo just because it's a newer architecture? I'd assume the Intel HD 3000 graphics on the S3 is better at light gaming than the GMA 950 on my old laptop? A few concerns that I have about the S3 are the fact that the RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so I'd be stuck with 4 GB, and that there's no ethernet port. How good are USB to ethernet dongles? As for what I'd be doing with the laptop, it's not anything too strenuous; probably some really light occasional gaming, web browsing, streaming video, maybe Photoshop, and running some virtual machines. For the times that I actually need to use a laptop, would it be worth dropping the $278 for this? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xendrome Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Looks like the memory can upgrade to 6GB or 8GB from some sites I am reading... I'd say it might be an OK system for the price.. if it was anymore I'd say no with the low res. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H. Veteran Posted June 30, 2013 Veteran Share Posted June 30, 2013 I'd prolly skip that one even though it's a good buy for basic users. compared to your 2008 Dell it would still be an update depending on your full set of uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beanboy89 Posted July 1, 2013 Author Share Posted July 1, 2013 Looks like the memory can upgrade to 6GB or 8GB from some sites I am reading... I'd say it might be an OK system for the price.. if it was anymore I'd say no with the low res. Just curious, where did you read that? I can't seem to find any information that mentions upgradability. As far as the resolution, I agree that 1366x768 is a bit low, but like I mentioned, I probably won't be using it that much, especially for things that would require higher resolutions, save for maybe an occasional quick Photoshop session or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsupersonic Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 $278? That's a good price for an upgrade to your existing laptop. You could wait for more Haswell based laptops to come out/back to school sales for a laptop with maybe slightly better specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beanboy89 Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 The more research I've done, the more I'm thinking this is a pretty good deal. I can't even find any similarly-specced Ultrabooks for even close to this price. I also still haven't found any more definite information about the RAM upgradability, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra.Xtreme Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 The Acer has pretty horrible reviews, so it's probably not be worth wasting money on it: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/acer-aspire-s3.aspx# They make pretty bottom-of-the-barrel PCs, but then again so does Dell. For around $300, you could probably find a much better used laptop or ultrabook on Craigslist or Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcfan Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I have an s3. its a nice and light machine. for sub $300 its an excellent deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beanboy89 Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 I ended up getting the Ultrabook today. So far, it's great. I really like the design. The touchpad took a while to get used to, but once I disabled the Windows 8 swipe and multitouch gestures, it usable. It appears to have two separate hard drives, a ~20 GB SSD and then a 300 GB spinning drive. Not exactly sure how Acer has them setup, but I want to blow out the crapware-laden Acer Windows 8 install and put a clean version of Windows 8 on the laptop. There are seven partitions on the drive. Not sure if I want to just start deleting partitions and formatting drives yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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