Vizio impressions at MS Store

I know the ipad3 was delayed just a tad (like 3 or 4 days) and launched ~12 days after it was announced. March 7th announcement, March 19th shipping.

Not quite the weeks that I claimed, but also not the "days or a week" that someone else (dont remember your name) claimed. More announcements:

Ipad 2 was announced March 2nd, and released March 11th-May 27th (May 27th until it was global)

The original iPad was announced January 27th, and released from April 3rd to May 28th

The iPhone 4s was released 10 days after it was announced.

The iPhone 4 was announced on June 7th, and released on June 24th, so two and a half weeks.

The 3GS was announced on the 8th and released on the 19th of June.

The iPhone 3G (retro I know) was announced on June 9th and released July 11th, 2008. Definitely a gap

The iPhone was announced January 9th, 2007 and released June 29, 2007 (oh my).

All numbers pulled from going backwards on wikipedia in just a few minutes.

The first macbook air: announced Jan 15, release Jan 29. The updates following were live releases, but they were only hardware updates with no big design changes iirc, so nothing to get excited about anyways.

I don't think anything came in under a week, at least in Apple's mobile department. So while I think if you look at the dates/progression of products, Apple is improving, I think that them launching on time is an exception, not the norm. Nothing comes in under a week really, and some of them were significantly delayed. I'm not saying any other company, PC or mobile, is better, but Apple definitely doesn't launch on time

All sources came from either wikipedia or Apple's own press site.

Where did you order from?

 

I ordered from the Microsoft Store and received a free XBox.

 

From Vizio.

 

Woah hold the phone I thought they said they were not doing that for this pc, anyway what was the price out the door trying to see if it's worth it get it and sell the xbox for 200 and pay tax or keep mine with amazon and pay no tax.

 

They are:

 

Also guys I wanted to say maybe I made the trackpad sound worse than it is. All the things i said were true just it's so hard to put into words. Yes it can't track two fingers independantly please somebody tell me different if this is not true. (Means left click and hold and use another finger to move around. like click hold and drag.)

Other than that it's not that bad, yes it still rattles if you tap to hard but the best way to put it is you have to do everything soft and light and it will work out for you. I reset everything back to default settings and for some reason that makes it better. Somehow turning off horizontal two finger gesture and pinch to zoom made it worse not better like I had hoped.

Overall it's a good ultrabook best for the money. The trackpad as far as I know just can't click to drag everything else is ok. Your finger will get stuck when you slow down and try to pinpoint something to click it.

But overall I'm going to keep the i7 one I ordered. The i5 version is hella fast just hoping the i7 version doesn't make the fan come on more. The computer is really quiet so when the fan does come on it sounds really low but annoying whining sound.

 

Product SKU Product Name Quantity Ordered Qty Shipped Total Qty Shipped Amount
CWF-00737 VIZIO 15.6-Inch Thin + Light Ultrabook 1 1 1 $1,341.27
RKB-00001 Xbox 360 4 GB Console - PC/Free Xbox PID 1 1 1 $13.34

I dont understand what you are saying about the click/hold/drag thing. I am using the ct15 now and just highlighted and moved your first paragraph below the second paragraph below. I am still gettiing used to the trackpad, so I agree it is a little slower than using a mouse, but I had no problems doing it or copying/pasting or anything. I do have the gestures enabled so I can also zoom, swipe, scroll, etc. I dont know why you are having these issues, but I would suggest sending it back because it does not seem at all like my experience.

In regards to the I7, it is an extremely quiet machine. I used it for hours last night setting it up, installing software and such. The fan hardly ran and when it did the room needed to be silent to hear it. I was also doing much of this work while laying the laptop on a bean bag and the bottom got warm, but not nearly as warm as my old laptop which I found to be incredible.

Noticed one other thing today...I dont use my laptop for videos or music very often, but I did play something earlier and was disappointed in the speakers. Sounds like it is all treble and no bass. Not that I expect anything that great from a laptop, but this is seriously weaker than my old laptop and they tout "SRS Premium Sound". Not sure what that is supposed to mean, but I certainly would not classify it as premium. So far that is my only real complaint.

