Vizio impressions at MS Store

I just got a chance to check out the 14" lght+thin. It was pretty nice, not quite the same build quality as Apple and not as solid feeling as a UX31 but overall its a pretty steller computer. The screen is very good! Prob the best feature. The trackpad is very responsive but almost too responsive and is made by systematic. It was very touchy when trying to scroll with two fingers. I also didnt like the size of the trackpad, it is small. I am hoping that the 15" model has a larger trackpad. The seakers are also fairly decent...still a laptop sound but it is pretty good. The Rating on the specs is at 5.8 because of the graphics. The SSD pulls the processing speed up to 7.9 so I have a feeling that they didnt go cheap on the SSD. I asked the Vizio rep if you can upgrade the ram or if its soldered and they confirmed that the ram IS upgradeable to 16GB but if you open the laptop it voids the waranty. The HD is also a standard 2.5 SATA 3 drive for those that want a larger HD.....also effectively voiding your waranty.

Overall I think its a fairly solid multi-media laptop. They hit the nail on the head with the screen. So much so that I am contemplating purchasing a 15" light+thin Vizio over a Samsung Series 9. It blows away the screen on this Samsung, a UX31 and the N56 Asus I recently got.

I also got to check out the 27" all in one model. The screen is also amazing on this and if they can work out the kinks in the trackpad it could be a real contender. I just wish a PC company could make a blasted trackpad on par with my 4 year old Macbook Pro. It really is rediculas that no company has taken the time to reverse engineer or get on the same quality level of human interaction that Macs simple trackpad provides.

BTW....First thread in this section....

EDIT: I just spoke with the Rep and Vizio to verify. The orriginal rep incorectly told me the specs (it was before the notebooks were official out). The light+thin models DO NOT have upgradable ram. The Notebook version is upgradeable to 16GB.

The SSD is not a 2.5" configuration, it is PCIe and super compact.

 

I will have my 15.6 i7 Notebook on the 28th, I'll let you know how it goes

 

Where did you purchase it from?

I am more concerned about the trackpad size than anything else.

 

Amazon.com: VIZIO CN15-A2 15.6-Inch Laptop: Computers & Accessories

Amazon has it available on the 27th so with 1 day shipping he can get it on the 28th.

 

Hi Sergo,

Are you 100% sure the RAM on the Thin+Lights are upgradeable?

I asked their support about this and got this reply:
"I'm afraid the memory is not expandable on the Thin+Light PC's."

Snoopy

 

Hey, did you get to check out the 15.6" regular notebook? Also, where are you located, Washington? I have never seen a MS store around here (VT/MA)

 

I also demo'd the 14" vizio at a Microsoft Store.

The screen, like others have mentioned, is the best thing it has going for it. Full HD on a 15.6 is the the BEST setup in terms of portability and usability IMO. Anything less than 15.6 on 1920x1080 is going to be tiny.

Unfortunately the screen was the only thing it had going for it. The aesthetics was average - not a head turner but also not as bad as some of the notebooks out there.

My biggest gripe about that notebook is the keyboard. They decided that the up and down arrow keys weren't as important as the left and right and so they made it half the size, which makes it almost impossible to use if you have large fingers.

The trackpad also leaves a lot to be desired as the quality on the pad is pretty bad. The left and right mouse buttons sank in on all of the store demo units, indicating wear and deformity. Two finger scrolling was a little jerky, and mouse buttons were just horrible. Maybe the production units are better, but all the demo units had the same issue.

This notebook seemed promising based on specs on paper but failed to deliver in person.

 

Can't wait for these to come out, they look like great deals, especially with the Xbox deal. I wan't to get the 14" Ultrabook.

 

A Microsoft Store rep told me about a week back that they aren't eligible for the XBOX deal

 

My local MS Store won't be getting the 15" ultrabooks in until the end of July. Boo.

I heard the opposite:

 

It sounds like the representative you talked to meant that the RAM is not upgradable as part of their package whereas the RAM is upgradable if you're willing to void the warranty.

 

I'm ok with voiding the warranty. Anyway just send another email to vizio's support for clarification.

Snoopy

 

Awesome! Maybe it was just because I was pre-ordering one. I'll check back tomorrow when they should be on sale

 

Got confirmation from Vizio's support regarding the Thin+Lights:

"That's correct, the RAM is not accessible."

Thats that then.

Snoopy

 

Anyone know what type of ssd controller is being used?

 

That's bad =[ so very bad. I wonder why Amazon has it as "4 GB of installed DDR3 RAM (8 GB maximum)" (it's at the bottom of the product description)

Put in 8gb of 1600mhz ram was the first thing I was going to do =/ I might still buy it... 15.6" 1080p laptop with no bloatware... all comes down to the keyboard now

I assume the battery is not user replaceable?

 

non replacable ram and HDD that'll void the warranty are non starters for me. Fail Vizio.

Thanks for the impressions OP, looks like I'll stick with the devil I know (Dell Latitude) for my next pc purchase.

 

I just spoke with the Rep and Vizio to verify. The orriginal rep incorectly told me the specs (it was before the notebooks were official out). The light+thin models DO NOT have upgradable ram. The Notebook version is upgradeable to 16GB.

The SSD is not a 2.5" configuration, it is PCIe and super compact.

 

What were you guys expecting , these are basically ultrabooks. Not many ultra books have user replaceable parts.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Anyone know if the CN15-A0 model is available anywhere? I want to get it but no one seems to have it yet.

 

IDK why everyone is flipping out about RAM. Unless you're doing photo of video editing (or a ton of multitasking) 8+ gigs of RAM is unnecessary. Besides Ultrabooks are not meant to be workhorse computer nor upgrade-able ones.

 

This is what I was told as well.

 

I was wondering that myself. Amazon originally said it would ship today (6/27) but now it shows out of stock.

