Acer ships Aspire M5 Ultrabook to UK in June, Ivy Bridge and Kepler chips in tow
Acer made something of a splash when it trotted out its Timeline Ultra series of Ultrabooks at CES; those waves are just now hitting the shore with a full-on release in the UK under a tweaked Aspire M5 name. Both the 14- and 15-inch models are now known to be packing Intel's Ivy Bridge-era third-generation Core processors, and the "dedicated" video we heard about in January is NVIDIA's Kepler-based GeForce GT 640M, which we saw in the Timeline Ultra M3. Either new PC is still under 20mm (0.8 inches) thick with the option of an SSD, like the M3, but slapping the M5 badge on top means a much narrower display bezel, a backlit keyboard and other more upscale touches that show where your money's going. Picking the 15-inch model adds an optical drive along with a keypad for number-crunching. Mum's the word on exact specs and that all-important pricing, but those questions will be answered by the time the M5 hits British shops in mid-June. Now all that's left is to know when the new Aspire reaches the other side of the Atlantic.
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15 May 2012
Acer Debuts the Aspire M5 - Light, strong, urban gorgeous
Once again Acer pushes the boundaries of mobile computing to the extreme and created a family of Ultrabooks™ that are destined to impress and leave a mark. The all new Aspire M5 series reaches unprecedented levels of performance, convenience, connectivity and battery life.
Simply thin and light and not compromising with 14" and 15" form factors, the Aspire M5 represents the new experience of instant use and anywhere mobility.
The Aspire M5 series are stunning laptops from any point of view, starting from the ultra-thin and smart design all the way through the powerful processors and graphics, the advanced audio technology and the seamless connectivity.
The first thing that catches the eye is the new metallic silver of the top cover that blends with the revolutionary new display technology: this integrates the display frame, cutting the bezel thickness by a third to create a futuristic effect. The clean lines, the geometric shapes and smooth angles all conjure up a minimalistic and ultra-stylish look and feel.
The casual design houses powerful all-around performance features. Sharp graphics performance comes from the latest NVIDIA® GeForce® GT640M with 1GB DDR5, supporting PhysX™, which accelerates gaming detail of material and effects for fast and smooth image experience, and Microsoft® DirectX® 11 for film-like geometric detail, perfectly smooth curves, and life-like animation.
The Acer Aspire M5 Series is based on the third generation of Intel® Core™ processors family, providing dynamic processing performance and speedier multitasking while consuming less power.
The overall experience is ultra-responsive. Acer Green Instant-On provides fast resume in 1.5 seconds from sleep mode. Likewise, Acer Instant Connect automatically scans and registers most-visited access points, letting users connect to the Internet in just 2.5 seconds, which is four times faster than conventional methods.
Acer leads the trend of thin and light: thus in around 20 mm thin form factor, the Aspire M5 still features an optical disc drive, backlit chiclet keyboard (14" and 15") with numeric keypad (15" only), which provides prosumer look and feel, easy-to-clean efficiency, and typing with comfort.
An ample hard disk drive offers plenty of space for large files, and an integrated solid state drive enables instant-on capability. An SSD-only configuration is also available. The highly durable SSD lets user access files faster, run the battery longer, and operate more quietly.
In the Timeline tradition, this Ultrabook™ features 8 hours of battery life, providing a full day of on-demand multimedia enjoyment and productivity on a single charge.
