Vizio impressions at MS Store

The screen on the Vizio is absolutely stunning. However, the keyboard and trackpad were horrible. Please, give me this screen on a Dell XPS 15 and take my $2k cash.

 

Was the keyboard and trackpad THAT horrible? I can't determine what horrible or not cause I have an old Inspiron 1525 that, with the keyboard and trackpad, aren't amazing, but get the job done.

 

They are not bad at all. I personally like the keyboard, no problems with it. The trackpad has a little clattering sound when tapping it, and you can't click and drag without double tapping then dragging. Other than that it works just fine. I recommend everyone try one for themselves before making the decision not to get the laptop. Everyone has their own opinions and the problems others are having might not be a problem for you. Take a trip to Walmart and try one out if your store has one.

I was lucky enough to try out a CT14-A0 and I personally liked it. The thing I am worried about is the short battery life that is being reported. If it at least has 4 1/2 hours chances are I will keep my CN15-A2 once it arrives and I have a chance to test it out myself.

 

Well with the A2 that is going to be a lot harder to achieve. Also the new trackpad drivers i fee are worse.

 

You mean the battery life? I agree, just hope they did something to improve it.
I will keep the drivers thing in mind. Did you end up downgrading them?

 

Yeah they are pretty much the same to me, for some reason high performance makes the lag go away. But then it knocks about another hour off the battery life. Oh well this laptop is good enough to keep. I can deal with the keyboard for the trackpad I just carry a mini mouse incase I have to so some work or I get frustrated.

I hope vizio learns from this they almost had killer machine. Well I guess it could be worse at least they got the screen right. I couldn't live with the samsung series 9 screen the 15inch one

 

I'm guessing this is probably the same driver update mentioned above, but Vizio just posted this on their Facebook page about a new touchpad driver

 

Yeah I really don't know why if it was better I would understand but I think they just want people who don't have it yet to think it's better now. You still can't click to drag.

 

I thought that Vizio was going to be pushing driver/BIOS/etc updates through the Windows Update utility, but when I checked the update history, there were only Microsoft updates there, nothing from Vizio. Should I be manually installing these updates?

I've been getting used to the trackpad and don't think it's too bad - except that I've occasionally had an issue where it stops responding altogether! When I plug in a USB mouse, there's no problem, so I know it's not the system itself freezing, just the trackpad somehow... spend most of my time booted into Linux Mint (which, for anyone interested, works very well) so I'm not sure if it's OS-related.

 

The Microsoft store near me (San Diego-Fashion Valley) has the sony Z series on display. It is the quad core $2,399 Z series but it still has the same screen which is absolutely gorgeous. And even the base Z has a much faster cpu than the SS9 if thats important. Compared side by side the Z trounces the SS9, but it is a little bit more expensive.

 

Sorry for my bad English. I'm not from English-speaking country.

Many reviewers are surprised by low battery life, but they don't take into account that this laptop has IPS screen. Energy consumption of IPS screen is much higher than TN screen (more 50%, may be even 100%). For laptops with ULV processors this fact is more important. Apple macbook pro with Retina display (IPS too) has battery 95Wh, Vizio - only 52 Wh (average among notebooks), but macbook achieve only 6-7 hours of battery life with moderate load. So it is normal that Vizio work only 4 hours. And I doubt that Vizio will change battery (and notebook design). Low battery life is a payment for large 15.6 inch IPS screen.

 

Yeah but even if you turn the brightness all the way down it should get at least 4 hours. Anyway I can live with the battery life but the trackpad is just plain bad.

 

I commonly use mouse, so problem with trackpad isn't important for me (although everyone want to have perfect laptop ). I worry more about keyboard. Anyway I ordered CT15-a2, but I will get it only in 2-3 weeks (because I'm not from USA).

Vizio should design changeable battery - it's enough simple way to solve problem of battery life.

3.5 hour of work - normal, but 4 hour with min brightness is really strange. Probably problem with Windows, drivers or BIOS, so it's solvable (in future). But battery life will still be 3-4 hour with moderate load.

P.S.

