Acer 13.3" Dual-Core i3 Ultrabook

pcmag.com has deemed the S3-391-6046 model “good”

Really tempting, but I’m not loving the low resolution and last-gen Intel graphics.

Perhaps I’ll feel a little more open to it after I have another glass of sangria… :slight_smile:

The industry has really ‘expanded’ (read: bastardized) the term ultrabook. Its memory is already maxed out at just 4gb. Ultrabooks were supposed to be the PC’s slightly more affordable answer to sleek high end Macbook Airs without sacrificing performance. I’m a PC user so this isn’t a rant by an Apple fan.

Somehow the name “netbook” became uncool when representing low-end laptops with small screens.

Lucky for me, A netbook by another name is still what I want in my laptop. I use my desktop for anything that’s system taxing.

I’d want this if it weren’t for windows 8

I’d like to know more about what are the negatives of Windows 8. Thanks

Is the laptop a touch screen? No?
Have you even navigated your Smart phone/tablet with a external mouse to track pad?

That’s the big issue it’s a touch screen app desing on a no touc hscreen platform, heck even the desktop is a App. You lad into the Home Screen

The interface is geared toward a touchscreen, nice if you have one. A classic windows interface like Win7 can be forced without much effort and some Googling. Otherwise, the OS is fine.

I just did the under $400 Best Buy run and my options were big, heavy, and i3 anyway.

Some people get their panties in a bunch because the start screen is full screen now instead of a pop-up. You in no way need a touch screen. I have a laptop and my touchpad and my USB mouse both work great on Windows 8. I spend, and I’m sure you would too, 99 percent of my time on the desktop. So, it’s no difference essentially.

Lol, have you ever actually used Windows 8? Please be honest.

I AGREE! WIN8 = POS. I’d sooner have VISTA (remember that one?) Spent many hours trying to adapt to WIN8, not worth the effort…

Actually yes, i had to set up the new laptop my brother got so yes i used and tinkered with it. And i still say having to go to a Destop app on a non touch Laptop is a bad joke

I love how the conversation went from talking about the laptop to talking about win8.

I think I would get this, if the battery wasn’t a 3-cell. I’d like something with a little more power storage.

With a touch screen, Windows 8 is controversial.

Without it, it is a disater.

This is the most true statement that I have read in a while. Netbooks became uncool for some reason, and good laptops stayed really expensive. Tablets have their place, but this is a really good price here. I work in horrific conditions around the world and only buy sooped up netbooks or refurbed laptops in case they get stolen at checkpoints or I have to “lose” them in a hurry. It would be nice to have the actual computing power of a nice laptop in the size of a netbook like this one for under $400.
I deploy tomorrow with an older Acer netbook and a new Galaxy Note to give that a whirl in rough conditions. I would buy this today if I didn’t just get this note from Woot last month…

I got a 17" HP laptop from Woot a couple of weeks ago that came with Windows 8. Out of the box, I hated it. It was like driving a car where all the controls were moved around. However, installing Classic Shell (free) or some other similar app that restores the start menu makes most everything better. Since then, using the laptop has been just like using any of my other computers with Win7. For the most part anyway. Don’t let Win8 scare you away from a good deal, just get Classic Shell.

I have used it extensively on a laptop. After a month I formatted the drive and put Windows 7 on. I used classic shell to get the start orb back, but found windows 8 was missing certain things (like mediacenter) and was annoying in other aspects.

Alternatively, I installed Windows 8 on an ExoPC tablet and found that to be a great experience. This tablet was originally designed to work with windows 7 and a software touch overlay created from the company ExoPC. It felt weak and under powered until I installed Windows 8 on it.

Windows 8 is a great interface for a touch device and the only thing it lacks is an extensive app library like Android and Apple have- although that should get better with time. Using mouse to mimic touch gestures is weak. If more laptops start to incorporate touch (which may happen) then windows 8 would make more sense. After my experience Windows 8 should be on a touch device and Windows 7 is better for all other devices.

… And we’re off to the Win8 bashing…

I too liked Win 7 fine, but please Woot, haven’t you learned by now, when putting up a Win 8 machine, in big bold letters at the top off every page, post links to the several start menu/desktop addins available for free.

Microsoft is also tired of the bashing and rumor has it the version 8.1 update might restore the start menu as an option.

(BTW, to the person who claimed they would rather use Vista than Win 8, you either did not use Vista or have not used Win 8, or perhaps have not used either.)

I would rather have Vista on a laptop then windows 8. Vista at this point (after all the updates) is pretty similar to Windows 7 in functionality. In the beginning Vista was a mess, but the updates have fixed many of the issues it had.