Vizio CT15-A1 Review - Almost there :(

Well I didn't want to write this till I had it for a few days and I got mine on monday 7/2/12 from sam's so I have used it for 2 full days and I think I can give an accurate review now. At first I was biased because as many of you know there is not a lot of ultrabooks that are worth buying in the 15 inch size. Samsung is overpriced and the screen sucks, and apple is well apple (The new retina macbook air is an ultrabook trust me it's super slim). Other than that I really don't know. Also it's early ivy bridge just came out and there will be plenty of models down the road so we are just in the phase where we have to accept things for how they are.

Now I have never bought a vizio anything but have always thought of them are the best brand for the price and would recommend them to my clients and so on. When I heard of this way back during CES I was hyped and waited till this day. I had a dell xps 1645 and I did every possible mod I could to make that the best computer. I loved that computer but it was old battery life was not good and fans I hate them never want to hear them again (also the RGB led screen rocked). So my expectations were not much just need battery above 2 hours, no loud fans or heat, 15 inch size, light and slim, and maybe a usb and hdmi and I'm good. I always expected trackpad and keyboard to be somewhat decent since this should be a given. I mean this is what I use to use the computer if these don't work then I don't know what to do.

----------------------------------Now the review--------------------------------

Ok well first the box, mine was kinda beat up like it came from china on a boat or used or something. Looked like corners were all bent and the white box looked kinda dirty but I didn't care. Inside it was well packaged and pretty much nothing to fancy nothing to bad inside the box. You get your laptop and charger and your off.

Now the look and feel for me was shocking since I never had a computer this slim and light and wide. It feels bigger in person like a 16inch. The coating or metal or whatever it is feels good not great. I think they sprayed it to give it this feel it's not brushed aluminum but feels similar but whatever they did it's all over and I mean everything feels the same top, inside, keyboard and trackpad and that is good and bad. This thing feels solid no flex and it is sturdy. The bottom is some kind of really soft rubber. Overall I think it will hold up over time except these are the issue it will face.

I looks like it scratches easy so for example my bag is 15 bag but this just grazes the zippers, I could see the paint peeling or fading.

Also the keyboard which i will get to later seems like it the type a letter pops off and goes missing.

And trackpad may rattle more over time as it gets used and the coating on it will come off and it will get even stickier (that why you gotta go glass).

Everything is very sturdy the screen hinge feels really good not wobbly. Power cord is like a headphone jack so that's good I think nothing to break like hp's do.


Ok now on the the screen which is the number one thing about this computer and that's what makes it even worse that this computer is so close to greatness. It is MATTE and it can be viewed at any angle and it is bright and most important white is white, colors are pop and are so on point. I love this display. Like I mean VIZIO got this 100 percent right. Don't know what else to say but unless you like gloss (which I kinda do sometimes) this is it. Screen is freakin amazing

Performance is another big plus and honestly I'm shocked it performs this well. I have the I5 and it is super speedy and mostly the SSD is why it's fast. Seems to have a really good ssd in here. Did HDtune speedtest and got around 160 read and write with .03 access time. I have not idea if it's sata 3 or not but it's great not the best but for the price it's good. For a 128gb drive you have about 77gb free. Fans are super quiet and when there on it's very low and they are hardly on unless your doing something intense. Everything is snappy and the i5 model is more than I enough I think, still want to see the i7 model.

Battery is about 4 hours but don't know if thats good or bad because my last laptop did an hour. If the series 9 really gets 8 hours then maybe that's why it's worth more.

Ok now on to the bad, first the keyboard. It's not great and it's never going to be no matter who you are and what you do. You will get weird issues like cursor moving somewhere else and not because the trackpad I had that turned off and still happened. The design I really don't know why vizio did this you can tell someone who does not know about computers did this because they thought it looked cool. No backlight is just stupid, but you can tell why this keyboard is very cheap to make and it's the type that keys can come off and go missing like in the old days. But it's do able. Arrow keys are stupid because up and down are so small and you probably use those more than left and right. There are no keys like end which I use alot in RDP. You get insert and delete and those are your special keys. Typing is not horrible but spacebar makes the most noise on spring. F keys require you to use FN because the F keys are assigned to all the things like brightness and volume and so on. Anyway it's ok but vizio please don't make this again. Nobody wants this as there top choice for a keyboard, nobody.

