Asus now has a sleek business-oriented ultraportable dubbed the B23E. This 12.5-inch laptop is built to take the abuse that professionals and road warriors are known to throw at their notebooks. Part of the Asus Pro B Series, the B23E is constructed of magnesium-aluminum alloy on the cover and keyboard chassis, making it both strong and lightweight (at 3.4 pounds).

There are reinforced metal hinges, an anti-shock hard drive, a spill-proof keyboard--and the laptop has been drop tested, hinged tested, and pressure tested beyond consumer notebook standards, according to Asus’ product page. A fingerprint reader, motion sensor, and optional Trusted Platform Module chips for security round out the features that may make both business users and IT departments happy.

Specs
In terms of specs, the B23E is pretty configurable, with your choice of an Intel Core i3, Core i5 or Core i5 processor, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 750GB of HDD storage (7200rpm). You’ve got your standard array of ports (Ethernet, Bluetooth, card reader, HDMI), although there’s only one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0. The anti-glare display is your typical 1366-pixel-by-768-pixel resolution.

Asus lists the B23E as having only a three-cell battery, which might be disappointing if you want all-day computing without needing to be plugged into an outlet. However, the company says the battery has three times the traditional Li-on battery life cycle thanks to its “Sonata” technology and that the battery quick charges to 90% in 90 minutes. A detachable docking station powers up and connects the laptop to up to three monitors at the office or home.

Ultrabooks may have stolen the show at CES this year, but clearly there’s a place and need for other types of ultraportables. The B23E is one option for professionals who don’t need the slimmest laptop possible but, instead, need something built for business. Intel Core i7 models of the B23E are available now on Amazon for under $1000.

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An instant turn-on. That’s how one might describe the appeal of Acer’s first-ever Ultrabook, the Aspire S3, codenamed “Hummingbird.”

Released recently by the company in an incredibly slim and light form factor, the Acer Aspire S3 sets bold new standards in how a laptop should look and feel, while also revolutionizing the way a laptop should work.

Only 17.5-mm thin and weighing less than 3 lbs, the S3 delivers ultimate portability without cutting corners on performance. It includes next-generation Intel Core i5 processors, integrated Intel HD Graphics, high-speed 20GB solid-state drive (SSD), the Acer Green “Instant On” technology, and essential USB and HDMI ports — making the Acer Aspire S3 every bit as powerful and fast as its thicker, heavier counterparts.

True to the essence of its design inspiration — the hummingbird — the S3 is extremely light and agile, perfect for use as an everyday laptop.

Thanks to Acer’s Green Instant On technology, it springs to life at once, and can resume from sleep mode in less than two seconds. It enters Deep Sleep mode after eight hours of inactivity, allowing it to restore data and remain on standby for up to 50 days without restarting or shutting down; once awakened from Deep Sleep, it snaps back to life in less than six seconds, bringing users back right where they left off.

The Acer Aspire S3 also connects to the Internet with lightning-quick speed. With the new Acer Instant Connect technology, it has the ability to remember favorite access points and allow users to connect to e-mails, instant messages, websites, social networks, and other Web-based tools and applications up to four times faster than on conventional laptops.

Cutting-edge SSD (solid-state drive) storage, meanwhile, enables the Acer Aspire S3 to deliver enhanced levels of reliability and energy efficiency. The laptop can run for up to six hours of continuous usage on a single charge of its long-life battery. And because its dynamic airflow design directs exhausted heat toward, then out, the rear side, users won’t ever have to worry about performance lags or overheated components.

The Acer Aspire S3 includes other aerodynamic design elements that optimize its performance and improve its durability. The sleek aluminum/magnesium alloy chassis — finished in fingerprint-free metallic silver — provides rigidity and strength while keeping the laptop’s weight at a minimum.

To enhance thermal comfort, Acer placed all heat-generating components away from the palm rest and multi-gesture touchpad. Vent gaps were also added throughout the full-sized chiclet keyboard, effectively funneling warm air away from the user.

Even the seamless profile of the Acer Aspire S3 is designed to stay clean and cool, with only a two-in-one card reader and a headphone port placed on the left and right sides; the rest of the connectors — one HDMI and two USB ports — are located at the back.

