Vizio impressions at MS Store

Lets not forget that you can turn backlighting on and off and I really doubt anybody wants it for looks. It is an important feature if someone will say that they will not buy a computer because it doesn't have it. I can get by without it but it's not gonna be easy.

Battery life already is nothing special so I really doubt it would of killed the battery that much. The reason this keyboard is not backlit is because they need something really cheap and flat. And lets not forget this laptop is almost in the premium price range. With all that said it's still a great pc but to me backlit should be standard. If you don't use it turn it off. The reason it's not there is because of cost savings and they are using the same keyboard in all their pc's so if went backlit they would all have it.

 

Just thought I would share my thoughts on the CT15-a2. I joined the forum just to post to maybe help others with the track pad.

I have had many other laptops I will admit that the track pad was driving me crazy it would lock up and do other strange things. At first I was thinking of sending it back and giving up on the brand.

However I think overall the laptop is a good one maybe even one of the best I have had. Considering I have sony, toshiba, acer, ibm, dell, and so on I would say I have some experience with them all.

All that said back to the trackpad. Here is how I have fixed it at least for my self.

1. Adjust the sensitivity.
2. go into the bios at boot. press f2 to get into it. disable legacy usb.
3. go into power options and disable pci express "link state power management" and "selective usb suspend"

Thats it I have no more problems what so ever.

I got my vizio ct15-A2 from the microsoft online store ordered it Wednesday
and received it Thursday.

 

Interesting. For noobs like me, what do steps 2 and 3 do, exactly? And how did you discover that those two steps would help?

 

Well other than fixing the problem for me here is the technical details:

"PCI Express has "active-state" power management, which lowers power consumption when the bus is not active (that is, no data is being sent between components or peripherals). On a parallel interface such as PCI, no transitions occur on the interface until data needs to be sent.



In contrast, high-speed serial interfaces such as PCI Express require that the interface be active at all times so that the transmitter and receiver can maintain synchronization. This is accomplished by continuously sending idle characters when there is no data to send. The receiver decodes and discards the idle characters. This process consumes additional power, which impacts battery life on portable and handheld computers.



To address this issue, the PCI Express specification creates two low-power link states and the active-state power management (ASPM) protocol. When the PCI Express link goes idle, the link can transition to one of the two low-power states. These states save power when the link is idle, but require a recovery time to resynchronize the transmitter and receiver when data needs to be transmitted. The longer the recovery time (or latency), the lower the power usage. The most frequent implementation will be the low-power state with the shortest recovery time."

"The USB selective suspend feature allows the hub driver to suspend an individual port without affecting the operation of the other ports on the hub. Selective suspension of USB devices is especially useful in portable computers, since it helps conserve battery power. Many devices, such as fingerprint readers and other kinds of biometric scanners, only require power intermittently. Suspending such devices, when the device is not in use, reduces overall power consumption. More importantly, any device that is not selectively suspended may prevent the USB host controller from disabling its transfer schedule, which resides in system memory. DMA transfers by the host controller to the scheduler can prevent the system's processors from entering deeper sleep states, such as C3. The Windows selective suspend behavior is different for devices operating in Windows XP and Windows Vista and later versions of Windows. "

Legacy usb support is required only for operating systems that do not support usb.

As for battery life with the changes I haven't noticed any different.

 

So what makes the laptop "good" or "maybe even one of the best I have had"? Obviously the trackpad is a weak point, but what are the strong points you see that make it rank among the top you've had?

What types of computers have you had in the past? You listed the manufacturers, but I'm curious about the types and prices of the computers. I for example have mainly had larger-screen, higher-spec'd desktop replacement type computers that I didn't carry around much. So moving to the CT would be a big change for me.