 

I can't find the CN15-A0 on Amazon...do you have the link by chance?

I did find the Walmart.com page for the CN15-A0 but it is not available for order yet there either.

 

Oh, I was referring to the CT-14 model

 

so it is msata III and upgradable?

 

Anyone find any reviews yet?

 

Well if its a PCIe connection than its not mSATA or SATA at all. Although the bandwidth is as good or better than mSATA. Also, if it is PCIe (which i think it is) than the SSD is probably not user upgradeable and would definitely void the warranty if you tried.

However, I really don't see the need to replace the SSD because its the same one used in the 2012 Macbook Air that uses Toshiba 24nm Toggle mode flash (expect speed and reliability), and you can upgrade to 256gb or use and external HDD for extra storage needs. That's just my logic though....

 

PCI-e can be mSATA, but I think Vizio doesn't want people opening these things up.

 

No one has any new news? I would give an impromptu product review if I had even seen one yet x[

Anyone ordering one already?

 

I might drive out to walmart and take a look...im curious.

Hopefully they're not beat up by now....:/

 

no one seems to have received these laptop yet. no reviews on amazon, not on ms store either. if the ssd is indeed removable msata i would upgrade it to 240gb and change the 1tb hdd to scorpio blue if it isn't one ( probably toshiba or samsung ) then its good too go.

 

Went to my local MS Store today and they had a table with six demo units of the CT14-A1. The keyboard was very nice IMHO and even though I'm used to trackpads with physical buttons, the integrated trackpad buttons worked just as well. Two finger scrolling worked well but pinch-to-zoom was very choppy. I think that probably has less to do with the trackpad than it does with Windows 7 just not being optimized for it. The build quality/materials felt excellent, as expected. Hopefully the pinch-zoom feature will work better with Windows 8.

This was just a formality really...the reviews/photos/videos I've seen were enough to impress me but checking it out in person sealed the deal

 

Did they says when it would be available for sale?

 

I am basically buying for the screen. I am really tired of the these crappy TN panels everyone pushes. I have been doing photography and can never tell what the pictures looks like.

 

You can buy the CT14-A1s now, but they didn't have any of the other laptop models available. One of the reps said they were expecting them at the end of July.

 

Stopped by the Wal-Mart today: There were 2 spots for the Vizio models, but there were no demo systems and the caged space below the table where they would have been was also empty.

 

I picked up one of the 14" models ....will take some photo's over the weekend and post some impressions once I have had time to unbox and setup.

I can compare to my other laptops...let me know what you would like to see and I will try to accommodate.

Well - first impression is that the laptop looks nice, fells good in the hand. The bottom is a rubberized base which feels like the one on the XPS 13 Ultrabook.

However - when picking it up I noticed a gap between the base and the keyboard deck in the front right - big enough to fit a credit card in it. It looks like the base and the deck isn't fitting together properly. Also going through the startup process - I found that the trackpad "rattles" as if it is loose - the left side of the trackpad being much lower than the right side.

WEI Score is as follows :

Overall 5.1

Processor : 6.9
Memory (RAM) : 5.9
Graphics : 5.8
Gaming Graphics : 5.1
Hard Disk : 7.5

Keyboard :
This actually feels pretty good - it is very reminiscent of the keyboard on the older (pre-unibody) MacBook Pro's. The travel on the keys for an ultrabook is decent and much better than the Samsung Series 9 keyboard.

Screen :
Very bright an vibrant - seems to show colors well and viewing angles are far superior to the HP 6t and the Sony Ultrabook I have.


However, so far I am not impressed with the build quality - I may have a bad unit so I am going to pack this up and see if I can exchange for another.

 

corteen - what SSD model are they putting in these?

 

Where did you pick one up?

 

Guys, just fyi, opening the laptop should not void the warranty. If your laptop is damaged, warranty will NOT cover the parts you installed yourself. So if you replace your HDD with an SSD and the ssd breaks, Vizio doesn't cover it. It doesn't completely void the warranty though.

If anyone buys a CN15, can you benchmark/test out games and let us know how thermals go?

 

Thank you for the info. Can you check to see what brand the touchpad is? In control Panel, Device Manager, Touchpad or Mouse.

I hope it's a synaptics. If it's not, when will companies ever learn?

 

I picked it up at the Microsoft Store.
They only had the 14" in stock.

I am getting my replacement tomorrow so will find out then.

 

If anybody buys a CN model, can you take a GPU-Z of the 640M LE and post it?

Edit: Also, how are noise and heat subjectively at least Corteen? Or anybody else who has one. If you've used it much of course

 

I get my ct15-a1 tommorow. Sam's club screwed over all of us that paid for overnight shipping because we all were supposed to get it on Saturday.

And I'm shocked there are no reviews what so ever on this thing which is a bad sign. I hope for the best tommorow.

Pure ICS only

 

I'm not too surprised. The notebook is still really hard to get a hold of, and most of the review sites said they would be doing reviews eventually. Give us impressions when you get it, fan noise, start up, all of that

 

I've watched a couple of videos of the Vizio CTO raving about the trackpad - he says they're continuously reworking the drivers and when the guy from the verge tried them out they were meh because the computers didn't have the latest drivers. So let's hope that was the case with the units that OP tried out.

 

The CN-15 (15.6" Notebook, not the Ultrabook) has a release date of July 15...or at least that's what I was told by Vizio customer service.

 

I've heard they were shipping this week, and the "estimated arrival date" on their website is july 9th, at least for the i5 model.

 

Yea... I guess that's one thing that Vizio is failing on... their own product release. Apple makes a huge deal about it, but at least everyone knows an exact date that they can get their products. Vizio said their laptops were released over a week ago and yet it's still such an arduous task just getting a hold of one.