Ultrabook Acer Aspire S5: outside and inside
It so happened that this machine I saw the first of the Russians. She was shown at a presentation held January 8 in Las Vegas, the day before the Consumer Electronics Show. It was a Sunday, our people just got to this powerfully energetic city, and the author of the post, who had flown in the previous day, was already wandering towards the giant Hotel Wynn to look at completely new Acer products.
The Acer Aspire S5 was shown first - as the thinnest ultrabook in the world. It was planned that it will go on sale in March-April, and inside it will run second-generation Intel Core processors (Sandy Bridge). However, at the last moment, the company decided to wait for the Ivy Bridge platform, and this model reached the counters only in August. Then there was an opportunity to try it in work and look inside.
')
The declared thickness of the Aspire S5 is 11 millimeters. Moreover, this is really the maximum thickness of the machine when folded, except for a small protrusion in the area of ​​the loops. However, taking an ultrabook in hand and enjoying its thin edges (in combination with a weight of 1.2 kg), we suddenly find that there are no interface connectors on it. No, I'm serious - you can see only the hole for connecting the power supply and an SD card slot. EVERYTHING!
The first demonstration of the S5 world. And the truth is thin
... but where are the ports?
And here we come to the Main Difference of this model from all ultrabooks and even from the progenitor of this class of mobile computers - the MacBook Air. Namely, to the exit panel called MagicFlip I / O. Let us leave behind its frame its name (although I want to fix and punish a little for the “io” at the end of marketers) and turn to the point. To the right of the keyboard there is a button with a USB plug drawn on it that is connected to the corresponding port. By clicking on it, you will hear a funny "LJ", and the ultrabook will grow a little above the table. We look at its back part and - lo and behold! - we see two USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI and even a rather exotic Thunderbolt.
The first outline of magicflip. Do not ask how I found them.
And that's what it looks like.
In Vegas, this "LJ" made a powerful impression on everyone. It seemed that Apple should have been the first to think of this, and the rest only to reinvent. And do not care that the panel takes up a good half of the case, so that in the open state, the thickness of the latter grows to a record 15 mm. What a trick! For once, something new.
True, I immediately had questions about the reliability of the design. As we know, any mechanics is a weak link in modern electronics. And if, after a couple of hundred merry "zhzhzh" panels jam, the joy of this will be a bit ...
So, I report: most likely, the design will work the entire life of the ultrabook. Where such confidence? For two reasons. Firstly, there is protection against overweight. When you click on the button, the MagicFlip panel starts to leave, but, encountering resistance, it immediately hides into place. So the mechanism cannot overstrain. The second reason you can see for yourself. Photos of the disassembled ultrabook will be at the end of the post, but here is a portrait of the lifting mechanism. It is made of steel, there are no plastic elements at all. So - stand it without breaking and waking.
Another question is that a chip chip, and plugging a flash drive into the port located behind the screen is still a pleasure. Yes, this is done infrequently. But it still happens, it happens. Then S5 has to either deploy, or put on the priest. Considering the fact that an ordinary hard disk is not installed inside, but an SSD, there can be no harm from such manipulations. And yet you need to get used to MagicFlip for quite some time.
When the ultrabook is turned off or when it is immersed in hibernation, the panel automatically closes - if, of course, nothing sticks out in it. I shake hands with the guys from Acer for not regretting putting a very good wireless Bluetooth mouse in the box with the S5 - to be honest, when I had to constantly plug in and poke the radio module from my own mouse, I would have whined. And so, in general, normal. And I do not insert flash drives into the ports themselves, but into a cunning hub, bought on a tip from one of the habrovchan on BuyInCoins for $ 10 with delivery. It combines the Ethernet port and 3 USB 2.0 ports I need at work. By the way, the adapter from USB to Ethernet is also included, but, alas, without USB ports ...
And now about the more familiar things.