Ok now to the main issue which is the trackpad, think if the devil made a trackpad he would make this or some company like sentellic that just isn't good which the devil might run. I hope they go out of business because they are known for this. Vizio to save money picked them and I guess to bring this computer to this cost something had to give. As much as I love the screen I think it should of been that instead because this is not going to work for anyone. Yeah you use it sometimes and you think it's not that bad but then try doing something productive. I used to be able to use photoshop with a trackpad in my dell. No way in hell with this.

The trackpad for one sometimes just doesn't even work it just freezes and you can't move the mouse. You can't left click and drag with the other finger because now your just confusing it. Don't tap to hard on it or it will rattle. The only way to use it is the tap lightly and use it that way or better yet buy a mouse and always have it. When you use a mouse with it you really see how much it just plain sucks. Now maybe I have a bad unit but I doubt that very much. I dare Vizio it's full PC line with this trackpad, I dare please. Maybe the world will adapt to this new style of trackpad. I mean hey why use a mouse with that all in one when you can use this. I have to say nobody product tested this or somebody pulled a fast one vizio.

Also the touchpad surface is like the rest of the computer semi smooth so you might want to buy a silk glove to improve it. If your finger stutters on the surface your just messing with it again. Like vizio support told me people think it's a trackpad and it's really a gesture pad whatever the hell that means. What gesture must I do to get this thing working because windows doesn't even use gestures well and then you want to add on to it with this. Maybe all these guys use macs and just thought if you build it will work like one.

Just remember this one thing you don't control the trackpad it controls you. If it doesn't work well for you your not using it right according to vizio.


Anyway I swear if this had a better trackpad and keyboard I would be all over this thing. Nobody wanted this to workout more than me. If I could even buy another trackpad and keyboard to work with this I would no matter the cost.

Also has anyone been to walmart, they sell computers at 300-500 all with better trackpads and VIZIO WANTS 1000 PLUS FOR THIS, If you buy get it from walmart so it's really easy to return.

Bottomline

No backlight keyboard
The keyboard is shallow and not built for users
and Trackpad make this just a big bag almost there. Or if you use a usb mouse then it's excellent. But if somebody buys mine of ebay or sams takes it back I'm off to buy the stupid samsung series 9 15 at about 700 dollars more and the screen is crap. But at least I can get some work done on it.

This review crashed on me three times on this laptop, I think it's a sign. (I copied to clipboard often because I am getting used to it now

 

Nice review, thanks. Really disappointed about the trackpad especially after The Verge's article which suggested that it would be good. Got any pics of the machine/charger/box/packaging/etc?

 

Thanks for the review! It seems like you got a really poor unit, personally I'm going to wait for reviews from the big sites, but these are always nice to have since users are so much faster.

 

@michaeljean

I'm afraid you've been duped. What you have described is clearly not a Vizio CT15-A1. Since this SKU has not yet been released, your laptop is most certainly a counterfeit. The poor fit and finish, matte screen and constant crashing during non-CPU intensive activities are all red flags. Please post some high resolution photos of both the laptop and its packaging so others will know what to look for in order to avoid being fooled by an unscrupulous retailer as you were.

Cheers,

F. Lyle

 

Check ebay that's mine with pictures, the display is amazing and it looks really really nice good performance it's sad really. The keyboard you can get used to. No backlit just sucks. and battery is 4 hours.

Yeah me too and why do you think vizio is letting anyone review it. I mean I have the computer and it's in some stores wouldn't they want reviewers to have it to to build up hype.

It all makes sense vizio is delaying shipments, the first units all seem to have this same issue, no reviews. Tech support telling me their laptops work fine and then telling me mine is fine without even seeing it. Vizio doesn't even want to look at my computer they already know.

Vizio is not stupid, they don't want to start a new line which they might hardly even make alot of money on, stain the brand name, and have to deal with a bunch of returns and angry customers. They have to make changes now they just have to. Sentellic screwed them on the touchpad and they just have to go with somebody else.

I really hope they could make a backlit keyboard also I mean come on. If they did those two things a better keyboard and trackpad they would sell millions of these (or alot). If it had those two things I could compare this to a macbook air and this would be a really good choice.

The computer is really nice guys.

 

eBay? That raises another red flag. Either someone sold you a pre-production show model, or you have a counterfeit.

As the previous poster said, none of the SKUs have launched yet.