Review Apple MacBook Pro 15 Retina 2.3 GHz Mid 2012 - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

for Apple MBR:
"The test "WLAN surfing" is more realistic. Using a brightness of 150 cd/m² and with automatic graphics switching enabled, the browser navigates to a new website every 40 seconds. Under Mac OS X, we recorded 6 hours and 4 minutes - a respectable result. With the screen turned up to maximum brightness and keyboard backlight activated, we still got 5 hours and 35 minutes. "

so power consumption of IPS screen and laptop with such screen weakly depends on brightness (difference in 10% of battery life and almost 50% of maximum brightness and keyboard backlight). Similar situation in case of Vizio, so there is no sense to use Vizio with min brightness.

 

I would think that also depends on how bright the screen gets - something that I think is flawed in these tests. 50% or 100% brightness might mean very different things on different laptops.

That said, I watched a 1 hour 1080p TV show while unplugged and at maximum brightness yesterday, and that took me down to about 65% battery life (in Linux Mint) so I'm thinking it would be feasible to watch a whole full HD movie while on battery which is nice. Previous usage while unplugged (browsing the internet in Chrome while listening to music in Rhythmbox, again on Linux Mint) had me on the path to about 4 hours of battery life, like others on here. Wonder if the battery life will improve after a few charges (I've heard that can sometimes be the case). Even 3 - 4 hours is sufficient for how I use my laptop (and seems amazing compared to the one hour I would get on my previous laptop).

 

This is interesting - Gizmodo just did a comparison of ultraportables and they did a highly intensive battery rundown test for all, and the Vizio was far and away the best at 3 hours 20 minutes.

The Best Ultraportable Laptop of 2012

Wonder why the Vizio, unless it's a typo, would have such great battery life in an intensive rundown test compared to its competitors, but such poor battery life in all the reviews and in everyday usage.

In any case, battery life aside the Vizio still got knocked with the familiar keyboard and trackpad complaints.

 

Personally, I love the trackpad and keyboard on my Vizio. I have NO COMPLAINTS about anything on this laptop except the battery life.

I'm still really concerned about the battery life. As a student, I need the laptop to be working for me during the day, and I have classes for about 5 hours. Sadly, this thing runs out of battery at best after 4 hours when browsing firefox/listening to music, at 50% brightness setting.

I did find that even under intensive use, it lasts just as long, but I'm not watching video or playing games on this thing, I'm just trying to do some work / browse the web and listen to music. Sadly 4 hours isn't enough. I opened a support ticket and they said "their engineers were investigating the problem" but I am skeptical as to a fix. I would even be willing to buy a slate battery to extend the battery life if that was available, but sadly it's not.

Hopefully Vizio finds a solution for this... I understand that the screen is nice, but if I have to crank it down to 50% brightness, it pretty much mitigates the beauty anyway, so now I've got bad battery life and a decent looking screen instead of great battery life and a great screen.

 

Getting my other ct15-a2, ordered on wed from amazon for 1245 no tax and free shipping getting it today. Will let you guys know if track pad is better.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

does the c14-a2 have an IPS panel? i read a review on amazon from an owner that said it does not have IPS, only the 15.6" has the IPS.

but when i spoke to vizio over the phone, they were adamant that the 14" also has IPS.

does anyone here know for sure?

 

I'm not sure But 14 inch Vizio hasn't IPS screen.

On vizio site: Thin+Light's displays feature brilliant Full HD (1920 × 1080) resolution with premium IPS screen technology or HD+ (1600 × 900) resolution for a brighter picture, brilliant color and wider viewing angles. (14 inch Vizio has only screens with HD+ resolution)

As far as I know, 14 inch IPS screens don't exist at all (for laptops only 12.5", 13.3", 15.6" and possibly larger, and small screens for tablets).

 

scroll half way down on this page for the 14" i7..

http://store.vizio.com/ct14a2.html

"Thin+Light's display features brilliant HD+ (1600 × 900) resolution with premium IPS screen technology for brighter picture, brilliant color and wider viewing angles.

 

Yeah its IPS but has that gloss crap on it. 15 has none

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

Attached image is printscreen of page ( http://store.vizio.com/ct14a2.html), there wasn't information about IPS. I don't know, where you found "with premium IPS screen technology". Possibly I can be wrong. Site also can display incorrectly.

Owners of this laptop noticed that screen isn't IPS. Also I don't know any 14 inch IPS screen, and nobody would produce this screens only for Vizio.