 

Yeah this is one is going back regardless was just waiting for the i7 so I got this one first. Yeah I took it apart as you can see in another thread the fans don't really come on that much really depends how hot the room you are in. The i7 might come on a bit more since it should get a little hotter. The speaker grill at the top is actually not a speaker grill really since the speakers are really on the sides. The grill actually works as an intake I guess because there are no speakers there.

For those that don't have it the only place it will ever get a little warm is by the speaker grill because it's just battery and speakers down below. Also did you say you can left click and drag and it works smooth and it stays with your finger.

 

I wonder why the CN are delayed while some of the other ones are already available. I do not feel like it is just low stock.

 

Submitted my pre-order for the CN15-A2 at the Microsoft Store on 7/2 when it gave a ship date of 7/15.

Now the ship date has changed to 8/31 on their website. Haven't received an e-mail notification regarding any shipping change, so I'm hoping it's just the ship date for new people ordering.

At least that's what the live chat led me to believe.

 

Yeah, my MS Store purchase just hopped back to 8/31 as well.

God damn it.

 

hey jthack or whoever just got the ct15-a2 can you post the WEI scores and if you have a chance do a crystaldiskmark benchmark and passmark benchmark.

 

Just cancelled my order with Vizio and got the CT15-A2 from Microsoft and got the free Xbox. My son is in college so I used his edu address. It will be here on Friday.

 

July 18 to the 24 is when I should get mine from amazon but I kinda don't trust the date. It's amazing you guys are getting yours so fast from microsoft.

 

Call up MS then cancel Amazon. Overnight shipping is on $17. They told me they just got a shipment.

 

Yes, I can left click and drag perfectly fine. It is still a little strange without buttons and I find myself using both hands, but it works just as it should. I just need to get used to it.

Yes, I had an order for the CN15 from Amazon, but they have changed it to coming soon. I didnt want to wait so I ordered the CT15 from MS on Sunday and had it Monday late morning.

Here you go...

 

Glad I found this thread, since I've been struggling to decide between the Vizio CT14, Samsung Series 9 13", and the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A. As has been pointed out here, the Vizio is the only one that doesn't have any prominent, complete reviews from reputable outlets.

I went into Walmart today to try it out, and they had the base CT14 model on display to try. I loved pretty much everything about it. I was surprised to find the keyboard was not chiclet, but ended up liking it a lot - typing on it seemed quieter than typing with chiclet-style keyboards. My only desire was that the keyboard was backlit.

Because of this thread, I tried to test out the touchpad as much as possible. I found no real problems with it. All the multi-touch features (two finger scroll, pinch-to-zoom, etc) seemed to work great. My only gripe was that the actual texture/material on the surface of the touchpad was not smooth, so my fingers didn't glide well across the pad. As such, short and minute movements were difficult to perform. Very unlike the Macbook touchpads, which allow your fingers to glide effortlessly. I presume this is what is meant by some of you when you say the touchpad is "sticky".

I had some questions for those who have the computer and have more experience with it:

1) The edges of the computer seemed a bit sharp and rough. To the point that running your fingers along the edges makes you think you might get a papercut. I don't know if this is a characteristic of all the Thin and Lights or just the early models. Can anyone speak to this?

2) I haven't been able to figure out exactly what's going on with the cooling on these Thin and Lights. Vizio says it's some new "passive cooling" system, but many users here are talking about fans - however I looked the computer over today and saw no vents.

My main concern isn't exactly how it's cooled, but rather if it's effective. Anyone found any problems with overheating after prolonged use? Anyone tried running anything heavy duty (HD movie, full-screen games) to see how effective the cooling is?

3) I've been reading a lot about how poor the SSDs are that Samsung's putting in the Series 9. What's the quality of the SSDs in the CT?

4) Do I have to buy through the MSFT Store to get the Xbox deal? Can it be done online as well as in store? And am I correct in believing you get a 2-year warranty if bought from Vizio? Guess I'd have to decide between an extra year of warranty and an Xbox?

