Vizio is no longer just about TVs. The company unveiled its first laptop and all-in-one desktop PCs at a New York City press event.
John Falcone
John P. Falcone is the senior director of commerce content at CNET, where he coordinates coverage of the site's buying recommendations alongside the CNET Advice team (where he previously headed the consumer electronics reviews section). He's been a CNET editor since 2003.
Vizio is launching three laptops: 14- and 15-inch "Thin + Light" ultrabooks, and the CN15, a 15.6-inch model with a beefier processor and discrete Nvidia graphics.
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Microsoft Vice President Steven Guggenheimer was on hand to lend his support to Vizio's PC launch.
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Vizio was proudly comparing itself to the competition.
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In person, the ultrabooks' sleek lines impressed.
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An aluminum unibody construction inevitably brings the MacBook Air to mind, while the curves around the edges and side profile harken to the Samsung Series 5 Ultra and Series 9. At 0.66 inch thick, these are some of the thinner ultrabooks around.
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The clickpad is smaller than that of the MacBook Air, but it was very responsive based on some casual use.
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The Vizio CT14 ultrabook sports two USB 3.0 ports -- one on each side.
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Pricing on the entry-level ultrabook starts at $898.
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The ultrabook's HDMI output can be seen on the left.
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The CT-14 ultrabook has a 14-inch 1,600x900-pixel display, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, a 720p Webcam, and 4GB of RAM, with either a 128GB or 256GB solid-state drive. The CT-15 has the same ports and RAM/storage options but a higher-resolution 1,920x1,080-pixel display.
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A wireless touch pad and keyboard are included with the All-in-Ones, as well as a standalone subwoofer (to the left of the base).
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The All-in-Ones include two HDMI inputs for connecting external video devices such as cable boxes and game systems, so they can double as TVs. A wireless remote is also included.
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The keyboard especially has a nice heft and was responsive.
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The touch pad was finicky in our initial experience, and it didn't respond as quickly or as accurately to "left" and 'right" clicking as we wanted it to.