P.S. Anyway, good TN can be better than IPS screen, especially in colors. And battery life with TN screen is 1-2 hours higher. So the best way to go to store and to look at the screens of 14 and 15 inch laptops. If 14 inch isn't IPS, I think that difference is noticeable (especially in view angles). It is not easy to determine type of screen without IPS sample, and even owners can mistake.

 

that's crazy, their webpage definitely stated IPS yesterday when i provided the link.

i'm guessing vizio is following this thread, noticed their error, and fixed the page(?). funny, i also called vizio tech support and they swore that the 14" also have IPS.

 

review 1:
Vizio Thin + Light review (14-inch, 2012): how do the company's first laptops measure up? -- Engadget

"Just keep in mind that because this is a typical TN panel, the viewing angles aren't that special. (Note that Vizio's 15-inch Thin + Light does have an IPS panel.)"

review 2:
Vizio Thin+Light CT14-A2 Review - Watch CNET's Video & Read Our Review

"it's an IPS screen, and the one on our test model was bright, colorful, and even had good off-axis viewing angles. "

That's really funny

I am surprised at battery life of 14 inch Vizio. In both reviews this time (4 hours) is too low for 14 inch TN screen. Low battery life can also be software problem. I don't know what to think. It is strange. If I don't mistake, I seems to find higher battery life than 4 hours in user reviews.

 

Man you guys are slipping there was a vizio ct15-a2 on ebay selling for like 500 bucks, I bought it since it just happened to be local. That just goes to show how vizio messed up this computer launch this should be a hot item and like 40 people looked it on ebay and nobody even bought it. Anyway got and it's works perfect it's like brand new out of the box.

Now I have to find some way to sell my vizio ct15-a2 which i might ebay since I can't return it. Let me know if somebody wants it might sell for like 1100

 

On the other side, this laptop have already disappeared twice in Vizio store So it's enough popular. Although I agree that vizio messed up launch.

ct15-a2 for $500??? Just unreal price Congratulations! ))

 

I'm surprised this thread has been so slow, especially compared to those for the Asus Zenbook Prime and Samsung Series 9 (the other two computers I was considering). So, about a month into owning the CT15-A2, here are my thoughts:

Pros:
> Screen. The screen is unbelievable. Big and beautiful, great viewing angles, amazing for watching videos, editing photos, and side by side working. I've gotten so used to the 1080p that when I use other computers, I find myself wondering why everything looks so unnecessarily big.
> Speed. Boots up amazingly fast (especially in Linux Mint), programs are quick to respond, and USB 3 is a godsend (I store videos on a 1TB external and stream them from there to watch them with no issues).
> Portability. Amazingly light for the screen size. I took it along with me when I recently had jury duty, and it barely weighed me down when in my purse (did have to use one of my larger purses to fit it), even though I walked there and back (about 2 miles each way). Admittedly, it's a bit large for me to truly praise it for its portability, but for someone like me who doesn't want to compromise on screen size and quality, this is pretty much the most portable option by a long shot.
> Looks. It's just so sleek, and I grin every time I open it up. I customized mine by putting wood contact paper over the back (a la this tutorial: DIY Wood-Grain Laptop Wrap), and it looks really really great.
> Price. So many reviews seem to not take this into account. The amount you get for the price is simply incredible with this computer - nothing even comes close.
> Ubuntu + Linux Mint compatibility. Not relevant for most people, but I'm not a fan of Windows and am used to using Linux as my primary OS. With this computer, Linux Mint worked 90% out of the box (did have to tweak some things, but that's par for the course, especially with the newest hardware).

Neutral:
> Battery life. It's been enough for everything I've used it for - haven't worn it down completely but got pretty close after 2 1/2 hours of heavy usage (movie watching, downloading, internet browsing, etc, varying between 80% and 100% brightness). The battery life could definitely be better, and I see why some are complaining, but I suppose that's the trade off with the amazing large screen and i7 processor. I'm also coming from an ancient laptop that got barely an hour, so it's partly relative. And keep in mind that I am using Linux Mint primarily (haven't been booted into Windows long enough to test the battery life there), which usually gets worse battery life than Windows.
> Keyboard. Not the best I've used and a tiny bit shallow, but it registers all my key presses, I'm able to touch type just fine, and I'm not feeling any pain or decrease in speed due to the shallowness. I imagine this will vary person to person though.
> Heat and fan. Gets a little warmer than I'd like when used on my lap, and the fan will start going audibly, but it's not quite hot or uncomfortable, and the fan is really only audible if the room is quiet - if I'm playing music, watching a video, or just have the (creaky old) overhead fan in my room going, I can't hear it.