Contributing to the modern industrial vibe that the Acer Aspire S3 exudes are its extremely thin lid and aluminum bezel, both of which combine to frame and protect the 13.3-inch LED-backlit display.

With its 16:9 aspect ratio and high-definition (HD) 1366 x 788 resolution, the Acer Aspire S3 screen represents another design breakthrough; its visuals are so clear and sharp that they make users feel like they are looking at a bigger, wider screen.

The sound coming from inside the Acer Aspire S3 is equally impressive. That’s because its stereo speakers are optimized by professionally tuned Dolby Home Theater v4 audio enhancement suite, engineered for cinematic surround sound and enhance dialogue quality.

As an incredibly portable Ultrabook, the Acer Aspire S3 slips easily into a briefcase, purse or even a manila envelope. But just because it takes up less space doesn’t mean the laptop is thin on features.

The new Acer Clear.fi solution lets users wirelessly share files across home and social networks. The dual Crystal Eye 1.3MP webcams (one in front, one at the back) provide high-pixel density for quick snapshots and online video calls, while the built-in Bluetooth 4.0+ HSR technology applies the latest standards for wireless short-range data transfers.

With all these features, Acer’s new ultra-portable and lightning-fast laptop looks, feels and works to satisfy users’ every demand. In this sense, the Acer Aspire S3 is an instant turn-on — a technological fantasy coming to life in a head-turning, awe-inspiring package.

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News Group Newspapers has been ordered to allow a search of computers alleged to contain evidence that News of the World executives deliberately destroyed damning phone-hacking evidence.

During legal discussions on Thursday before a civil trial scheduled for 13 February, the company failed to convince Mr Justice Vos that the search of three laptops assigned to senior employees and six desktop computers was "disproportionate".

Dinah Rose QC, for NGN, said the search was unnecessary because there had been "no policy of deliberate destruction" at the paper. But Vos said that if he had "acceded to [NGN] suggestions back in early 2011 that disclosure was not necessary because admissions had been made, the phone-hacking history might be very different".

He said the material that might be found on the three laptops belonging to an unidentified senior employee of NGN "may well, on the evidence of the emails I have already been shown, contain documents or even emails which may bear on the policy of deletion.

"It seems to be a distinct possibility [that information on the laptops] could contain information relevant to the deliberate deletion of email and go beyond just 'colour' but indicate precisely what the deletion was taking place for, which may go far beyond scope of present admissions by NGN," he said. "I'm entirely satisfied that these laptops should be searched for purpose of relevant disclosure."

He said there were compelling questions about whether the paper had engaged in a campaign of deliberate destruction of evidence, had lied, deliberately concealed evidence, made payments to police, or had "actively tried to get off scot-free", including by destroying a "very substantial number of emails" and computers of journalists.

"The court has had an admission of sorts to the effect that NGN is content that aggravated damages should be paid on the basis of the somewhat startling admissions I have read out, but not that future claims should be assessed on that basis.

"I have been shown a number of emails ... which show a rather startling approach to the email record of NGN," he said. Three days after the solicitor for Sienna Miller had asked that NGN retained any emails in relation to phone hacking, "a previously conceived plan to conceal evidence was put in train by NGN managers".

Rose said so much had been disclosed and admitted by NGN that it was disproportionate to order the company to search the computers for further evidence. "There comes a point when we say we're three weeks away from trial and ... we can say enough is enough."

Her claim was robustly rebutted by Vos. "The day you can say 'that's enough' is the day I give judgment – although you can't even say it then because of the number of other cases waiting in the wings."

The trial, set to last three weeks, is intended to give guidance on damages for current and future lawsuits and out-of-court settlements in the five-year-old scandal.

But nine out of 10 of the claimants were still waiting for full disclosure from NGN, said their lawyer, Jeremy Reed. In the cases of three, including Tracey Temple, John Prescott's former lover, NGN had yet to even admit liability, he said.

"I want to submit that evidence of deliberate destruction is relevant," he said, pointing out that, since Vos ordered NGN to make a full disclosure of material on 20 December 2011, the company had released just 30 more pages of information.

"This is like a jigsaw. The claimants are trying to piece it together but we're not sure we've even got all the pieces. Much has been lost or deliberately destroyed."

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The good: The HP Folio 13 has everything that matters most in an ultrabook: very good battery life, an excellent backlit keyboard, all the requisite ports for mobile use, and a very comfortable feel, along with a competitive entry-level price.