 

I grabbed the photos from OP's eBay listing and uploaded them to an imgur album

 

Hey buddy you sound like you work for vizio, it's cool I figured you guys would catch on at some point. I just hope your working on that "gesture" pad as we speak. I'm not trying to slam vizio I own the computer and it is what is it is. You can't trick people into thinking the trackpad is good, it's not. Will it work yes but not going to be enjoyable. Reviewers are going to slam it as well.

Look I don't know how far or how many vizio has made of these but there is window and the time is now, delay it if you have to but in a few more months there will be alot better ultrabooks out there you don't want to go a full year with this.


And man i didn't know sam's club one of your retailers sells fake, I mean if this is fake it's a damn good fake. It sure as hell fooled your tech department because i have a real vizio serial number. I mean damn whoever put a freakin IPS display in my fake is awesome, along with ivy bridge i5, and this machine cut frame. I wish the price I paid was fake. If this is a fake then the real one has to be better than a macbook because this one not that bad. And since I have a fake why don't you tell your boss to send me a real one. Better yet instead of saying I have a fake would it not of been smarter to make a thread saying you own the computer and you love it and everything is so good on it and post your pictures.

Personally I think it would be better if you told the world we are delaying because we are not happy with the trackpad and or keyboard. One people like us would trust in you more because we can see you are commited to make the best product you can. The average consumer doesn't even know vizio makes computers so delaying it doesn't affect them.

Anyway here are your pics sir, good day.

 

And dude thats me selling it on ebay here is the pic. Maybe I do have a pre production model sure feels like it with this trackpad. Maybe the ones at walmart are also pre production. I mean whats going on at vizio that retailers are selling pre production models.

 

lol, wow the paranoia in this forum xD I work for Vizio? Hahaha.

Well, I'm going to a more credible site. See ya.

 

How would you even know all this?

 

I am really shocked by this. Not sure whether I should ride it out and hope they fix the touchpad, or buy a different laptop.
I would love to see more reviews just in case this was a lemon, I might have to take a trip to Walmart to see if they have any display units just so I keep my pre-order and my sanity.

But I am beginning to believe you were somehow able to receive a display model that is not up to par by Sams Club's mistake. Either that or just a lemon.
I personally would return this rather than selling on ebay, but you might make a few dollars in the end.

Thanks for the review. Is it possible to get the trackpad on video?

 

I don't understand you guys this is vizio first pc's and your expecting perfection. Didn't you guys read what reviewers said when they went to vizio press event. They said the keyboard was shallow and the trackpad gets sticky. Nowhere have I seen where anybody said it was excellent.

Sometimes I forget how much I paid for this and yeah this keyboard belongs in a 500 dollar computer not 1000 and this trackpad belongs in nothing.

 

I am on fence because of these same issues. I am in market for a good laptop and freaking loved these when saw pictures. And to get bloatware free Windows was a good thing but then its their first product and no reviews out yet have made me wait out a little and see how this thing goes.

Thanks for heads up!

 

Guys, if you have an extra $800 get an MacPro but it won't run windows without performance issues. If you need a great keyboard get a Lenovo T series but the screen sucks. I don't think any ultrabook alternative is perfect. The bottom line get it where you can return it and if it doesn't work out try out the new Asus 14/15" models coming out. But the Vizio may be the best one for the money as long as you can work around the shortcomings. Drivers may in fact fix a lot of the issues in the mid term.

 

What Vizio press event ? Every Vizio product launch for these PC's I've read have had non-usable models on display, meaning the products weren't on and had pretty stickers on the screen to maintain a facade of a laptop.

Either way dude, I understand your dissatisfaction with this product, but claiming another poster is a Vizio Rep pretty much skewered your reliability to me. Instead of reviewing the product and calmly replying to comments, you basically said, "No! I'm right! You're wrong! You work for the enemy!"

You're saying stuff like "no one wants to have this laptop successful more than me" and etc, but you seem to be dogging on it the most. You've hounded the trackpad in the other thread too, and so far, I've only seen two or three people (you include it) that keeps saying the trackpad is so trashy - you're the only one who claims to own the product. Also, as of now, Vizio hasn't done any huge product shipments yet, do you think maybe for some obscure reason, you got a pre-production laptop by accident? If you have problems with your product, and you bought your product through legitimate means, then there should be no reason why either Vizio or Sam's Club won't give you a refund, selling your laptop on e-bay just because of those mentioned problems instead of going through the proper chain just screams fishy.

