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Vizio adds touch to the 14-inch CT14T

The second generation of Vizio slim laptops goes touch screen.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Dan Ackerman
Vizio

LAS VEGAS--One of last year's more interesting entries into the PC arena was Vizio. The company, best known for making inexpensive televisions, jumped headfirst into the computer business, releasing a handful of laptopsand all-in-one desktops, right at the height of ultrabook mania.

We generally liked a lot about those first-generation laptops, but they felt a lot like first-generation products. The design was sharp, but some features were missing, and the keyboard and touch pad were lacking.

The second generation of Vizio laptops is here, highlighted by the 14-inch CT14T. It looks nearly identical to last year's CT14, but adds a touch screen -- an important feature practically required for Windows 8.

The new CT14T has a 1,600x900-pixel display, and there are two models. The CT14T-B0 goes with AMD, rather than Intel for its CPU, using a 2.3GHz AMD A10 4657M processor, while the CT14T-B1 will have an IntelCore i7. The rest of the specs are standard for ultrabooks, with a 128GB SSD and 8GB of RAM.

Vizio

Along with the two 14-inch models, Vizio also has a refreshed 15-inch laptop, also with a touch screen, and AMD/Intel variants and 24- and 27-inch all-in-one models, which seem to be identical to last year's versions, with the addition of the touch screen.

All should be available in February, but prices have not been announced yet.