Characteristics and performance
The diagonal of the Acer Aspire S5 screen is 13.3 inches, customary for ultrabooks, and the resolution of the matrix is ​​at least 1366x768. The picture quality is also quite ordinary - this is the usual TN-matrix of the middle class, which differs from its counterparts except by a slightly larger viewing angle. The stock of brightness, as is customary in Acer, is huge - I twist it to 70% and that seems a bit much. For everyday needs and field processing of photos, the option is tolerable, but thin connoisseurs of beauty will frown. By the way, Acer’s ultrabook with IPS-matrix is ​​on its way (Aspire S7 model), and the resolution there will be more “adult” - 1920x1080. It will go on sale somewhere in November, if customs gives the go-ahead.
The body of the S5 is made of magnesium alloy, but so cleverly treated that it looks more like aluminum. It also made most of the space where the touchpad and keyboard are located, but the frame around the matrix is ​​plastic. Radically black color adds ultrabook of slimness and makes it a little more solid fellow. Despite the inscription Dolby Home Theater, the sound of the built-in speakers produces an impression that is usual for devices of this class, namely, a rather modest one. But in the headphones the sound is quite decent.
The ultrabook works on the Core i5-3317U processor (more precisely, there is a version on Core i7, but for experiments I got the one that is simpler). This, as the name implies, is the third generation Core, Ivy Bridge. Two cores, four streams, nominal frequency 1.7 GHz, in Turbo Boost mode up to 2.6 GHz. In fact, most of the time works on 800 megahertz. Made on 22-nanometer technology, TDP 17 watts. In general, such a normal modern middling.
The graphics core, of course, is built-in - Intel HD Graphics 4000. The nominal frequency is 350 MHz, the peak is 1.05 GHz (it may be interesting to someone that the same processor and, accordingly, the graphics core are in the new generation of 11.8-inch MacBook Air, where The resolution of the matrix is ​​also 1366x768).
Not really trusting synthetic puzomerkam, I still looked - what rating gives the S5 benchmark, built-in in Windows 7. In general, the result is not bad.
But is it worth believing him? Perhaps not, and here's why. Look at the results of the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Ultrabook, where the second generation Core i7 is.
No, of course, the new generation of processors is faster, but so that ... I do not believe it, sorry.
To get a more realistic assessment, I launched World of Tanks (version 0.7.5). Launched and, frankly, a little stunned. Because one thing is to read about the benefits of a new integrated graphics core, and the other is to see them alive. In general, on a Lenovo with a second-generation Core i7, I get an average of 20-30 FPS with graphical Low settings. On the Acer Aspire S5 - with them - it was 40-50. Given that playability was tolerable before, it became possible to switch to Medium and get those same 20-30 FPS. Well, what can I say ... Congratulations to Intel with really decent integrated graphics and I wish to practice such a doubling in the future. By the way, one more function of the MagicFlip panel was revealed during the game: when the heating reached some level prescribed in the system, it left itself without any requests, and, thanks to a large air vent, increased the cooling efficiency. Sensible.
The overall performance of the system also increased significantly. It seems like how fast the Lenovo U300s seemed, and here it was even faster. Perhaps this is the merit of a faster SSD, and maybe the memory has disappeared, which in Lenovo works in single-channel mode, and here in dual-channel mode.
Traditionally, I want to praise the keyboard - it, like all Acer notebooks that have passed through my hands, is very convenient. However, I just haven’t come across ultrabooks with an uncomfortable keyboard: HP, Lenovo, Dell are all great. Perhaps it is also the fact that the subject of inspiration was the same :)
Inside
Well, now let's move on to the most interesting - the opening of the ultrabook. And on the rest of the important points we’ll dwell during disassembly.
Getting inside the Aspire S5 is easy: all the screws are visible, they are quite standard and are removed using a Phillips screwdriver. After that, carefully remove the panel with the touchpad.
Then click off another small socket between the keyboard and the hinges ...