The bad: The Folio 13 is no looker compared with other ultrabooks, and is a bit thicker and heavier than thin laptops such as the MacBook Air. The clickpad's just a bit too finicky for our tastes, too.

The bottom line: When it comes to Windows ultrabooks, the HP Folio 13 is the best of the bunch in terms of performance, price, and ergonomics, provided you can live with a less-than-razor-thin design. This laptop is targeted at small businesses but it's really for anyone who wants a reliable ultrabook that isn't a MacBook Air.

As ultrabooks become a major part of the laptop landscape this year, the key to finding a good one won't be specs--since so many have identical innards--so much as look, feel, and bang for the buck. The HP Folio 13 is a small business-targeted ultrabook that should be equally at home in the hands of a mainstream consumer. Aside from TPM support, the "business" differentiation is cosmetic and arbitrary: the HP Folio 13's hardware--a Core i5 low-voltage CPU, 128GB SSD storage, 4GB of RAM--befits any laptop in the 13-inch ultrabook universe circa 2012.

The Folio 13 is a thicker laptop, and a heavier one, too, than the MacBook Air and any of last year's ultrabooks, but not by much. It's a little over 3 pounds, and still thinner than any standard laptop. It's just not wafer-thin. However, the HP Folio 13 only costs $899, which undercuts a lot of the ultrabook competition by at least $100. And consider the battery life: in our tests, the HP Folio 13 had the longest battery life among Windows ultrabooks thus far. I'd give up a bit of thinness to gain more battery life any day, and at 0.7 inch thick, the Folio 13 is still plenty svelte enough for compact travel.

Are there sexier ultrabooks, and even laptops, than the HP Folio 13? Certainly. I'd be hard-pressed, however, to find one as practical, affordable, and solidly performing as the Folio 13. And, if I were currently picking an ultrabook out of a lineup to go to war with, the HP Folio 13 is the one I'd take in my backpack.

On a whole, the sense of deja vu I felt when using the HP Folio 13 is justified: it comes across as an evolved sibling of the HP Pavilion dm4, a laptop I loved just a year or so ago. To lovers of superslim laptops such as the Samsung Series 9, the HP Folio 13 may seem thick and less responsive. To mainstream laptop owners, the HP Folio 13 will feel sleek, fast, and very portable. It's all a matter of perspective.

In fact, I'd say that the whole laptop looks a little bit like a Hewlett-Packard throwback. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, especially since I've liked the feel of HP's recent designs. It's not likely to grab the eye on a table at Starbucks--its brushed-aluminum back lid and palm rest and black keyboard will probably blend right in amid a jungle of laptops and venti lattes--but to those who don't want to treat their laptops like Ferraris, that might be a good thing.

Brushed aluminum gracing the back lid gives the Folio 13 a "professional" air, while the smoothly opening lid and rigid construction makes it feel safe to wedge in a backpack--the Folio 13 has barely any flex in its chassis.

A rubberized bottom surface feels smooth to the touch, and has excellent grip on a desk surface. Heat vents along the bottom might get uncomfortable during lengthy use on a lap, but I never noticed a problem in my week or so of lap and desk typing. That, combined with the smooth palm rests and comfy keyboard, make this a laptop to love working on. No, it doesn't feel like an ultrabook...but credit HP with the decision to stay with its own design philosophy and not bend over backward to make its own version of the MacBook Air.

A single, small power button above the keyboard boots up Windows 7, and if I have one complaint about this laptop's ergonomics it's that this small button is nearly thin enough to require using a fingernail.
The wide, raised backlit keyboard is excellent, beating shallower keyboards on other ultrabooks. This keyboard feels more generous in terms of its key space than the ones on the MacBook Air and Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, which are already excellent. The design is reminiscent of HP's ProBook laptops, with keys that are soft to the touch, but respond crisply when depressed. They feel like they have more travel. I'm a keyboard fetishist, and the Folio 13's surprised me with its quality. The top media-control function keys are function-reversed, so hitting volume up doesn't mean fumbling for the Fn key. All laptops should have this, and yet they still don't.

