Vizio 15" /1080p/ IPS matte, 3rd gen i5-3317U, 128GB SSD $619 at Amazon

This is one of the current steals in the market if you are looking for an Ultrabook with a 15" screen - or would be ok with it if was a great screen and the overall product is under 4 lbs - and don't need high end electronics or the ability to add them. There are plenty of reviews of this product so I'll leave it to you to Google them, but I'll point out a few key Pros and Cons from reviewing the reviews:

Pros:

1) Great screen - same as Sony S15 and HP Envy 15 post Orangegate!
2) Extremely sleek, thin and light for its size with stunning silver metal case
3) Same components as most $1,000 Premium Ultrabooks (see subject line)
3.5) Extremely fast SSD - 500/300 mb/s seq. read/write, resulting in nearly 12,000 PC Mark Vantage, second highest ultrabook ever
4) Bloatware-free; over 80GB avail. on 128GB SSD
5) Nothing like it within $250 of the price, provided the 1080p IPS is a must


Cons:
1) Ports: only 2 USB (only 1 USB3), HDMI, headphone/mic. That's all! No SD card, Ethernet, Display Port, VGA, etc, but most in the class lack these too
2) Keyboard: Not backlit, but also many find it way too shallow, too much flex; trackpad also not quite up to par, but drivers keep improving it
3) Very low battery life: 3-4 hrs* (see below)

This model is the company's lowest end 15" notebook and it's been replaced in the line with a model that is said to improve the keyboard, but this is in an entirely different price class ($619 vs. $799) - it almost makes it into the "budget" category. Even with Haswell coming in 2 months and the likelihood that Vizio will cure many of this first-ever laptop's ills, but as-is it is apparently a fully serviceable DTR and, at this price, it's likely to give everyday office, web and movie-watching service that will be more than sufficient for 2+ years.

* Battery life: I find 3-4 hrs more than enough for most of my own off-plug needs, but for those needing all-day computing, this product ,an Energizer 1 lb battery pack that runs a Thinkpad X230 for 8 hours - that's an hour longer than the TP's own 6 cell battery. They have version of this with about 1/2 the capacity - still brings the Vizio to 8 hrs - for $60, weighing less than 1 lb. I wouldn't load down this post with a pitch of this product except that I think many NBR readers will find the product to be a must-have accessory once they discover it, particularly for older laptops.

 

Great deal! I almost purchased a CT15 a few weeks ago. You can also find them manufacture refurbished on eBay for around $550.

 

I have to admit that I'm tempted by the Vizio screen quality, though I am incredibly leery due to the questionable keyboard quality (which is make or break for a command-line junkie like me). Quite torn between this and waiting out the new processors to see what comes up in a few months.

 

I guess you could use a BT keyboard/mouse. It's a heck of a lot of computer all tolled for $600. Not for everyone, but for the right person nothing else would come close for the price.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

Waiting on Vizio's AMD laptop... looking quite nice though and cheap.

But uh, where's the link?

edit: Here we go... only one left as of this post: http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-Light-CT15-A1-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B0088L18FE

 

Sorry, link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088L18FE/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1367979823&sr=8-3&pi=SL75

***ONLY 2 LEFT 5/7 10:27 PM EDT***

EDIT: Don't worry, there are tons of em in the market - including in Amazon Market - new for $599, open box for $559. (at a low enough price it's gotta be worth having for the screen alone!)

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Update : $683 but with 256GB SSD and 3rd gen i7 vs 128, i5. Pretty soon they'll be paying us to take one! Get this at link below, open box, quality close out seller BLINQ.com (they'll take back for full refund).

Now I'm kicking myself for the HP I got for my wife!

https://www.blinq.com/#computers-ta...ook-laptop-15-6-i7-4gb-256gb-ssd-win-8/110641

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I had one of these briefly. I returned it because the fan would spin on and off annoyingly frequently, the keyboard was annoying as well but I think I'd have acclimated to it over time. Otherwise it was a great computer, the screen is amazing.