And, in general, everything. Let's admire the filling.
The first thing that catches your eye is the abundance of paper tape. He is literally everywhere. At first, Master Sasha and I were a little surprised, but then we came to the conclusion that a better and cheaper way to isolate electronics from unnecessary contacts with the back of the keyboard has simply not been invented yet. It looks not too aesthetically pleasing, but who besides us and the masters from the service (pah-pah-pah) will look here? But appreciate the complexity of the design: after all, the motherboard is located on a mobile platform, and all the other components are connected to it with loops.
22-nanometer processor costing cooling system, consisting of a single turbine. Interestingly, Acer also chose a product of the brand Sunon (we have already met them in the Lenovo U300s ultrabook ). The turbine gives a voice even with a relatively small load, and in 3D mode it makes noise all the time. But her sound is not annoying, without high frequencies. At first you pay attention, and then it seems that it seems that it should be.
Directly under the turbine is located SSD with a standard mSATA interface. Standard is standard, but no diagnostic program (for example, SSDlife) recognizes a solid-state disk in this Lite-On product. He says - you do not have in the SSD system. At the same time, SMART data is read correctly, disk utilities work with the drive as usual.
128 GB, of course, is not enough. You can get rid of it, but the soul asks for more. If the desire is really strong, the upgrade can be done independently, the benefit of SSD under mSATA is on sale a lot both in our stores and on eBay. Well-off guys can immediately buy a version with a 256 GB SSD, getting a more powerful processor as well. True, the price will increase significantly, but this is slightly lower.
Qualcomm Atheros WiFi adapter is tightly soldered to the board and is not upgradeable. However, with the exception of a breakdown, I don’t see any reasons to change it: 300 Mbit / s keeps stable, supports two bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), so what more could you want?
The battery of the Aspire S5 is not simple, but two-story. The cells are arranged in two layers, and this made it possible to place four pieces where only three are usually located. True, the battery capacity is still not a record one - 34 Wh, but you should not forget that the third generation Core consumes significantly less energy. According to my measurements, in Word + Facebook mode, you can safely count on 5 hours of battery life. When watching video in FullHD using GPU acceleration, it’s available for about 4 hours (the first part of the “Expendables” lasting 103 minutes managed to scroll twice, and on the third cycle the laptop started to charge low and fell asleep in the 31st minute). In general, life is decent, but, as always, I would like more. For example, a watch 7-8.
The battery, by the way, is not connected by a loop, as is customary in ultrabooks, but is simply applied to the corresponding contacts on the board. Simple and reliable design.
4 GB of RAM is soldered to the board, so no upgrades. In fact, in this model you can change only SSD and battery, if it is too worn out.
Total
The overall impression of the Aspire S5 is purely positive. Quick, easy, with a cool MagicFlip, which causes affection in both girls and stern uncles of fifty. But, as you know, the smaller the laptop and the more powerful, the more expensive it is. How are things going in this case?
Maximum angle of disclosure of Aspire S5
In the US, exhausted by the US crisis, the top model Acer Aspire S5 with a Core i7 and a 256 GB SSD costs $ 1,249, or 38,700 rubles (plus a sales tax, which is highly dependent on a particular state). In our rich country, for this amount, you can buy only the version with Core i5 and 128 GB, which I studied. The top model will cost 53-55 thousand rubles, which, of course, a lot. For those who are not afraid to get inside the new thing, there is an opportunity to save: on eBay a new 256 GB SSD can be bought for about $ 300 (with delivery), and the one that is installed in the younger model can be easily sold for $ 100. We have a little patience and skill, and we have in our hands an almost top model for 45,000. And without Core i7, I would have done without such a compact machine.
In general, for those interested in this type of computer and having certain cash reserves, I recommend taking a closer look. See and do not forget that in November, immediately after the announcement of Windows 8, all manufacturers will start selling ultrabooks with touch-sensitive FullHD-matrixes. Only now the prices for them, as well as the very usefulness of the touch screen in the ultrabook, I still do not dare to determine.