 

Some of the SKUs were available at Walmart and Sam's Club. Available, as in shipping, as in you can buy them and get them in your hands. In fact, Sam's Club still has the 14" i5 model available for shipping: Vizio Thin & Light Ultrabooks - Sam's Club I don't know for sure whether Sam's Club ever had the 15" Ultrabook in stock, but it doesn't seem terribly unlikely to me.

Also, Costco told me that the release has been delayed, as of last week until the end of this month. There's person earlier who said that Walmart has delayed shipping his 15" Notebook until 9/28. There's SOMETHING going on here, folks.

 

From theverge.com

Update: Vizio has just given us the opportunity to see the new laptops in-person. Yes, we've seen all of these before at CES, but the hardware is now final — this is what consumers will be getting into their hands if they order one of the machines today. Unfortunately (and inexplicably), only the "thin-and-light" models were on hand, in both the 15.6- and 14-inch varieties. Both machines feature unibody construction, but they're not nearly as hefty or solid-feeling as Apple's notebooks. That's not necessarily a bad thing — these are quite a bit cheaper. Vizio says that it designed and built the keyboards on the new systems completely from scratch (a nine month process), but unfortunately they aren't the best we've felt. They're a bit too shallow for our tastes, which means that there isn't quite enough feedback when you press a key. The trackpad also leaves a bit to be desired: its plastic construction means it's too "sticky," and it couldn't track two fingers independently (e.g. using one finger to click and another to drag). The displays on both models are bright and vibrant.

Vizio's new Notebook and Thin + Light unibody ultrabooks available today for $898 (hands-on) | The Verge


Tell me how you know they had no usable models again? And can't a trackpad not be good I mean does that not happen anymore. Has sentelic ever made a good trackpad. Anyway sorry to crush your dreams dude but I don't think it gets better from here.

Just came from best buy and compusa and yes this trackpad is bad compared to every laptop at best buy this is by far the worst I have used, sorry but that is my story. The series 9 can do everything I need it too along with every other trackpad or "gesture" pad.

But hey maybe I do have a pre production model and guess what that says about vizio, now everybody has to worry do they have the supposed "good" model or the bad one, if a good one even exists. Sorry to bang on vizio but it's google's fault not mine that this thread comes up when looking for info on this model. Vizio might want to start letting people review to clear up all the "misinformation". What is true will come to light soon enough.

It's funny how alot of you "new members" of notebookreview know so much about vizio and how to find this thread. I mean if I wanted I could let bloggers borrow mine to review make a bunch of youtube videos and what not.

 

-,-''

Press = a term in reference to the newspaper press. When used as such it refers to wide media coverage; an antiquated term but we use it anyways. "Vizio Press Event", your term you used earlier, refers to an actual event to which Vizio invites wide media coverage from varying trusted magazines and websites to cover whatever they want to release, in this case a PC line. When you say "Vizio Press Event", that does not mean they decide to invite two writers from one tech site. There was miscommunication on both our parts I guess - I thought you were refering to one of vizio's actual press conferences (There have only been two to my knowledge) and you thought one site's preliminary review confers an actual press event. I won't hold this against you because it does not seem like english is your primary language.

That description I quoted is from that Verge article you hold in such high esteem. Does it say that the trackpad is as maleficient as you detailed? Unless my lexicon is dwindling at an Alzheimer's pace, I believe the writer means the trackpad's surface is sticky, as in the plastic is inferior, and that it doesn't support multitouch. Not many laptops support multitouch... just saying... Does it say the cursor jumps around like beetlejuice high on cocaine? No... Does it say it somehow freezes out documents and crashes Word? No... If the "problems" with the trackpad are only that the "surface is sticky" and it doesn't support multitouch, it would still be a decent trackpad.

New members of notebookreview means pretty much nothing, in case you didn't understand that. My researcher's role in tech journalism? Nah, that means nothing since I'm just a new member on a site that specializes in notebooks.

 

Hey maybe I have a bad one who knows, I seem to be the only person who has one feels like. Anyway sams gives me 90 days to return and I already ordered the i7 first which I want that one first.

Even though I haven't tried it yet I think that will be best deal because you get 128gb more drive spaces and almost a twice as fast processor. On passmark the i5 model scores in the 2900 range and the i7 scores in 4500 range. And these are all dual core cpu's not quad core and low voltage.