 

I prefer lighter High Performance laptops: Here is the specs on the sony I have:

Product: US-VPCZ1190X-LBOM
Component: No additional Video Editing Software
Component: No Engraving
Component: No additional Office Software
Component: No additional AntiVirus Software
Component: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
Component: No additional Photo Editing Software
Component: No Mobile Broadband Built-In
Component: Fresh Start
Component: Intel® Core™ i7-620M processor (2.66GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.33GHz
Component: CD/DVD Burner
Component: Large Capacity Battery
Component: Silver
Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
Component: 128GB (128GBx1) Solid State Drive with RAID 0 Technology
Quantity: 1
Description: VPCZ1190X Configure-to-Order

here is a review of the sony:
"The Vaio Z is an exceptional 13″ laptop. It is the only 3lbs system that provides an overall “Desktop Experience”, especially when it comes to running popular applications like Office 2010 (Outlook, Word, Excel), Firefox and Windows 7. With a very fast SSD storage, it loads applications as fast (or faster) than my Desktop PC equipped with a 10k rpm Velociraptor drive and a Core i7 3.2Ghz CPU. Browsing folders is zippy and doing just about anything has been as comfortable as it is on a desktop PC. When you consider that the Vaio Z has the same weight than the Macbook air, it is simply astounding. And despite of all this power, the Vaio Z manages to stay on for 8.5hours with the display at 50%. The build quality is also much better than the overwhelming majority of the competition, with a few excepti
ons. Of course, the price is high, but if you look at relative value metrics, this laptop provides a very good value, per dollar, or per pound. Will it work for you? Let us know!"

So what do I like. The screen is excelent. Performance is great for a thin and light. Battery life is adequate for unit. Of course there are trade offs in everything. I do miss the backlight the sony has but I can live without it. Yes I can type without it but sometimes I miss it when I need a crazy function combination.

Everyone has their own needs I can only comment on mine. On each of my laptops I have always looked and or specified the top of the line components. People are complaining about only 4gig of ram and I have no idea why. The unit performs great for me. In my mind benchmarks don't really mean as much as the actual performace of the unit which is a direct result of the interaction of the components.

The unit boots in seconds and works well for me. Thats all I can comment on.

 

I hate to say it but that doesn't do anything. Hey on your ct15 can you left click and drag smoothly. Mine cannot still.

Anyway on a brighter side the trackpad is not that bad you just tap instead of clicking. high performance in power options makes it respond better than power saver.

I'm just thinking maybe some models have better trackpads than others. Overall this thin and light is very awesome and there is nobody else so far who was made a better one in my opinion. but this ct15 is mainly awesome because it's think if I had the notebook version I couldn't except this keyboard and trackpad. only for the thin and light is it ok.

 

On the changes all I can say is that I had problems as the trackpad would stop responding. I made the changes and for 2 days now I have not had one problem. BTW the high performance settings disable these same functions that I have disabled in the balanced or power saver settings.

On the left click and drag it works good for me the only thing I can is that I use the very left bottom corner for this function. supposedly in the settings you can set the track pad click to be the left mouse but I have not been able to get this to work.

I think the overall build quality is excelent, and I agree for the money it is great the sony I listed above cost almost 3000. Also I agree if I had the notebook I don't think I would feel the same. I also think that if visio sells as many as these as I think they will, they will have a software update that may fix some of problems like the left click.

 

The Sony Vaio Z has everything I want in a laptop and then some, but it's so ridiculous how expensive it is.

•Processor Type : Intel® Core™ i7-3612QM
•Installed Memory : 8GB DDR3/1600MHz
•Graphics Processor : Intel® HD Graphics 4000
•Operating System : Genuine Windows® 7 Professional with Service Pack 1 64-bit
•Supplied Software : Microsoft® Office Starter with reduced-functionality versions of Word and Excel®7, VAIO Care™, Media Gallery™, PlayMemories Home™
•Sony Creative Software : Vegas® Movie Studio HD Platinum, ACID® Music Studio, Sound Forge® Audio Studio
•Battery Type : Internal Lithium Polymer Battery (4000mAh) Up to 6 hours and 45 minutes
•Screen Size : 13.1" Resolution : 1920 x 1080
•Storage Type : Solid State Drive 256GB4 RAID 0 x 2
•Dimensions (Approx.) : 13.00" (W) x 0.66" (H) x 8.27" (D)
•Weight (Approx.) : 2.58 lbs. (with Internal Battery)

That runs for $2,000! $2,150 for the slice battery. Plus it looks like a cat's pajamas, if you know what I mean ~,o (it's ugly, it's really, really ugly).

 

Yes and I have had to send it in 3 times for repairs.
1st the screen went bad.
2nd one of the drives in the raid 0 went bad
3 the hinges broke off the screen.

the hinges they said were not covered under warrantee and cost me 700.

Honestly I think the vizio has a better build quality. Just my opinion.

 

Yeah I think everybody should at least try the vizio before moving to other models. In the next two weeks people should be getting theirs. If you waited this long another two weeks won't kill u.