5) Has there been any confirmation of a halt in production to fix issues, or is this just speculation/rumor? I find it extremely strange that this laptop has actually been on sale to the public for a week or more and yet there isn't a single review out...

6) Is it verified the CT14 battery is not user-replaceable? I don't believe it is, just like those in the Series 9 and Zenbook aren't, but this is just what I've read online.

Finally, anyone have any insights/recommendations on my decision between the Series 9, Thin and Light, and Zenbook Prime? Seems like the Vizio gives far better specs for a lower price, at the expense of potentially a poor-quality trackpad. The Samsung's specs are low for the price, yet it's arguably a sleeker/cooler design. The Asus apparently has a great screen, but again it's pricey vs. a comparable Vizio.

I'm really leaning toward Vizio, despite my concern over taking a risk on an unproven laptop manufacturer. Seems like they've really knocked it out of the park though, and I feel that if problems end up surfacing with this first generation they'll step up to avoid the PR/reputation harm.

 

Woah thats pretty different from what i got but I suspected they would be in the beginning of this thread the guy that got CT14 changed it out and his next one had very different scores. I must have a really early build then. Those that had your order delayed I would consider that a good thing.

Here is mine and I have at ct-15 a1 with the 128gb i5

View attachment 79965

View attachment 79966

Will try to answer the ones i can

1. Yes they all are this sharp and I think thats a good thing I like it. but yeah sometimes I think it could cut me.

2. Yeah that's ivy bridge baby ultra low voltage amazing right. If you look at my teardown you will see what's inside it has a fan and the vents are like the macbook under the display. because the voltage is so low it doesn't need much fans hardly ever come on. And for the future that's great because heat is what kills things. It's cooled like every other computer. The speaker vents actully help it suck in air and exhaust heat. That is the only part that ever gets warm. As you see in the pictures the motherboard is only at the top of the computer the rest is battery.

3. Depends which model you get as you can see from jthack the 256gb has better results, a lot better. But the 128gb is still fast. I don't think anybody is putting top performing ssd's in their computers. Not even samsung is using it's own ssd. From what I see 256 is the way to go and both samsung and vizio are about tied (actully vizio may be a little slower) But overall i would not work about this it's fast enough. people get caught up in read and write times when that's not always the case. It's mainly access time.

4. You get the two year warranty if you buy online from vizio and microsoft and I think another retailer. Also the xbox deal seems to be true but remember you could always buy on amazon and pay no tax. My ct15-a2 ordered comes out to 1250 almost exact. So even if you were to ebay the xbox it almost the same.

5. No all just rumors but it does seem like there was some kind of halt. I mean I got mine almost two weeks ago from sams and nobody else had them. Then all the orders got pushed back. What vizio tech support told me is vizio is stocking them up so when they have a large amount they can fill demand all at the same time. I dunno sounds odd to me.

6. The battery is not hard to replace at all but it does involve unscrewing a few things. But where you will by the battery I don't know. the battery is like 4 small battery put together and doubt vizio will be selling them on ebay.

And as far as what you should by only you can answer that. I would say in that size the series 9 13 is a winner because it does have an awesome screen, sad the 15in does not. It has more battery life alot more like up to 8 hours, backlit keyboard, better keyboard, and trackpad plus it comes with adapters.

The vizio is right behind it I feel just has a few quirks. for the price like if you get the i3 version your saving yourself about 400 dollars so yeah if you really want to save get that. but if you getting the highest 14in you might as well get the samsung 13.

The zen I don't like but it's also good, just don't like how it looks

 

Thanks a lot for the detailed response, I really appreciate it.

I just looked through all 23 pages of the thread and didn't see your teardown. Can you link me to it? I'd love to see it.

I understand the Ivy Bridge are low voltage, but I'm curious why other Ivy Bridge ultrabooks (e.g. Series 9) have larger/more prominent vents. And you said the CT's fans are very quite and unobtrusive, right?

Where are you seeing comparisons between the 128 and 256 GB SSDs on the CT? Definitely curious, because that's something I'm deciding between.

Also, I stupidly forgot to check when I went in store. Is the CT14's screen glossy or matte? I love the Series 9's matte screen.

