Acer Aspire S7 (2015) Ultrabook Review

[Redaktion]

Sharp as a knife. Slim, elegant and streamlined - the looks of the S7 will stop everyone from simply passing by Acer's premium range. Will the pricey first-rate configuration of WQHD screen and SSD Raid ultimately be convincing? We examined that in this in-depth test report.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Aspire-S7-2015-Ultrabook-Review.143185.0.html

[AF]

Thanks for the review.

Comparing this with the newly released Macbook, I really can't see the 4% difference in the total score in favour of the Mac.
Graphics, CPU and IO performance is way superior on the S7, especially for long tasks.
Screen quality is excellent in both cases. The Mac's touchpad is better, but then it doesn't have a touchscreen, so let's say it's even. Both keyboards are decent, but not excellent (in the Mac's review you express concern at the new design), but despite that the scoring is very different. Real world battery life is on par, but despite that you signal it as a "cons" in the S7 review and as "pro" in the Mac's (generating a "wait, what?" moment).
Lower weight and excellent speakers cannot compensate for the performance deficiencies of the Mac (especially for workflows longer than 10 minutes) and especially for the extremely limited connectivity (and I can't see how a single port can yield a score >40% for the Mac).  The S7 also includes a dongle for free.
Webcam quality is terrible for both models, but even a good 480p webcam (Apple) can't compete with a bad 720p (Acer) one.
What's more, the Acer has double the warranty.

I appreciate the reviews a lot, but the inconsistencies in the scoring are extremely evident in this case. Either you are weighting the final score in a funny manner (and this is something you should address), or the single scores are heavily biased.

[StigtriX]

I had the Acer S7 11''. It had a premium feel, but it had so many shortcomings and errors that I was forced to deliver it back to the store.

Positive:
- Very snappy SSDs (RAID).
- Nice blend of aluminium and plastic (plastic bottom so it can be placed on your lap without burning you).
- Very nice screen - excellent colour reproduction, contrast and resolution.

Negative:
- Extremely short key travel with almost no feedback - worse than Mac 12''.
- Overheats easily if you run demanding programs, stream or have many tabs.
   The overheating issue becomes a real problem over time.
- Extremely loud fan. Was alright in the beginning, but got gradually worse. Can not be controlled with fan monitor software etc.

I had to send it in two times for repairs, but they could not fix the overheating, nor the fan noise, even though they replaced a lot of parts. When I returned it the third time with the same issues, I got my money back.
_________________________________________________

This was my fourth Acer laptop, and they have all been of low overall quality. I am extremely careful with my belongings, and I am also an advanced user. What I am trying to say is that Acer products are to blame, not the user (at least not this one).

I am done with Acer. I have given them a fair chance and bought their mid and high-end products, so I was expecting more. They do have very good service, so they do at least care for their customers. Too bad their products are bad.

[Allen.Ngo]

Thanks for the review.

Comparing this with the newly released Macbook, I really can't see the 4% difference in the total score in favour of the Mac.
Graphics, CPU and IO performance is way superior on the S7, especially for long tasks.
Screen quality is excellent in both cases. The Mac's touchpad is better, but then it doesn't have a touchscreen, so let's say it's even. Both keyboards are decent, but not excellent (in the Mac's review you express concern at the new design), but despite that the scoring is very different. Real world battery life is on par, but despite that you signal it as a "cons" in the S7 review and as "pro" in the Mac's (generating a "wait, what?" moment).
Lower weight and excellent speakers cannot compensate for the performance deficiencies of the Mac (especially for workflows longer than 10 minutes) and especially for the extremely limited connectivity (and I can't see how a single port can yield a score >40% for the Mac).  The S7 also includes a dongle for free.
Webcam quality is terrible for both models, but even a good 480p webcam (Apple) can't compete with a bad 720p (Acer) one.
What's more, the Acer has double the warranty.

I appreciate the reviews a lot, but the inconsistencies in the scoring are extremely evident in this case. Either you are weighting the final score in a funny manner (and this is something you should address), or the single scores are heavily biased.

Hello,

You can read more about our rating and testing criteria here:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Our-Test-Criteria.15394.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Our-Rating-Criteria.16002.0.html

[Didiėr]

The dongle really has just Fast Ethernet? So stupid.

[Jim Smith]

I must say that I find it weird that you compare touch and non-touch laptops in the field. Talk about apples and oranges. If you want to compare the XPS 13 compare the touch screen version. It is well know that the touch screens use way more power and (of course) have slick screens - so they suffer in daylight somewhat. I have a S7 2 series and have been very happy with it. I always get comments from Mac owners who are very impressed with the look.
I played with a Dell XPS 13 today and there is no comparison when it comes to style. The XPS is cool looking but to compare the look of this laptop to the S7 is simply silly.

[Michael Storer]

OK ... I've been an owner of this machine for 2 1/2 years now.

I bought it as a premium machine for just under 2K$ and it hasn't stood the test of time very well at all.

Within two months of buying large parts of the A M and N keys had flaked off.

Next the power supply had stopped working ... at the 4 month mark. Found out the pin had become a too loose fit in the socket. New power supply fixed it and then after another few months that one carked it too.

I just bought a non ACER branded power supply and that's been working fine for the last two years.

My background is engineering and materials. The base of the machine is chalking away and can scratch the plastic away with a fingernail.

It has lost its slight gloss and has yellowed.

Yellowing can be heat related and some parts of the base do get hot. But the yellowing is general showing a general degradation

This is serious degradation of the plastic base. It is almost like the plastic has been exposed long term to UV light ... but this laptop has not travelled much and seldom been outside unlike previous laptops I've owned.

The computer was upgraded from Windows 8 to 8.1 with no issues.
But for the upgrade from 8.1 to 10 it has never worked and the tech line has never been able to get to the bottom of it.

I can take the machine in and they can do a total reset so I have to reinstall everything. Don't want to do it. This is a production machine that needs to work all the time.

I upgraded from the 256K SSD to a 512 with no problem. Cloned the disk, resized the partition and plugged it straight in.

The card reader worked for about a month before crapping out. Reinstalled the software ... but just not working. Don't need it a lot so I don't care.

The USB sockets don't work consistently. Just sometimes they refuse to cooperate, swapping the cable to the other side of the machine fixes it every time until whichever socket is having the tantrum decides to work again.

Another problem the Tech guys have been unable to fix is that if the computer sleeps or hibernates a couple of times then the touch screen stops working.

Yes .. they can do a reset and see if that fixes it.

About three months ago the number keys started to have intermittent faults of typing or not typing. This is random

Today .. the touchpad doesn't click.

My other machines have travelled all over asis