Pure ICS only

 

*gulp* Almost $2,200 for a laptop and the hinges broke? Dafuq?

I've have five laptops over the last 10 years and I've never had a hinge break. Dead pixel problems, HD problems, antiquated RAM - sure, I've had those problems, but the actual laptop was never of such horrible quality the build actually broke. For shame Sony, for shame =[.

 

Yeah this is why so many people are buying apple. If you your macbook ever did have one of these issues you could go to the apple store and you will leave with probably a brand new one.

But it's good to see vizio is trying to change that.

 

I might have missed this on the thread, but has anyone contacted Vizio yet with any problems/questions with their computers? With Vizio being a brand new manufacturer, I'd like to know if there are any support experiences to draw on yet to get a sense of how they'll handle laptop support.

 

I never had any problems with the Vaios i have owned and owning right now.
How come you managed to break the hinges You really need quite a force to break it.
Imho Vaio S and Z series are one of the best notebooks around in terms of quality and looks. Without a doubt.

 

Well if you would of asked me a week ago I would of not had good things to say since pretty much vizo was pulling an apple on me and told me I was using the trackpad wrong. I mean I get it is' a new computer and they know about the trackpad issues but they don't have an answer yet. I rather they just say hey we are working on it. What are the odds that theverge.com along with other sites say it cannot track two fingers independently, and my laptop has the same issue. But in a way I'm used to the trackpad now and it feels good, just can't click to drag yet. (hopefully I can one day)

Support is american based which is a plus and they are friendly. The best thing is to know what you want out of the call just don't call to complain because. I would go in the chat and rant about what I can't do and they would just tell me well their's works and this pad is different from a trackpad. Anyway if they sell alot of computers I'm not even sure they will have to staff to deal with these issues. I think thats why it may have been delayed because it's not like walmart is going to help them out with their issue.

yeah sony makes good computers, not really a fan of the style but at least it's there own. With that said I would put this vizio up their with a sony. And because of the price it makes it even better.

For a hinge to break it's gotta be something you did because hinges just don't just break.

 

I can tell you without a doubt the build quality on my sony was not bad, it 's the components that were bad. The hinges broke right off the screen. The hinges themself did not break. Again this was after sony service put a new screen in after the first one went bad. So my thoughts are that they damaged the bezel frame that holds the screen when they replaced it. Of course they don't see it that way.

Like I said in an earlier post and I agree with you the build quality of the vizio is at least in my opinion higher than sony.

Still waiting for sony to fix the unit.
Repair Inquiry by Order Number
Order Information
Order Number: V00*****
Model Number: VPCZ119GX
Serial Number: 97182**-31
Instructions
Please call one of the following numbers so we may provide you with further information regarding your Sony product:

 

Just wanted to bring this up again - anyone done any objective tests on the screen of this thing?

That's an old review. From the current one: "And we have a winner. Ladies and gents, meet the new longest-lasting 13-inch ultraportable on the block." (about the 13" SS9) source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/06/samsung-series-9-review-13-inch-mid-2012/

 

I ordered a CT-15 A2 from Microsoft store last thursday with standard shipping and haven't even received an email about it o.0

I'm starting to get worried... any way to contact them?

 

Went ahead and ordered a SS7 because Vizio is taking too long and I got a discount ordering before August. I really really wish they had been available earlier - I absolutely would have bought one.

 

You definitely should've heard something from them by now (did you check your spam folder?) - I ordered the CT15-A2 (so excited!) on Saturday evening, got a confirmation email within an hour, then received a shipping email with a tracking number last night. They automatically create a Microsoft account for you on their website when you order (click "sign in" in the upper right-hand corner - your "live ID" is your email, and I think you should've created a password). You can also try the "live chat" functionality on their website. Good luck!

 

Any news on the CN15-A2? Microsoft Store says 08/31/2012 ship date, but I need it before then. What are the chances that say Amazon gets a batch before the end of July?

And whoever already has it: could you comment on battery life, fan noise, color accuracy and (yes I know I'm asking for a lot) speaker quality?

 

0%.

The CN models aren't going to be available anywhere until at least the first week of August.

 

Just got this email from Walmart about the CN15-A2. This delivery date I actually believe and I expect my vizio in hand around this date. If Walmart did not know, they would have made the delivery date a week from now.