Cons:
> Trackpad. I've gotten used to it, bit by bit, but I still don't like it. I can do drag and click, tap to click, etc, fine now, so that's good. The right click is wonky (either registers as a left click or registers the right click and immediately selects the first option) and I have to try several times to get it right. I'm hoping I can implement a double tap as right click as that might help. And there's also a very occasional random cursor jump, but that's not a big issue. I have noticed, however, that the trackpad works noticeably better in Windows than in Linux Mint. But still frustrating. My boyfriend, who has the same computer (couldn't resist after I got it), says the trackpad makes his carpal tunnel flare up (though he already has a special mouse for this purpose, he says he was fine using the trackpad on his previous Macbook Pro).
> Wireless issues under Linux Mint. Not relevant for those of you using Windows, but the Atheros card is unfortunately not perfectly supported under Linux. Can connect to the wireless just fine, but I was having issues with constant disconnects (solved by switching from network manager to wicd), it's slow to connect after booting up or waking from sleep (only takes about 10 - 15 seconds to boot up cold and load completely, but then it's an additional 30+ seconds just for the wireless to connect), and the speed is about 1/2 - 2/3 of what I'm getting under Windows (about 10 Mbps download compared to 15 Mbps download, according to speedtest.net - and this is after some tweaking, like disabling IPv6 and using google's DNS servers).

Unanswered questions:
> Has anyone seen any reviews on the color reproduction of the screen? I'd also be really interested in anyone who's done screen calibration and has an .icc profile (I still need to calibrate the screen under Linux Mint).
> Durability. Since this is Vizio's first laptop, I'm still having some trepidation about the long-term durability of this laptop. The construction feels just fine, but I'm about to move to another country for a year, so here's hoping it doesn't break while I'm there...

 

Can the ssd be replaced in the 14 incher? Walmart currently has the i3 version for around $650 which is mighty tempting but it only has a 128gb ssd which I fear is a bit too small.

 

You can just buy any msata ssd and that would work but its not worth it in the price. What are you doing where you need more space.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

I'm trying to find out what are the exact model numbers for the Vizio laptops with IPS screen. Can you help me? I'm trying to compile this information to this wiki here:
PiratePad: bestpanels

It's very easy to get it, just run MonInfo to read out the exact hardware model of your laptop display. I've made a thread for this, please post it there or in the wiki!
EnTech Taiwan | Utilities | Monitor Asset Manager

Thank you!

 

For anyone who owns this laptop, I reformatted with Windows 7 Ultimate but lost the hotkey functionality (for brightness, volume display etc). They don't include the software on their website and I was hoping someone could tell me it's name or where to download it? It was incredibly helpful to not have to press FN but also to see the on-screen notifications. Thank you in advance.

 

Can anyone explain what is the hibernate partition ? I have never seen something like this, how can you reconfigure this partition on a new installation of Windows ?

 

That partition is used in part for the instant on feature of the laptop, a lot of other machines do this as well but they use the recovery partition.

 

You should not of done that because the drivers where on the hard drive in a vizio folder. There really is no reason to format these its as clean as can be. And because you formatted even if you kept the recovery partition you can't use it because it was accessed from repair my computer and you will find that option gone.

The reason I know I had two and one I bought used some guy did the same. Had to clone my drive in order to bring it back. There are certain scripts that run that you can't just get back. Yes you can use the computer but certain features won't be there now.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

Question. Is the Toshiba SSD 128GB SATA 2 or SATA 3?

 

Curiously, you gotten an update about this issue? Have you asked Vizio support? I'm also curious about it, as Windows 8 is around the corner, so if the need arises, then I'd feel at ease knowing FN-key functionality can be restored.

 

I have the Thin&Light CT14-A2 laptop with 4GB RAM and a 256GB hard-drive.
How is it possible that the hibernate partition is only 2GB large ??
it should be 4GB large..

Here is what I can see in Windows Disk Management:

 

Your thinking it has to do with the ram it does not. You can delete it if you want your computer will still hibernate windows will just store it somewhere else. Don't know why vizio did it will resume at the same speed there or not

Pure ICS only

 

Really, this partition is not used ?!
What is ICS?