Hot on the heels of the Toshiba and Lenovo ultrabook announcements comes a new ultrabook from Acer. Engadget recently got their hands on the new Acer Aspire S3 ultrabook at the IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) technology showcase in Berlin. The 13.3” computer carries some impressive specifications, including a 7 hour long battery life, metal chassis, and the latest Intel processors.

To be more specific, the Acer computer is a 13.3” ultrabook composed of a magnesium alloy chassis measuring 13mm thick. Inside the metal frame lies an ultra low voltage Core i3, i5, or i7 Sandy Bridge processor, DDR3 RAM, and an interesting storage solution made of a 20GB SSD and 320GB mechanical hard drive combination. Acer is promising a 7 hour battery life, and a 1.5 second resume from sleep time. Further, the ultrabook features a glossy 1366 x 768 resolution display, and a chicklet keyboard whose keys Engadget notes feels like plastic.

While their is no word on US pricing, Acer has released the European starting price at €799. Compromises have been made to reach the price point (mainly in the keyboard); however, if the specifications and design hold up it looks to be a solid competitor in the ultrabook market.  More photos as well as a video tour of the ultrabook can be found here.

[PS] As a (somewhat random) aside, I only now realized that ultrabooks do not employ Ethernet ports, which does makes sense as they are trying to get these chassis as thin as possible (and RJ-45 ports are relatively tall); however, they are something I have grown to expect on laptops.  I hate to be the guy still rocking the "G" router who tries to move HD video onto this thing.  As nice as my trusty 802.11 G router is, I know from experience the process is painfully slow over wireless!  Just something to keep in mind should you be a fellow college student on a budget who’s eyeing these ultrabooks (e.g. upgrading the router may need to be factored into the budget).