 

No, SSDs actually are faster in larger capacity sizes. The reason is actually because the controller can utilize the read/write cycles from more NAND flash chip simultaneously on larger SSDs, simply because they have more NAND. You are right about the "40% thing" but he was right saying that larger SSDs are generally faster. BTW, the articles you posted are irrelevant and have nothing to do with SSD capacity and speed.

Regardless, I think he was just guessing as to what the reason was for the speed increases, so there's no reason to write an editorial about it.

 

I received it today! I guess I didn't realize I had a Live ID thing.

I have a couple questions -- how do I disable it so that my trackpad automatically clicks? I find that when I am typing sometimes I accidentally brush my hand on the trackpad and it clicks. Any way to disable that?

Anyway, aside from that, my first impressions are that this thing is really nice. The screen is great, the keyboard is not bad, and I can kind of see where MicahelJen is coming from with his complaints about the trackpad but it's not too bad. I like to use wireless mice anyway so it's not a big issue. I just need to figure out how to change my trackpad settings now so it doesn't click haphazardly.

 

Thank you, i didn't even write a long response becaues I wasn't trying to debate.

 

Awesome glad to see some people are getting theirs. I'm waiting for my A2 hope it comes before my 90days is up with sams or I might have to keep the A1. A faster version of this for me will just be overkill.

As far as i know i don't think you can disable while you type because the setting should be on the touchpad software. I checked on mine didn't see anything. i had a problem with that at first too but i just move my hands out of the way best I can.

Yeah I was kinda hard on it when i first got it was used to my old laptop. It's not so bad anymore. I'm keeping the computer so I'll have to make due with what I have. Enjoy

 

No offense, but what exactly do you expect to pay for something like that? It has 2x 256gb SSDs in Raid 0, a Carbon Fiber body, 1080p panel, i7 processor, Windows Professional, 8GB RAM, all in a very slim 2.58 lbs form factor. For just over 2 grand, i'd say that's a justified price.

Also, I actually think the Sony offerings look great.

 

To to people that have their new laptop can anyone confirm they can click to drag with no issue.

 

By click and drag, do you mean selecting text?

For me, at first it was very difficult and I was bad at it, but now I can do it with ease. I am getting better at it and I can even select single words pretty well now. I just tested with the words "can" and "anyone" in your post and it seemed to work fine.

The way I do it is I use my pointer finger to click near the bottom of the trackpad, then I use my middle finger in the middle of the trackpad to drag.

However, I found that when I was trying to select large bodies of text, going up and down was a little more difficult because of the "friction/stickiness" you mentioned before, and because scrolling is slow.

I'm not sure if that helps because I don't have experience on other (better) trackpads, but it seems to be okay for me. Again, I'm using the wireless mouse though, because I prefer that, so I don't have to use the trackpad all the time and I could see how it could get somewhat frustrating.

 

Yeah just seeing if there is hope when i get my other one. I cleary must have a bad one. It doesn't work hardly at all.

 

That's a shame.

Yeah you've had yours longer than me so you must have had time to work with it. I'd say you either got a bad one, or this model has a different one, because although it's not "optimal," it's definitely usable.

 

Yeah oh well, I never really wanted the ct15-A1 just got it because I needed a laptop and the A2 was delayed. If you guys have ones that work better I'm a happy camper. Maybe somehow I did get an early build because I have had this for about two weeks now.

 

I'm still totally baffled and quite concerned that there isn't a single review on a tech site of either the CT14 or the CT15. There are tons of reviews of their competitors - like the UX31A and Series 9 - that all came out right about the same time.

Usually companies will send out review units so that tech outlets can write reviews, and this happens just before or around the time of release to the public. The CTs have now been on sale for several weeks, and still no reviews.

Given all the crazy buzz about these computers when they were first teased, I would think these outlets would be jumping at the chance to review them, and some might have even sought them out on the open market if no test units were available.

Still, no reviews though. Does anyone else find this odd? Is Vizio actively trying to withhold reviews?

 

Oh I find it very very odd, because I got one two weeks ago and two weeks before that they let all the press see it. So to not have any reviews they are either trying to improve the trackpad or something else I don't know but that is the only thing I think can be improved at this point. Or they are trying to build as many as they can now so everybody can have one without any delays.