The Acer Aspire S5 was shown first - as the thinnest ultrabook in the world. It was planned that it will go on sale in March-April, and inside it will run second-generation Intel Core processors (Sandy Bridge). However, at the last moment, the company decided to wait for the Ivy Bridge platform, and this model reached the counters only in August. Then there was an opportunity to try it in work and look inside.
')
The declared thickness of the Aspire S5 is 11 millimeters. Moreover, this is really the maximum thickness of the machine when folded, except for a small protrusion in the area of ​​the loops. However, taking an ultrabook in hand and enjoying its thin edges (in combination with a weight of 1.2 kg), we suddenly find that there are no interface connectors on it. No, I'm serious - you can see only the hole for connecting the power supply and an SD card slot. EVERYTHING!
The first demonstration of the S5 world. And the truth is thin
... but where are the ports?
And here we come to the Main Difference of this model from all ultrabooks and even from the progenitor of this class of mobile computers - the MacBook Air. Namely, to the exit panel called MagicFlip I / O. Let us leave behind its frame its name (although I want to fix and punish a little for the “io” at the end of marketers) and turn to the point. To the right of the keyboard there is a button with a USB plug drawn on it that is connected to the corresponding port. By clicking on it, you will hear a funny "LJ", and the ultrabook will grow a little above the table. We look at its back part and - lo and behold! - we see two USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI and even a rather exotic Thunderbolt.
The first outline of magicflip. Do not ask how I found them.
And that's what it looks like.
In Vegas, this "LJ" made a powerful impression on everyone. It seemed that Apple should have been the first to think of this, and the rest only to reinvent. And do not care that the panel takes up a good half of the case, so that in the open state, the thickness of the latter grows to a record 15 mm. What a trick! For once, something new.
True, I immediately had questions about the reliability of the design. As we know, any mechanics is a weak link in modern electronics. And if, after a couple of hundred merry "zhzhzh" panels jam, the joy of this will be a bit ...
So, I report: most likely, the design will work the entire life of the ultrabook. Where such confidence? For two reasons. Firstly, there is protection against overweight. When you click on the button, the MagicFlip panel starts to leave, but, encountering resistance, it immediately hides into place. So the mechanism cannot overstrain. The second reason you can see for yourself. Photos of the disassembled ultrabook will be at the end of the post, but here is a portrait of the lifting mechanism. It is made of steel, there are no plastic elements at all. So - stand it without breaking and waking.
Another question is that a chip chip, and plugging a flash drive into the port located behind the screen is still a pleasure. Yes, this is done infrequently. But it still happens, it happens. Then S5 has to either deploy, or put on the priest. Considering the fact that an ordinary hard disk is not installed inside, but an SSD, there can be no harm from such manipulations. And yet you need to get used to MagicFlip for quite some time.
When the ultrabook is turned off or when it is immersed in hibernation, the panel automatically closes - if, of course, nothing sticks out in it. I shake hands with the guys from Acer for not regretting putting a very good wireless Bluetooth mouse in the box with the S5 - to be honest, when I had to constantly plug in and poke the radio module from my own mouse, I would have whined. And so, in general, normal. And I do not insert flash drives into the ports themselves, but into a cunning hub, bought on a tip from one of the habrovchan on BuyInCoins for $ 10 with delivery. It combines the Ethernet port and 3 USB 2.0 ports I need at work. By the way, the adapter from USB to Ethernet is also included, but, alas, without USB ports ...
And now about the more familiar things.