 

The teardown is in main vizio area with all the other threads. The reason others probably have vents is due to their design. They probably have larger boards and don't have vents under the screen like a macbook and vizio. The vizio's have a really small board and there really isn't a need for more vent's. You almost never hear the fans it's like you forgot it even has one. Now it depends how hot your room/house is if you in a hot room it will probably use the fans very briefly. You have to be in a dead quiet room to hear it. Vizio's design is really good, you have have it on a bed or whatever you do have to worry about blocking the vents. Also the speaker grill or what you think is the speaker grill is actully not the speakers because the speakers are on the side of the keyboard next to the battery. Look at my teardown and you will see.

Now one thing about the speaker grill is that if vizio actully turned the motherboard upside down the fan would actually be able to suck air directly from it which would result in probably a even cooler computer. Heat and fans is just something you don't have to worry about any more with ivy bridge ultrabooks.

About 1 page back jthack posted his 256 ct15 a2 benchmarks and I posted mine the 128gb results, as you can see a big difference. His ssd is much faster. Best way to explain it is mine is like a really fast sata2 ssd and his is close to a really fast sata3 ssd. And these ssd's are msata so they both should be closer to the same speed. SSD get faster as you go up in size, not sure why. I think it has to do with just the manufactuer uses better controllers and a bigger ssd is better because a ssd almost full is not good. It's good to have about 40% free.

Yeah screen should be matte mine is and it's amazing screen is just right. Pretty sure 14 is the same. 14 is a lower resolution and I honestly think the 15 is better you get more screen higher rez and both weigh almost the same.

I really like the vizio, it's not perfect but I like it going to get an i7 and see how that goes maybe I have a bad one because my trackpad is not that great sometimes. The samsung 13 is way better but it's more money. You get more 8gb ram (vizio is only 4 and can't upgrade) and more battery and more.

also the 14 the trackpad is smaller so I heard some people gripe about it.

 

Hello guys, wonderful thread here. I've gleaned a lot of information from the past 23 pages.

I decided to put in an order for the CT15-A2 15.6" thin+light. I really liked the specs and I got a free xbox from microsoft. I'm not sure when it'll come but when it does I'll post impressions.

Michaeljean thanks for your impressions, while it's good to have praise it was interesting to see your side and I'm glad to see that even though it has some problems you still enjoy it somewhat. I'm hoping your problems were isolated, and I'm guessing you might be working with Vizio to see what's up.

The only downfall I can see so far is that it's only 4GB ram instead of 8GB. But I guess that is the pitfall of this form factor.

Anyway thanks for all the information guys.

 

Yeah you made the right choice, it's looks like ssd is worth the extra price and performance. I need an ultrabook that is 15 in size or better so for windows there are not many choices. The samsung cost alot more and they put a bad screen in it and the ssd is not that great for almost a 2000 computer.

I think the future looks good for ultrabooks because when you see the motherboard in this I really question the point for atom cpu's besides the cost. I think this is really the beginning of ultrabooks, can't wait to see if somebody would do a 17 inch one this thin that would be amazing.

 

14" = Glossy 1600 x 900
15.6" = Matte Full HD 1920 x 1080

 

Hold the god darn phone o.o.... Dude, that's just sounds wrong, the whole 40% free thing. I'm pretty sure you just got a bad laptop, lets not be saying stuff like "SSD get faster as you go up in size" because that contradicts expert's opinion. Here's a quote from this article, but there's also this article and this article if you're not convinced.

Anyways, for the "free space" stuff, the reason for the free space on an SSD is it increases the life span of the SSD to have some free space available, as in, it doesn't affect the SSD's performance, but its life. Now I'm no tech guru, but I do remembe reading an Intel study that stated SSD's lifespan is increased threefold by leaving 17% free space versus 7% free space, no where near the 40% you're claiming. Will it help more if you increase the amount of space free on your SSD? Probably, but the benefits suffer from diminishing returns - just stick with 15% or 20%, 40% is too excessive for any real benefit. Besides, with the OS and everything when you receive your laptop, there should be only about 77gb free out of the 128gb you have. 40% of 128gb is 51gb. If you follow a 40% rule, then you have about 26gb free for whatever you want. Here are two forums from tom's hardware that details on freespace on an SSD. Forum 1 and Forum 2

 

Hey I wasn't trying to be quoted just look at any benchmark of ssd's the larger tend to be faster. I don't know why exactly, your going way to far with this.