Anyway the vizio has to work because the i7 model is such a good deal samsung wants almost 2000 for theirs.

 

The Series 9 laptops are known to have the Turbo disabled(or barely working), at least on battery mode.

Series 9 2011:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sam...s-9-np900x3a-no-turbo-boost-i5-2467m-all.html

Series 9 2012:
Samsung Series 9 2012 (15″ Review « Ultrabook News and the Ultrabook Database

The issue is improved with the 2012 model, with the iGPU Turbo working. But the CPU Turbo still rarely works. In fact I've seen many reviews that points out Turbo not working at all in the 2011 model and significantly underperforming competitors with similar CPUs. I've heard that Series 5 Ultrabook have an issue too.

Have you considered the Zenbook Prime instead, or is that problematic for you?

 

The bottom line in most cases battery life can only extended by dimming the display, slowing down the processor, less fan consumption, etc, etc, etc. The only way to compare battery life is with a program that equally stresses the units. I would bet most of the ultrabooks with the same size battery and configuration would have similar battery life.

Most of us are not willing to accept the performance degradation to achieve significantly better battery life.

 

The only way you get the same battery life as advertised is to completely let it run like a snail.

 

I've been reading several reviews and real-world reports from users, and it seems like the 2012 MacBook Air running OS X actually exceeds the advertised 7 hours in actual (realistic) use. One person who has been keeping very careful records alleges that he can get 8.25 hours with the screen at 40% and doing simple Web browsing and writing (my main use case for an Ultrabook-class device). He's getting 6.5 hours (which reviews also report) doing heavier work with the screen at 70% brightness.

I know, I know: it's not a fair example, because love Apple or hate them, OS X definitely is melded with the hardware in a way that Microsoft and its partners can't easily do given all of the hardware variation. I get that. But boy, that's certainly an attractive proposition.

The more I read this and other threads, I'm actually considering a MacBook Air and even using OS X, again because my use case for a thin, light, fast-resuming device with good battery performance and long standby life is to have a machine I can start writing on when the mood strikes me anywhere and without hassle. As long as I have an Evernote client (for research), a browser, and a version of Word to write with, it really doesn't matter which OS I'm using.

I've rejected the Samsung Series 9 because I hate the keyboard. The keys are way to shallow and I find it very uncomfortable. I preferred the keys on the VIZIO (until this and the other thread) because although it's also shallow, I found it to have a nice, light springiness to it. I could type at full speed immediately, whereas on the Samsung I feel like my fingers are slamming into the bottom of the keyboard.

I've rejected the ASUS UX31A because the 1920X1080 resolution is too high for me on a 13.3" screen, and I hate how Windows handles DPI scaling. Too many things get messed up in terms of the UI when I turn DPI up high enough to make text comfortable. My eyes are getting old... That's why I was so interested in the VIZIO 14"--1600X900 at 14" seems just about right, and the screens did look good when I checked them out at the Microsoft store.

I've rejected pretty much every other Windows Ultrabook because of some factor, from build quality and feel (Acer, Toshiba) to ugly, low-res, 1366X768 screens (Dell, HP, Toshiba), to a variety of other factors. The only other machine I've considered is the HP Envy 14 Spectre, but that just seems too expensive when configured the way I want it ($1740 for 8GB, 256GB). Oh, and: I don't know of a 13.3" Windows Ultrabook that can be configured with more than 4GB of RAM. What's up with that?

So, after careful consideration, and given that this is VIZIO's initial foray into computers (with the learning curve that implies), I've 95% decided to get a MacBook Air. It's damn expensive, at $1530 for Core i5, 8GB and 256GB with an educational discount. It won't run Windows as well--it's not an Ultrabook, so boot and resume times for Windows in Boot Camp aren't nearly as fast. But of course boot and resume times when running OS X are incredibly quick, like 12 seconds cold boot and a second to resume. So, I'll probably spend the 14 days return period evaluating running Windows in a virtual machine, and also seeing if I can tolerate OS X today where I couldn't a few years ago.

Sorry for the long post, but it's been quite the odyssey trying to decide on an Ultrabook. I've been waiting for Ivy Bridge for months now, and now that it's out I find it somewhat ironic that I'm leaning towards a MacBook Air. I've been the anti-Apple guy at work for quite some time now, and here I am having recently purchased an iPad and now a MacBook Air. I'll not hear the end of it.

Okay, thanks for listening. It's great to get that off my chest.