The touch pad, or rather clickpad, beneath is comfortable and easy to use in tap-to-click mode--my preferred way of working--but it's still not as good as the pad on a MacBook Air. I found myself making fewer errors than on other Windows laptops, but the pad was still prone to occasional sensitivity quirks that can slow down a highlight-cut-and-paste process. The touch pad has marked-off zones on the lower third for left- and right-clicking, which adds useful surface area to the pad, although I found locating and clicking by feel was more difficult than engaging tap-to-click. The responsiveness of two-finger scrolling is passable, but hardly what would be considered great.

The glossy, bright 13-inch display has a 1,366x768-pixel resolution and looks very good head-on. At side angles, the image deteriorates as on the average screen on the average mainstream laptop. For the price, the screen is more than adequate, although it's not a stunner.

Now, a word on laptop screen resolution: some might drool over 1,600x900-pixel, 13-inch displays, but 1,366x768-pixel resolution is standard for any mainstream laptop, and I've never wished for a better resolution. A larger resolution at this screen size would sacrifice text size for virtual desktop space, a compromise I don't need. I wish my iPad had a finer resolution for displaying full pages of text, but on a laptop, that isn't a concern at the viewing distance you're likely to be at from the screen.

A built-in Dolby Advanced Audio-branded stereo speaker bar above the keyboard is louder than I expected, and more than suitable for video playback or Web chat in noisy rooms. An HD Webcam offers better-than-average video quality (1,280x1,204-pixel capture).

The other aspect of the HP Folio 13 I appreciated was its ample selection of ports: a single USB 3.0 port, plus one USB 2.0, HDMI, an Ethernet jack (a rarity among ultrabooks), and an SD card slot. Bluetooth is also included--maybe not surprising in a $900 laptop, but it's a feature often inexplicably absent in many mainstream machines.

There are no upgrades available on HP's Web site per se--you can have any HP Folio 13 you want, as long as it has an 128GB solid-state drive, 4GB of RAM, and a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-2467M CPU. There are no graphics options other than the included integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics, which are fine for most basic needs, photo editing, and even video editing and some casual gaming. As an ultrabook, the HP Folio 13 doesn't have a DVD drive. For $150 extra, you could always upgrade to Windows 7 Professional instead of the included Windows 7 Home Premium OS, but the typical consumer won't need to.

The HP Folio 13 feels fast in everyday use, and especially in terms of startup and wake-from-sleep time. A cold boot launched in about 20 seconds, and a lifting-the-lid wake from sleep took only 4 seconds. It felt just as fast as a MacBook Air, but wasn't as silent; I heard a gentle operating whine from the Folio 13 most of the time, although it's possible that toying with the HP CoolSense controls might have helped.

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Gigabyte has confirmed the impending launch of three new laptops, as it looks to expand its markets beyond its traditional motherboard and graphics card manufacturing.

"Gigabyte has long been a leader in the gaming motherboard market and we have taken our expertise to design high-end notebooks", explained Richard Ma, senior executive vice president of Gigabyte. "With the P2532 series, we have developed a line of premium products that feature exceptional performance, but at an affordable price to achieve the best value for users."

The first of the three laptops is the P2532F gaming-class laptop, which boasts an Intel Core i7-2670QM quad-core processor and Nvidia GT 555M graphics processor with 2GB of dedicated memory for smooth gameplay. Borrowing from the company's multimedia notebook line, the P2532F also includes a Blu-ray combo drive, a Full HD 1080p display and an audio system boasting THX TruStudio Pro technology, four stereo speakers and a single woofer speaker.

The design of the laptop includes a clever dual vent and dual heat-sink design which, Gigabyte claims, offers a powerful cooling effect for the system's components even during prolonged use, extending the lifespan of the device.

The P2532F is to be joined by the P2532H and P2532S, a pair of multimedia notebooks offering an Nvidia GT 555M or GT 550M graphics processor respectively, along with the same Full HD 1080p display and Blu-ray combo drive of the gaming equivalent. An included HDMI 1.4 output will also allow the device to play back 3D Blu-ray content, Gigabyte confirms, although this will require connected to an external display.

Although Gigabyte claims that all three laptops are ready for sale in international markets now, it has yet to provide official UK pricing; early pre-order details from selected retailers suggest that the company is keeping the cost low in order to compete with better-known laptop brands like Dell's Alienware.