The 256gb ssd in the vizio (like almost all other laptops) is faster than the 128gb.

 

Actually, I've not found that to be true except where a company uses different SSD models for different sizes. If it's the same make and model (other than capacity), then performance should be similar.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Seeing as how the parts that have given me the most problems on my previous laptops have been the power adapter/cord and the power jack, how's the build quality/sturdiness of the power adapter/cord and the power jack on the Vizio?

 

Well I think it's great but also i have never seen a laptop with a power adaptor like this. One is pretty long and it's small so that good. As far as it breaking off or the ac inside i don't think that could happen unless drop it pretty hard on that side. I think it will hold up over time as long as you don't abuse it. It fits almost as snug as when you put in headphones.

It also lights up yellow when it's charging and green when it's charged so that good no more have to look at the computer to tell. I think the frame of the the computer protects any of the ports from becoming misaligned because they have some depth to it. Like when you plug in usb or hdmi or anything it fits in deep into the computer which i like.

Vizio nailed alot of things right with this.

 

Well now I am pissed of at the MS Store. I ordered, they said it was in stock, overnight shipping. I find out day of delivery they were not in stock. They are waiting to get more. I am only waiting because they are now giving me free overnight and the free xBox.

 

Hey did anybody see the review of the acer s5, looks good but not my style. I wish the vizio had a thunder bolt port. Imagine powering two 1080p displays just off the intel hd 4000. I just ordered this monitor my friend has one and it's beautiful. I bought mainly to match the vizio sliver and because I like AOC monitors. The pictures don't do it justice.

Since it has two hdmi's ports does that mean I could add a second monitor and it would all be powered from the vizio's hdmi port. I doubt but that would be nice.

Amazon.com: AOC I2353PH 23 - Inch Widescreen Ultra Slim IPS LED Monitor with Dual HDMI - Brushed Metal: Computers & Accessories

 

$1400 for a 1366 x 768 display and a party-trick way to access ports that increases the height of the computer while also adding a totally unnecessary moving part that when it breaks (and it will, we just don't know how long it will take) will prevent access to all ports and cost a bundle to fix.

Hell, even the Series 9 looks like a deal compared to that.

Computers like the S5 make the Vizio CTs seem all the more amazing in comparison. In its first laptop outing ever, Vizio was able to pack in a far better screen, better design (in my opinion), and better specs than Acer at a much better price.

I'm really leaning toward the Vizio unless something comes up to change my mind between now and August. My only hesitations at this point might be 1) the trackpad (though I usually use a wireless mouse), 2) glossy screen on the CT vs. matte on the Series 9, and 3) no backlit keyboard.

Why would they make the CT14 a glossy screen when the CT15 is matte?

 

I have a McBook Air arriving today, and will give it a good shakedown before the 14 day return expires. If I don't like it, then I'm going with a VIZIO.


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What caused you to choose the Air over the Vizio? Was it anything other than just lack of availability on Vizio's part?

 

Yeah I have never liked acer computers not that their bad i just hate the brand for some reason. Maybe I'm a snob but I won't ever buy an acer if it says acer on it in anything bigger than an 8 point font. I did however buy my dad an acer laptop for like 250 on black friday it still works except for the cd rom. I feel bad saying this acer is not that bad of brand compared to hp really or dell. Anyway i knew the s5 wasn't going to be anything special.

Now on to vizio which I'm loving more and more everyday, even the trackpad is getting better (well sometimes, mine still freezes now and then). Nothing is ever perfect but it's pretty close. And I don't why you guys are going to for 14inch thin and light. The 15 is bigger and better and not by much. Weight is almost the same. And bigger trackpad.

If my i7 version comes and has a better version of the trackpad i will one very happy camper. If there a better 15 inch ultrabook for around this price somebody please let me know.