Characteristics and performance
The diagonal of the Acer Aspire S5 screen is 13.3 inches, customary for ultrabooks, and the resolution of the matrix is ​​at least 1366x768. The picture quality is also quite ordinary - this is the usual TN-matrix of the middle class, which differs from its counterparts except by a slightly larger viewing angle. The stock of brightness, as is customary in Acer, is huge - I twist it to 70% and that seems a bit much. For everyday needs and field processing of photos, the option is tolerable, but thin connoisseurs of beauty will frown. By the way, Acer’s ultrabook with IPS-matrix is ​​on its way (Aspire S7 model), and the resolution there will be more “adult” - 1920x1080. It will go on sale somewhere in November, if customs gives the go-ahead.
The body of the S5 is made of magnesium alloy, but so cleverly treated that it looks more like aluminum. It also made most of the space where the touchpad and keyboard are located, but the frame around the matrix is ​​plastic. Radically black color adds ultrabook of slimness and makes it a little more solid fellow. Despite the inscription Dolby Home Theater, the sound of the built-in speakers produces an impression that is usual for devices of this class, namely, a rather modest one. But in the headphones the sound is quite decent.
The ultrabook works on the Core i5-3317U processor (more precisely, there is a version on Core i7, but for experiments I got the one that is simpler). This, as the name implies, is the third generation Core, Ivy Bridge. Two cores, four streams, nominal frequency 1.7 GHz, in Turbo Boost mode up to 2.6 GHz. In fact, most of the time works on 800 megahertz. Made on 22-nanometer technology, TDP 17 watts. In general, such a normal modern middling.
The graphics core, of course, is built-in - Intel HD Graphics 4000. The nominal frequency is 350 MHz, the peak is 1.05 GHz (it may be interesting to someone that the same processor and, accordingly, the graphics core are in the new generation of 11.8-inch MacBook Air, where The resolution of the matrix is ​​also 1366x768).
Not really trusting synthetic puzomerkam, I still looked - what rating gives the S5 benchmark, built-in in Windows 7. In general, the result is not bad.
But is it worth believing him? Perhaps not, and here's why. Look at the results of the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Ultrabook, where the second generation Core i7 is.
No, of course, the new generation of processors is faster, but so that ... I do not believe it, sorry.
To get a more realistic assessment, I launched World of Tanks (version 0.7.5). Launched and, frankly, a little stunned. Because one thing is to read about the benefits of a new integrated graphics core, and the other is to see them alive. In general, on a Lenovo with a second-generation Core i7, I get an average of 20-30 FPS with graphical Low settings. On the Acer Aspire S5 - with them - it was 40-50. Given that playability was tolerable before, it became possible to switch to Medium and get those same 20-30 FPS. Well, what can I say ... Congratulations to Intel with really decent integrated graphics and I wish to practice such a doubling in the future. By the way, one more function of the MagicFlip panel was revealed during the game: when the heating reached some level prescribed in the system, it left itself without any requests, and, thanks to a large air vent, increased the cooling efficiency. Sensible.
The overall performance of the system also increased significantly. It seems like how fast the Lenovo U300s seemed, and here it was even faster. Perhaps this is the merit of a faster SSD, and maybe the memory has disappeared, which in Lenovo works in single-channel mode, and here in dual-channel mode.
Traditionally, I want to praise the keyboard - it, like all Acer notebooks that have passed through my hands, is very convenient. However, I just haven’t come across ultrabooks with an uncomfortable keyboard: HP, Lenovo, Dell are all great. Perhaps it is also the fact that the subject of inspiration was the same :)
Inside
Well, now let's move on to the most interesting - the opening of the ultrabook. And on the rest of the important points we’ll dwell during disassembly.
Getting inside the Aspire S5 is easy: all the screws are visible, they are quite standard and are removed using a Phillips screwdriver. After that, carefully remove the panel with the touchpad.
Then click off another small socket between the keyboard and the hinges ...
And, in general, everything. Let's admire the filling.