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Instead of hosting its usual giant press conference and hotel suites full of products to demo, Dell instead introduced a single laptop, the XPS 13 ultrabook. If it was going to highlight just one laptop, Dell certainly picked the most relevant one, but last year's CES saw several systems across different categories. Dell's sister brand, Alienware, had nothing new to show, despite scoring big at past CES events with systems such as the M11X.

HP likewise stuck to a single major new laptop, the Envy 14 Spectre. It's an innovative system with a cool design (and our Best of CES winner in the computers and hardware category), but HP's other new laptops, the revamped Envy 15 and Envy 17, and the Folio 13 ultrabook, had already been released last month. Toshiba typically has new models spilling from its various Satellite, Qosmio, and Portege laptop lines. But at CES 2012, it only had a single product to show off, an unnamed 14-inch ultrabook prototype.

Also missing in action were new systems from Sony's Vaio line and anything notable from Asus, a company that typically brings several boundary pushing laptops to Las Vegas. Sony displayed a couple of potential future laptop/tablet prototypes under glass, and Asus brought a single new laptop, a fish-out-of-water Netbook (something that's kind of hard to get worked up about these days).

Of the major laptop makers that serve the U.S. market, only Lenovo and Samsung came through with traditional full slates of new laptops. Why the lack of new systems? Talking to the various PC makers, a few themes developed. First, the double play of Windows 8 and Intel's next-gen CPUs is reportedly close, but not reliably dated. Any new products shipping soon face the danger of being outdated in six months, and showing off a laptop that relies on one or both of those new technologies means that full spec details and release dates are impossible to provide.

Second, and more troubling for future CES shows, the big sales seasons for laptops--back to school and the holidays--are increasingly important, but don't lend themselves well to previewing products six-to-nine months early at a January trade show.

Fortunately, despite not having a high volume of specific new models to talk about, PCs, and laptops in particular, still managed to be the most talked-about part of the show, thanks to Intel's relentless ultrabook hype. You can catch up on our wrap-up of all the 'computers and hardware' category highlights right here.

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The trend in laptops at CES 2012 is clear: It’s all about thinner and lighter laptops made with premium materials and slick design. Intel’s attempt to brand exceptionally thin and light laptops as “Ultrabooks” has been very successful, with nearly every laptop vendor jumping on board. Even laptops that don’t meet the requirements of Ultrabook branding, such as those using Intel Atom or AMD CPUs like the Asus Eee PC Flare, are slimmer, lighter, and better-looking than the comparable systems of the last few years.

Some vendors are simply forgoing the Ultrabook brand name. Vizio’s dramatic entry into the PC market seems quite impressive, and while its thin-and-light 14 and 15-inch laptops meet the requirements to be called Ultrabooks, the company says they’ve been working on them since long before such a brand existed, and prefer it not be used. Dell’s sleek XPS 13 is the same story. What do these systems, and many of the other hot laptops of CES have in common? They’re a lot thinner, and they’re made with premium materials, such as solid blocks of aluminum, carbon fiber, or in the case of the HP Envy 14 Spectre, lots of Gorilla Glass.

In fact, this CES marks the introduction of the thinnest laptops we’ve ever seen. The Aspire S5 from Acer and the new Series 9 from Samsung are so skinny they make Apple’s Macbook Air look positively chunky. Acer claims the Aspire S5 is the world’s thinnest laptop, but the new Series 9 will ship several months sooner. The Blade laptop from Razer may not be especially skinny (at 0.8-inches) or light (at 6.6 pounds), until you realize that it’s a 17-inch gaming laptop. For products in that class, it’s like a runway model.

Some of these svelte laptops will ship this spring, but many more will hit the market in the summer and fall, after Intel’s third-generation Core processors (code-named Ivy Bridge) hit the market. These smaller, faster chips should operate more efficiently than the current Core processors, making them easier to cool in these tight laptops, while delivering longer battery life.

Though we have seen laptops with touchscreens in the past, we’re seeing a few more now that Windows 8 is on the way with a greatly improved touch experience. Most of the touch-enabled laptops at CES are concept models designed to convert into tablets. With Windows 8 half a year away or more, we’re not likely to see many finished products tailor-made for the OS just yet.