Yeah you should of got the vizio first because going to the air to the vizio might be kinda hard. Just saying

 

Actually three reasons. First, to get 8GB of RAM. Second, to get an i5 for battery life and 256GB SSD. Third to have the flexibility of both Windows and iOS. I have Windows machines, Android devices, an iPad, so I figured I'd round things out with an OS X machine.

But the VIZIO would be my first Ultrabook choice if I went that route, I think.


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I'm thinking Vizio as well, and here's why:



With the CT14-A2, you get a better processor, higher resolution screen, larger SSD, and extra year of warranty than the Macbook Air at the same $1,199 price.

The Series 9 is $100 more expensive and has essentially the same specs as the Air (though the Air's processor is faster, the Series 9 has a higher-res screen).

Then the Asus UX31A is far more expensive at $1,500. With that, you get a 1080P screen, but otherwise the same specs as the Vizio but for $400 more.

Then, in a league of its own, is the Series 9 A04. This is the one that blows me away. It has identical specs to the Vizio CT14 (though the Vizio has an extra year of warranty), however it's a full $550 more expensive.

Looking at it this way, I'm not sure why I wouldn't go with the Vizio. There'd have to be some intangible not captured here to make me go with something else, because compared to the Vizio everything's more expensive.

 

Screen, Screen, Screen! None except the Mac's have it.

 

Hey guys just noticed something when I run the computer in high performance the trackpad works better. I have been running it power saver to get best battery. In power saver the cpu runs at 700mhz most of the time when I switched to high performance it was like a different trackpad.

Somebody else with this computer try that.

 

So confused by this statement what does he mean? The glossy screen on the Mac? Do you prefer that? Is it that exciting?

 

I don't understand the glossy/matte screen options they have either, it's rather confusing. I do have a question for you though. I've only ever used one keyboard that used backlighting, my desktop keyboard for my gaming rig, and I only got that thing because it was a gift - personally I don't need backlighting. In the laptop world, though, is it that big a deal? That it'll be on of your main worries?

The only "deal breaker" for me is the limit on the RAM, but honestly it's a preference more than a need. I have tapped past 10gb of RAM usage on my desktop before, but I doubt I'll be using the same applications on this laptop. I only want the RAM for "future proofing" because applications are starting to use more and more RAM to function properly.

 

That's odd. All the Samsungs, Vizios, and Zenbooks I've tried in-store have in fact had screens. Maybe that's just the display models though?

The backlit keyboard definitely isn't a dealbreaker for me. None of my past laptops have had it, but my girlfriend has a Macbook Pro and the backlighting is really nice. It's one of those things that you don't realize you want / would enjoy until you've used it.

For me, the non-backlit keyboard on the Vizio definitely isn't a dealbreaker, it's more of a head-scratcher. Backlighting has pretty much become standard at the high end / ultrabook part of the market, and I was very surprised to find Vizio omitted this.

The 4 GB of RAM is a bigger issue to me than the backlighting as well. I'm very surprised that even on the highest end CT14-A2 with the i7 and 256 GB SSD that they didn't at least bump it up to 8 GB. It seems though that most of the ultrabooks are also stuck at 4 GB, and for the very few that offer 8 GB, the price bump is near-prohibitive.

I'm banking on the assumption that because I'll be using my computer mainly for word processing and web browsing, I won't need more than 4 GB.

 

I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. Vizio has an IPS screen with a higher res and possibly more brightness. What about the MBA is better?

Unless he's trying to say that MBA is the only one with a screen. In which case I think there's a lot wrong with the computers he's been receiving.

Did they give you info on when they would be in stock?

 

Yeah no backlit and ram are somewhat an issue. At night you will hate typing on this. And the real reason ram is an issue also remember ivy bridge is using ram for video so more ram would of been better at least do 6gb

 

Just spoke with a Vizio rep: CN models are rolling out in the "next few weeks" to stores like Walmart, MS, and sams club. No idea on Amazon availability/stocking. I will post the convo when I finish!