 

Why are you guys expecting 7 hours, maybe if you turn off the screen and let it sit in the BIOS.

Doesn't everybody lie about theirs. 5 is best it can do no more and that's turning everything off maybe

Pure ICS only

 

Well, there's a big difference between 7 hours and 5 hours, or 4 hours realistically, as you've been describing it. I think the point is (at least, for me) that there are machines out there that are very capable of getting over 6 hours in real-world use. If the VIZIO is really only getting 4 hours when actually used, then that makes it far less attractive.

 

I was expecting at least five hours with the Vizio ultrabooks because Vizio themselves claimed six hours. Not everyone lies, as wynand32 just mentioned and I've mentioned before, the Apple laptops have maintain a reasonable level of expectation based off of their marketing; six and a half hours on their laptops when they claim seven is pretty darn reasonable.

I'm in the same boat, dude, just I would like a 15.6" laptop instead of a 13.3" one. I would like to pose a question for you though - if you're only going to be doing research and writing with your laptop, why would you need 8gb of RAM?

I'm trying to find a more serious device to write with - I'm changing my career from just basic researcher to actual journalism and I'm also taking some writing intensive classes in college, so I would like a good laptop that I don't want to have to plug into the wall at work and school. Right now I'm sort of torn between the Retina Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air. The Air would be perfect for me, except that I would prefer a larger screen like I said. On the other hand, the Retina Macbook Pro is within my budget, but is sort of tipping the scales a little bit - not to mention it's more powerful than I actually need.

I've done a lot of research for it, there's the HP 6t-1000, but it has such a subpar screen and I doubt their 8 hours of claimed battery life is anywhere near reality considering they utilize a mechanical hard drive. The Envy 14 is "alright", but there are some screen issues with it apparently - one of my roommates got one a couple of weeks ago and immediately returned it because it shows the color Red as a dark orange, seriously, just google Envy 14 Spectre color problems and it'll come up. There's this Vizio laptop of course as an option too - with a clean image and Word included in the pricing as well as 15.6" screen with 1080p it sounds really nice. The battery problem is so subpar though - 5 hours is my minimum, but I'll wait for some reviews. The Zenbooks seem nice, but why buy a copy when I can get the real thing? In this case, why buy a Macbook Air clone when I could just get an Air? I have nothing against iOS and I have no idea why people hate Apple so much, it seems like there's a horde of Apple haters just because there's a horde of Apple Fanboys.

If only there's a version of the Macbook Pro that had full SSD, no graphics card, and no Retina display - I would be pretty content with that.

 

Well, mainly, I like to future-proof things where I can. So, I want 8GB mainly just in case. On the MacBook Air, I want it because I might end up running Windows as a virtual machine, where the extra RAM will be very important.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

You can configure the standard MacBook Pro with an SSD, but it's expensive. And I'm not sure about the GPU and screen resolution at the moment.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Yea, I saw that before, but to have the standard Macbook Pro with a 128gb SSD is $2,000. If I wanted that, I might as well chip out $200 more for all the benefits of the Retina. I might buy a Macbook Air like yourself actually. On that note, I would highly not recommend running Windows on the Air because it cuts the battery life down to the sub-5 hour range.

 

Geez guys, the touchpad manufacturer is Sentellic, anything other than Synaptics is CRAP.

You don't have to even use the laptop to know that it is crap, just knowing the brand tells you everything you need to know.

And michaeljean is dead on with his review of the touchpad. I was at Walmart while visiting my girlfriend in South Jordan UT. The 14" model was on display and the touchpad is terrible!!!! Most people who test the touchpad will drag the cursor across the screen and say "works fine for me". But the real test is highlighting a single word, or a single letter. ALL touchpads will glide across the screen ok since that's continuous conductivity from your finger, but when you move it ever-so-slightly is the true test of a touchpad.

I've owned over 5 laptops that I've had to sell because they didn't use Synaptics. So I'm being objective when I am defending michaeljean's findings on the touchpad.

Dell E5410 - Alps Touchpad - sold
ASUS U35JC - Elantech Touchpad - sold
Dell Inspiron 1410 - Alps Touchpad - sold
Acer Aspire 1830T - Alps Touchpad - sold
Dell Vostro V131 - Synaptics touchpad - (best touchpad I've ever used) - kept
Acer Travelmate 8172T - Synaptics touchpad - kept
Acer Aspire AO722 - Synaptics touchpad - kept

The saddest thing is, Vizio spent 9 months R&Ding their keyboard and is so proud of it. I want to know how much time they spent using the laptop with the touchpad they chose.