I also think vizio is creating fake blog sites to clutter results of reviews like mine. If you search on google and filter by day or week you will see all these one page sites that are selling the computer but why I don't know if you can't even get them in stock.

I don't know at this point, i mean this computer is really nice so the review can't be that bad. They are going to knock the keyboard and trackpad but it will score on par with the comp. Maybe vizio wants apple like praise for their efforts I don't know. They did really good but their not at that level yet.

 

I feel like the Macbook Air with 256gb SSD and 8gb RAM would be a better price, for about $400 less. Besides, the main "problem" with the Samsung Series 9 is that it's starting price is more expensive than many other ultrabook brands (I'm counting the $1,400 one) and this Vaio Z is $600 more than that. You can get the MBA with 8gb RAM, 256 SSD, and an i7 ULV processor for $1,700. The main trade-off between that MBA and this Vaio Z would be the 1080p and Quad Core processor. Not sure about you, but I personally prefer 1600x900 on a 13" screen - 1080p just makes the text too small.

 

Text size can always be adjusted - there are plenty of ways to do this. It should also be noted that the Z starts at $1599, not $2k. (Yes, I know the stated configuration is not the base model.) The main draws of the Z are its screen (extremely good color reproduction, ~92% a/sRGB) and its portability (2.55 pounds, 0.66" thick). The Z also has a "full" mobile (35w) proc, compared to the 17w procs in the air and most ultrabooks. The only issue I have with it is the keyboard is pretty bad (1.05mm travel).

 

Unfortunately, while there are ways to adjust text, I've not yet found a way to do so without screwing up something in the UI, particularly menus. I suggest that if you can't handle a screen at it's fully native resolution, then think twice abut buying it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

You got a nexus 7, I'm thinking about it I have an ipad3 and a hp touchpad and epic 4g touch I just wish the 7 was a lil bigger. Gotta sell one of the three can use all these devices already.

How do you like it.

 

Does anyone have battery life tips?

Like since i just got mine, are there any important things I should do to make sure the battery lasts long? some people told me to let it charge to 100 then let it go all the way down to 5% then charge to 100 and do that 3 times.

 

Actually its a great laptop although as I have said it has broke three times. I actually get it back tomorrow acording to sony service. As for the screen size I think it's perfect for a laptop and the resolution is excelent and it size is perfect for travel and portability.

I got tired of waiting for it and using an old asus I have so I bought a vizio A2 and personally I think it's a great thin and light and I have actually been getting used to the trackpad. I'm still not as accurate with it as I was with the sony. Anyway I think the overall build and quality is on par with anything I have had and that includes a macbook air that my wife uses.

As for lack of reviews and other feedback I really don't find it that unusual. Im in the supply end of the business and in my experience you only need reviews when your product is at the wrong price point or is just ok. I think for the price and quality these will sell without a doubt and vizio is most likely having trouble filling the pipeline as indicated by the back orders and long delivery times. I had one on order from amazon, walmart and finally MS store.

 

Man I wish I could do more monitors on the vizio. Well guys this is a good ips 23 inch monitor (and it's silver) to use in with the vizio. It's an AOC got it for 180 on amazon. It's weighs like 4 pounds or less, super slim. I don't know if this is good or bad but vizio screen still looks better than this.

Anybody know any good screen calibration programs?

 

One minor thing I noticed is that it's kind of hard to open the laptop.

It doesn't have any good grips anywhere to open it and the magnetic thing that's holding it closed is quite powerful.

 

Here's my SSD benchmarks.

I have no idea if this is fast or slow, but I find the computer SSD to be VERY fast!!

 

Does the Vizio screen have any of the Red/Orange problems affecting IPS panels?

 

All I have is my screen on my CT15 and I would say NO. This screen is awesome. I don't even need to adjust it it's just spot on.

 

The screen in my CT14 is great - no issues.
When I compare it to the Sony Vaio S15 - the Vizio is noticeably better.

Out of all the laptops I have and the ones I have at the office - I think the Vizio offers the best quality screen.

 

I'm pretty sure this does not use the LG panel that has been causing problems in the Sony S/HP envy. However, this is just based on looking at it - I haven't compared hardware model numbers or anything.

 

Does anyone have a calibration device that can measure the screens attributes such as Gamut, Contrast ratio, Delta E, white and black points etc?

I am waiting to pick up the CN notebook version but the CT version uses the same screen and the screen is probably the most important thing for me.