Computex 2013: Taiwan's computer makers exhibit year's upcoming tech

Last year, Acer’s Aspire S7 surprised us by bringing a whole new level of design finesse to the company’s laptop line, with solid build quality and an eye-catching anodized aluminum chassis. This year, the company is iterating on its 13.3-inch ultrabook design in a couple of ways with an updated Aspire S7 and the all-new Aspire S3 — a machine with a similar design but with some more powerful internals for the performance conscious. And if desktops are more your thing, Acer is also announcing the Z3 desktop, a minor bump from last year's identically named all-in-one.

This year’s S7 endeavors to fix two of our biggest problems with last year’s model: the memory and the battery. 8GB of RAM is now standard on the S7, whereas last year’s model maxed out at a scant 4GB. But our biggest complaint was the disappointing battery, which we're happy to see has been bumped from 4,680mAh to 6,280mAh — a 34 percent increase that, coupled with the new fourth-generation Intel CPU, should do a lot to improve on the substandard stamina of the original S7. That increase comes with only a marginal increase in thickness (from 0.47 to 0.51 inches) and essentially zero increase in weight — the machine now weighs in at 2.87 pounds, versus last year’s 2.86. Otherwise, things are practically the same: a 1920 x 1080 capacitive touchscreen, two USB 3.0 ports, a 128GB SSD, and integrated graphics, all for the same $1,399. An optional high-res 2560 x 1440 panel will cost extra, although Acer hasn't yet announced pricing breakdowns for its various configurations.

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