 

I didn't read through all the 4 pages, but does yours have the "updated" version of the keyboard? From what I have read, Vizio haulted production in order to fix the keyboard... the new one has more of a raised key look/feel.

As for the trackpad, Alps and Elantech are horrible. Synaptics is by far the best. I had a v131 for some time too and I can contest that the trackpad on it was great... albeit smaller to todays standards.

 

I'm very seriously considering running Windows in a VM instead of Bootcamp. That way everything works as it should.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Maybe, but I'm also pretty interested in iOS' multitouch functions - currently Microsoft is trying to implement their own multitouch stuff, but supposedly won't come till Windows 8... and Windows 8 is going to make every PC builder go crazy with touchscreens. What I'm predicting is everyone will charge more for their touchscreen laptops and like 5% of the people who buy them will actually use them - pretty much PC version of the 3D fad (worthless is what I'm getting at).

Anyways, wouldn't it kill your onboard memory if you run windows 7 with VM?

 

Where does that put Sentelic though? Yeah, sure, Synaptics is the best, but that doesn't mean Sentelic is completely unservicable. The "problems" these guys are describing with vizio's trackpad is too different. Michaeljean is making it sound like the cursor is jumping around like a ghost while djklmnop is giving an arbitrary testing experience. Are there defined left and right click buttons or is the whole trackpad a button in a MBP-esque way? When you conduct fine adjustments, is the trackpad just not registering or is it completely jumpy? Does it not maintain multitouch function properly or is this just a hardware issue?

My only problem with their description is that they're either saying "Synaptics is the best" or "this trackpad sucks". Descriptions folks, we need them.

 

That's why I got 8GB.


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lol, I meant your SSD, doesn't it eat a lot of hard drive memory? Or is VM primarily ran off of the RAM?

 

Oh, sorry. Right: that's why I got 256GB. Figured that would give me plenty of space for both environments. Again, future-proofing.


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Well I'm hoping I have a bad one because my touchpad is beyond bad it doesn't even work sometimes, it's janky, sometimes its ok but this is far from good. I'll see when I get my next one.

And even if the next one is better with this texture is will always get sticky and that doesn't mean like I have sweaty fingers. You just have to use it to know.

 

Ok I'll try to explain it and let me remind you guys it's upsetting that the touchpad and keyboard are not great because everything else is in my book. I mean this could of been killer. With all that said I'm still recieving another because honestly there is no other ultrabook better to me (besides macbook retina which I don't want to pay or osx)

Ok first problem with the touchpad is it gets sticky and what that means its the texture while smooth it's not glass so when your slowing down your figure to either scroll slow or pinpoint the mouse your finger will get stuck. I don't wear silk gloves maybe it will be better. That is problem 1 (in no order)

Problem 2 and the verge stated this along with other people when they went to the press event. It cannot and I mean this is horrible in my opinion track two fingers at once so when you left click down (one finger) and use the other to move around it goes nuts doesn't work almost at all. vertical seems better but it's bad. You have to tap NOT CLICK to highlight things. Forget about clicking and holding and moving another finger. Maybe that can be fixed with software I don't know.

Problem 3 and maybe this might just be mine but really guys I have a real model and software is pretty much the only thing that is changing. I highly doubt any hardware is changing it's too late. But for me sometimes the freakin trackpad doesn't even work like the mouse is gone and I click and press everything to bring it back. Cursor jumps around when typing and windows is not really a gesture based system sometimes the software just lags behind your input.

But with all that said I have using this computer everyday since I got it and I still like it. If you really like the computer you can deal with the issues. But it's sad because I was at best buy and walmart and every other computer there had a better trackpad and were talking about $400 computers. All this focus on gestures I don't even get because besides scrolling what other gesture is really used. They did for windows 8 probably.

And I highly doubt it was delayed for the keyboard because that is really not that big of an issue. I just think vizio ran behind and didn't have time to make changes or really was not product tested.

Or maybe I have a bad one which should scare you even more. There all the same



Also on a side note right after I wrote this whole thing I tried the left click and hold and drag and now horizontal is working and vertical is not. I don't know anymore lets just rule mine bad till another owner gets in here.