If CES 2012 is any indication, this year will mark a push away from the commoditization of laptops. Yes, the cheap, heavy, thick, plasticky laptops of the past few years will still be out there, but all the buzz will be around laptops that look great, run cool and quietly, and are easier to carry. There will be more of these to choose from than ever before. If the last few years were a race to the bottom to see who could make the most affordable laptop, 2012 is a race for quality to see who can make the most desirable laptop.

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Dell laptops of the last few years have been mostly…boring. Boring, and sort of cheap-feeling. It seems as though Dell was leading the charge in a “race to the bottom”, producing inexpensive and bulky laptops that could be outfitted with a wide variety of upsell options like faster processors or bigger hard drives. Sometime last year, it seems as though the company caught on to what customers want these days: fewer confusing options, better design, and quality materials. The XPS 15z was the first laptop from Dell I had seen in a long time that really got it right, and the XPS 14z continued the legacy.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I first took hold of the XPS 13 (there’s no “z”) and found it to be even more impressive. Dell says it has been working on this design for at least a couple years – since before there was an Ultrabook designation for laptops, though it certainly qualifies for that category.

The XPS 13 is as thin as most Ultrabooks at around 0.7 inches, tapering down to 0.24 inches. The main body is a mix of mag-alloy, and aluminum along the lid and keyboard deck, with a primarily carbon fiber body. This makes it quite rigid, while keeping the weight down to just a hair under 3 pounds.

The real feat here is the small width and depth of the laptop. Thanks to a bonded edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass display with an extremely thin bezel, the 13.3-inch screen fits into a chassis considerably less wide or deep than most 13-inch laptops. Dell calls it a “13 inch display in a 12 inch form factor”, and that’s not really hyperbole.

Dell is aiming for a number of advancements under the hood. You’ll be able to get the XPS 13 with Core i3, i5, or i7 processors, a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive, and 4GB of RAM. Beginning with the XPS 13, all XPS laptops will be what Dell refers to as “welcome in the enterprise.” That means it will support custom imaging and BIOS settings, BitLocker and TPM, and be eligible for Dell’s enterprise support. You know, stuff IT managers look for. This may also be the first laptop to hit the market with Intel’s Smart Connect technology, which periodically wakes up a sleeping PC to refresh network applications like email or Twitter.

From a brief hands-on with the system, I’m guardedly optimistic. Dell hasn’t nailed down pricing yet, and pricing the XPS 13 out of the reach of regular consumers could be a real deal-breaker. My initial impression is that this may be best laptop Dell’s made in years.

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The first-generation ultrabook war is getting bloody, with the Toshiba Satellite Z830 and Lenovo Ideapad U300S emerging from the pits to take on the Asus Zenbook and this machine, the Acer Aspire S Series. This four-way battle royale should be a fierce contest, but can Acer do enough to beat down the super-thin-yet-powerful laptop competition?

The Taiwanese company certainly has experience producing every variety of laptop, from the ultra-portable Timeline range of models such as the Acer Aspire Timeline X 3820TZ to the mighty Ethos multimedia machines including the Acer Aspire Ethos 5943G.

Design
One of its dinkiest offerings yet, the 13.3-inch Acer Aspire S3-951 is an appealing prospect for regular travellers. While the computer doesn't have much merit in the way of design and makes some compromises, it's a solid performer with a good keyboard and trackpad, and great battery life—a combination that's been a rare find so far.

The Acer Aspire S3 weighs a modest 1.38kgs, just a tad below the Macbook Air. While it is a little heavier than the other ultrabooks, the weight does give a good grip while working on it. The Aspire S3 looks good, and seems to handle well when folded--there's no weird weight distribution that might make it susceptible to drops when you're juggling it with other gear. The plastic shell isn't as rigid as the alloy shells on some Ultrabooks, but it's functional.

The power button on the S3 is embedded in its hinge next to two tiny indicator lights. The S3 has a limited supply of inputs, with two USB 2.0 ports and an HDMI port. A headphone jack is on the left hand side, and an SD card slot is on the right.

Keyboard & Touchpad
Opening the Aspire S3 reveals a muted gray keyboard that almost disappears into the chassis and otherwise is notable for possessing the tiniest set of navigation keys (arrows, Page Up, Page Down, and the like) that I can recall seeing on any Windows laptop. They're not much bigger than cell phone Chiclet keys, and about the only positive I can see is that the Page Down and Page Up keys are discrete, so they don't require a separate function key press.