The first thing that catches your eye is the abundance of paper tape. He is literally everywhere. At first, Master Sasha and I were a little surprised, but then we came to the conclusion that a better and cheaper way to isolate electronics from unnecessary contacts with the back of the keyboard has simply not been invented yet. It looks not too aesthetically pleasing, but who besides us and the masters from the service (pah-pah-pah) will look here? But appreciate the complexity of the design: after all, the motherboard is located on a mobile platform, and all the other components are connected to it with loops.
22-nanometer processor costing cooling system, consisting of a single turbine. Interestingly, Acer also chose a product of the brand Sunon (we have already met them in the Lenovo U300s ultrabook ). The turbine gives a voice even with a relatively small load, and in 3D mode it makes noise all the time. But her sound is not annoying, without high frequencies. At first you pay attention, and then it seems that it seems that it should be.
Directly under the turbine is located SSD with a standard mSATA interface. Standard is standard, but no diagnostic program (for example, SSDlife) recognizes a solid-state disk in this Lite-On product. He says - you do not have in the SSD system. At the same time, SMART data is read correctly, disk utilities work with the drive as usual.
128 GB, of course, is not enough. You can get rid of it, but the soul asks for more. If the desire is really strong, the upgrade can be done independently, the benefit of SSD under mSATA is on sale a lot both in our stores and on eBay. Well-off guys can immediately buy a version with a 256 GB SSD, getting a more powerful processor as well. True, the price will increase significantly, but this is slightly lower.
Qualcomm Atheros WiFi adapter is tightly soldered to the board and is not upgradeable. However, with the exception of a breakdown, I don’t see any reasons to change it: 300 Mbit / s keeps stable, supports two bands (2.4 and 5 GHz), so what more could you want?
The battery of the Aspire S5 is not simple, but two-story. The cells are arranged in two layers, and this made it possible to place four pieces where only three are usually located. True, the battery capacity is still not a record one - 34 Wh, but you should not forget that the third generation Core consumes significantly less energy. According to my measurements, in Word + Facebook mode, you can safely count on 5 hours of battery life. When watching video in FullHD using GPU acceleration, it’s available for about 4 hours (the first part of the “Expendables” lasting 103 minutes managed to scroll twice, and on the third cycle the laptop started to charge low and fell asleep in the 31st minute). In general, life is decent, but, as always, I would like more. For example, a watch 7-8.
The battery, by the way, is not connected by a loop, as is customary in ultrabooks, but is simply applied to the corresponding contacts on the board. Simple and reliable design.
4 GB of RAM is soldered to the board, so no upgrades. In fact, in this model you can change only SSD and battery, if it is too worn out.
Total
The overall impression of the Aspire S5 is purely positive. Quick, easy, with a cool MagicFlip, which causes affection in both girls and stern uncles of fifty. But, as you know, the smaller the laptop and the more powerful, the more expensive it is. How are things going in this case?
Maximum angle of disclosure of Aspire S5
In the US, exhausted by the US crisis, the top model Acer Aspire S5 with a Core i7 and a 256 GB SSD costs $ 1,249, or 38,700 rubles (plus a sales tax, which is highly dependent on a particular state). In our rich country, for this amount, you can buy only the version with Core i5 and 128 GB, which I studied. The top model will cost 53-55 thousand rubles, which, of course, a lot. For those who are not afraid to get inside the new thing, there is an opportunity to save: on eBay a new 256 GB SSD can be bought for about $ 300 (with delivery), and the one that is installed in the younger model can be easily sold for $ 100. We have a little patience and skill, and we have in our hands an almost top model for 45,000. And without Core i7, I would have done without such a compact machine.
In general, for those interested in this type of computer and having certain cash reserves, I recommend taking a closer look. See and do not forget that in November, immediately after the announcement of Windows 8, all manufacturers will start selling ultrabooks with touch-sensitive FullHD-matrixes. Only now the prices for them, as well as the very usefulness of the touch screen in the ultrabook, I still do not dare to determine.
The author traditionally thanks Alexander Levchenko (Tech-Town.ru) for his help in opening the ultrabook.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/151916/
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