And two minutes later it stopped again. Oh geez

 

The first problem you described is a little convoluted. Is it PHYSICALLY sticky as in the trackpad is sticky? Or is the software jumpy? Like instead of a seamless movement from the left of the screen to the right, it noticeably jumps ever few millimeters? If it's a physical problem, then I am completely bamboozled because the "stickiest" trackpad I've ever used is the HP Elitebook 6930p, and it's not a big problem at all. If it's a software problem, then it'll be a much larger problem.

Problem numbe two - isn't that a multitouch problem ? How many Windows laptops are you guys using that actually support multitouch to complain about Vizio's that much o.o... I don't shop for a new laptop every season, but I've had about four or five, not including the ones I use at work, but I don't think I've ever had a laptop that utilized multitouch properly besides for my friend's Macbook.

 

Personally for me, the feel of the touchpad is fine, it glides nicely as I apply almost no pressure when using my trackpad. I think when saying sticky, michaeljean is referring to the touchpad response. Like I've said in my previous post; when you try to track fine detail, meaning, moving from one word to another or moving from one letter to the next, the trackpad doesn't register your movement.

I REALLY wish that these are issues that can be fixed with a software patch, because I really like everything else about the ultrabook, but the resolution of the touchpad is a hardware design and is the cause of the tracking issues.

I think it's just how Synaptics designed their touchpad hardware. They have it nailed down! I don't know anything about building a touchpad, but I imagine it would be similar to the "Capacitive vs Resistive touchscreen" designs. Maybe synaptics uses capacitive while others use resistive?

I uploaded a video I just created to illustrate how effective a Synaptics touchpad can be. If you guys can be this productive with your Vizio trackpad, please let me know and I will reconsider my position.

Synaptics Touchpad/Trackpad Speed and Accuracy Demonstration - YouTube

 

It's funny, I was about to say I've never noticed any touchpad issues on my laptop, but then I realized it was synaptics.

That said, I do rarely notice issues on other laptops either. I very rarely use the trackpad when I'm at home, so I'm hoping that this is the only main issue with the CN models.

I really hope the notebook models are as well cooled/quiet as the ultrabook models. It's impressive that y'all say they're so quiet, it would be nice to have the same thing even though there's a dedicated GPU.

 

Is the CT15 (or any of the other models) Widi capable? I haven't seen anything about that.

 

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Look I'll put it simple, the trackpad f'ing sucks period. It's the worst I have ever used ever. The software sucks you don't have almost any options that do anything all you can do is just turn gestures on and off. You can't adjust pressure sensitivity along with almost anything else. I know many of you are thinking it can't be that bad and you'll find away around it but I have used this for a week all day everyday and to put it short get yourself a good mouse.

You'll see when you get it that's all i can say. Maybe software can fix but this brand of trackpad is a crap brand to me. So the fact that it works like crap is not suprising.

 

Yes it is I installed the widget but don't have a device to test it.

 

Honestly, at this point I really do recommend that we table the discussion about the machines until they're shipping in quantity and more people have them. Otherwise we're just spinning in circles based on one person's experience.


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Yeah some guy made a youtube video and he said he had complaints about the trackpad you guys have to understand the trackpad works I mean I have used it for the past week. But don't expect to be an enjoyable experience.

Even if the trackpad was perfect windows is probably the other half of the problem vertical scrolling (the best thing it does kinda) is not smooth. Anyway guys even with the problems I might keep the computer because I like the design, performance, no heat fan noise so much, most important the screen is so damn good.

For savy people they will be able to deal with it but the average consumer is screwed because there gonna have issues. And looking how vizio support is treating there just going to tell people their's are perfect and you now need to relearn how to use a gesture pad. There going to say this is so different from everything else. Maybe this is what sentellic told them.

 

here are some benchmarks

 

Before this, you that the cursor jumps around, is unresponsive sometimes, can't do fine motor adjustments, and can't do click and drag. Additionally, there were problems with multitouch, but that may be a Windows problem or whatever.

Now you're saying it's usable, just not "enjoyable". What trackpad is enjoyable to use? That's like writing a PhD dissertation on a typewriter.

Forgive me if the messages are a bit unclear...

Also, saying "I'll put it simple, the trackpad f'ing sucks" is as vague as you can get - especially in light of your claimed use of said trackpad.

I freaking hate Acer laptops. They freaking suck. Get my point on how vague that can be?