Rep: Thank you for contacting VIZIO Live Chat, the home of Entertainment Freedom for All. This is William in South Dakota. Have you ever contacted us before?

Me: I have, but only for questions regarding this same Vizio product. I don't own anything yet

Rep: Okay, thank you.

Me: I have spoken with reps before, and I hear that y'all are "restoring stock" or something due to high demand of these computers. I need to purchase a computer soon for college, is there ANYthing you can say to reassure me as to when they might be back in stock?

Me: Might I see them in time for the back to school rush? I know the normal response is "no information" but I can't wait without at least some kind of knowledge. I want to buy Vizio's computer, but if I can't I would go with a different brand without any information

Rep: Yes, we are working on rolling out inventory to retailers now. We can't say where the retailers will send them, or how quickly, but in the next few weeks you'll see them in most Walmart Stores.

Me: Any clue about Amazon?

Rep: I would check Walmart, Sams Club, and Microsoft Store, I'm not sure how soon Amazon will have their inventory.

Me: So the next few weeks - my cutoff date is the last day of July (the 31st, 2.5 weeks from now) if a walmart/MS store is properly "on their game" so to speak, do you think this might be doable?

Rep: I would say the first week of August would be closer for the Notebooks. That's a rough estimate though.

So long I have to decide if I want the SS7 now or a Vizio soon...

 

I'm surprised by this statement. I've owned several laptops, none with a backlit keyboard, and I've never had problems typing at night. That's likely because I never look at the keyboard when I'm typing. I've used my girlfriend's Macbook Pro quite a bit and enjoy the backlit keyboard, but I never find myself relying on it to type successfully.

I can't see how solely the lack of backlighting on the keyboard would make me hate this Vizio at night, even though I have no problems with my current non-backlit Sony Vaio at night.

 

Ditto, dude. I'm currently using a Sony Vaio too, been my laptop for 5 years and the one I've had for the longest time. Before that I had four other laptops - never had a laptop with backlighting. Like I said before, I have a desktop keyboard with backlighting and the only advantage I can claim for it is that it looks really nice.

What's the inverse of touch type? Look type? Do a lot of people do that?

 

Thanks for the update kDrum. I haven't been able to get that far with support. I guess it is all in what you say to them and who you get. Hopefully that is the week when mine ships. I would definitely hope they ship out online orders first though.

 

Well for one I'm coming from a backlit keyboard so to not have it sucks. Typing is not a problem but sometimes I need to push f5 or something I sucks to have to look at for it. I mean this is supposed to be a premium computer. Anyway if you know how to type yeah is not a problem but you will have to search for it keys in the dark I don't care who you are. The keys are silver and the letters are black at night it's pretty hard to see.

Lets not act like not a having a backlit keyboard is some kind of plus here.

If you think the advantage of backlit is for looks I don't know how you use a computer. it's very simple, at night it's hard to see buttons. Sometimes your not in typing position and the basic point what reason does anyone have for not including it. It's pretty much a money thing.

Think about how many people will not buy this because of backlit.

 

Lol, I agree with you that not having backlighting on your keyboard isn't exactly a plus, but I mean having it isn't a plus either. On my desktop computer, I play games (WoW, LoL, SC:WoL, and the ultimate game: Minesweeper), and I've never found a need for it. I literally only turn it on because it looks cool. Gaming isn't my priority though - like I said, I'm a journalist of sorts and I mainly write reports and documents on my desktop, some for school, some for work. Heck, to me, having a NumPad might be more important than having backlighting on the keyboard.

What reasons for not including it? Needlessly upping the price for something arbitrary? Smaller dimensions for the device? I don't know how much battery it takes up to light up a keyboard, but increased battery life? Maybe including lighting in the keyboard complicates matters more than we imagine? Maybe it'll cost more than we imagine? Lowering repair costs for the consumer? Maybe their studies showed that backlighting wasn't that important?

Who knows why they didn't include it dude, but telling me people wouldn't buy this laptop because of the lack of backlighting is like telling me people won't drive cars with the gas/brake pedals properly labeled. I mean I refuse to believe the average laptop user can't type properly without backlighting.