The M3 uses a black metal lid rather than the grey magnesium alloy used in its other ultrabook line, the S3.
The M3 has a 15in 1366 x 768 screen. While this may seem a bit low resolution, it plays well into the gaming focus of the laptop. By keeping screen resolution low, the onboard 1GB NVIDIA GT640M graphics can run at much higher detail than would be possible with a higher native resolution.
This is the first ultrabook that we have seen with a number pad, handy not just for gamers, but for those who spend a lot of time entering data.
The M3 is a touch over 2cm thick, and weighs 2030 grams, but conforms to the tweaked ultrabook specifications being used by Intel.
Acer has put most of the ports along the rear of the Timeline M3, much as it did with the S3 ultrabook late last year. There are two USB 2, one USB 3, HDMI, audio and Gigabit Ethernet ports on the rear.
With the main ports on the rear, the sides are pretty sparse, with an optical drive and SD card reader. The inclusion of an optical drive is a rarity amongst ultrabooks.
For comparison here is the Acer Timeline Ultra M3 with HP's Envy Spectre 14in ultrabook. The Spectre is a touch thinner than the M3.
The M3 has a noticeably larger footprint than the Spectre, which does impact the Acer's portability.
The M3 uses a black metal lid rather than the grey magnesium alloy used in its other ultrabook line, the S3.