The island-style keyboard on the S3 isn't the worst we've ever used, but it was a bit stiff; keys were large and well spaced (with the exception of the arrow keys, which were a pain), but we would have preferred a little more travel and responsiveness. On more than one occasion, the keyboard missed our inputs when we were typing at a fast pace, and we had to make a conscious effort to press harder. And since the trackpad doesn't pick up a hovering palm, the cursor doesn't skate across the screen unexpectedly. However, it is cursed with integrated mouse buttons. Instead of having separate mouse buttons, you need to push the left and right corners of the pad down to simulate mouse clicks.

Frankly, it's a horrible experience.
Anyone who's used one of these touchpads will know the deal. Often when you push the corners in to select a menu option, the cursor will skip across the screen, leading to incorrect menu selections.

Display
The display has an average, 1366-by-768-pixel native resolution. When I sat in the sweet spot, the screen looked bright and colorful. Still photos looked good and HD content streamed over the local area network smoothly. However, streaming Netflix HD content looked even softer than it usually does. In addition, the LCD panel's range of angles for high-quality viewing is rather restricted, with noticeable color and contrast shifts at minor displacements from dead center.

Instant On
One area where Windows PCs have traditionally stumbled may have been resolved – standby mode. Instant-on worked well in our tests. In fact, this is the first Windows laptop we’ve encountered that could be consistently put to sleep by closing the lid, and which would wake again and be ready for business when opened.

Audio
The Acer Aspire S3-951 includes a pair of very small speakers that vent through the bottom and the keyboard. Don’t be misled by the Professionally Tuned script on the bodywork – these speakers sound dreadfully tinny despite the efforts of Dolby and its ineffectual Home Theater v4 software.

Battery Life
Battery life is more important than ever on Ultrabooks, as the integrated batteries are either not user replaceable or very difficult to replace at best. Here the Aspire S3 holds its head up proudly, managing over 7 hours easily away from a socket. Despite editing photos on the Photoshop, keeping 7-8 Google Chrome tabs in the background, Skype and Google Talk signed in, and 1-2 Microsoft Word documents open, it lasted about 6 hours before it asked me to plug it into a post. As a matter of fact, even with just 15% of battery remaining, it comfortably gave me 45 minutes of performance before it decided to hibernate on its own.

Verdict
At Rs 50,984, the Acer Aspire S3 ultrabook is a little premium at the price. Considering the performance belted out by the machine, I would gladly part about Rs 40,000 for the same, but nothing more than that. Yes, it’s a performer for sure, but the cheap and plasticky build quality is a turn off. Plus, the top lid is so flimsy that it ends up quivering when kept directly under the fan.

However, one thing is for sure, the slim & sexy dimensions of the Acer Aspire S3 have re-ignited my want of a Macbook Air. Maybe it’s time.

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New laptop manufacturer NajmTek plans to launch a dual-screen laptop called the U-Book (“Universal Notebook”) at CES, much like Acer announced its dual-screen Acer Iconia last year at CES.

Like the Acer Iconia, the U-Book replaces the traditional keyboard with a multi-touch screen. One of the benefits of a touchscreen keyboard, NajmTek suggests on its U-Book product page, is multi-language support, so you can easily display Latin, Cyrillic, or other keyboards with special characters, and also quickly switch between keyboards.

Not many people need multi-language support, however. More useful for most of us may be the multi-function capabilities of the touchscreen: A number of different keyboard layouts will be available, including ones displaying special launch keys, a trackpad, calculator, and more.Even more interesting and groundbreaking: NajmTek promises users will be able to create and save their own custom keyboard layouts, changing key colors, shortkeys, button orders, and key sizes.

Otherwise, the U-Book looks like a standard laptop -- probably a desktop replacement rather than a sleek ultraportable. Currently, NajmTek is showing only simple renders of the U-Book and brief details on the laptop’s specs. The U-Book will run off an Intel dual-core or quad-core processor, come with a 250GB or 500GB hard drive, and feature an Nvidia graphics card. You’ll also get the usual USB and ethernet ports, memory card reader, HD webcam, and HDMI. Expect more details on the U-Book from the CES showcase in just a little over a week.

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