I was considering purchasing the Vizio laptop CT15-A5 only as choice #2...the Samsung Series 9, similar to that of the Vizio except for the 8GB RAM memory, was my primary focus. However, taking into consideration Vizio's specifications, its price, and Amazon's association, I decided to proceed with the Vizio acquisition.The shipping/delivery packaging, both by Amazon and Vizio, was excellent, neat, tidy, safe, and simple. The laptop's stunningly unique appearance, [lightweight, slim] and durability cannot be denied. The manufacturer's future considerations and modifications must continue regarding opening the laptop with one hand, currently it can only be done with practice and patience. But this should not be a dealer breaker.
I cannot say enough about the boot ramp-up time, absolutely phenomenal with a threshold of 3-7 seconds. Additionally, Out of the box you will have approximately 200GB of free space. Let's not forget that Vizio has a MS signature allowing for no bloating software, I applaud this initiative.
Historically, from my own personal research, there has been significant negative reviews pertaining to Vizio's `track pads'. Not so with Vizio Windows 8, all functions are readily available, easily accessible, two finger scroll [up, down], zoom [in, out], double touch throughout, [right, left] click, etc. This is by far one of the best track pads I've ever used.
I compared the screen with the Samsung series 9 which is owned by a friend, the S9 is superior, especially while viewing in daylight. Saying this does not mean the screen is bad, I watched several movies and the screen did not disappoint me at all, it was adequate.
The battery charger's cable houses enough length extending its usage to outlets immediately out of reach. It also provides visual indicators such as `yellow', `green' notification during the charging process. Depending upon usage, battery life is approximately 3 hours on MS Signature Power Plan.
WIFI reception has not been an issue, it has actually been outstanding. Proximity during usage in my home, which is relatively spacious, far surpasses that of the Samsung 9.
I have yet to max-out speaker volume...Vizio has provided more than adequate sound during my recent movie viewing.
Amazingly, Vizio's heat venting and dispersemant system is incredible, I have not experienced any unnecessary grills during operation and the fan's performance is barely audible.
In conclusion, as its name implies, Vizio is visually impressive...it looks cool, feels cool, runs cool, and most importantly my fingers are happy dancing around its keyboard. On that note, Vizio, Visual that is, back-lit keys should have been implemented improving its night usage.
My only recommendation to Vizio is to offer a upgradable storage option. I would have enjoyed a 500gb one.
UPDATED 11-21
I want to add that if you update the synaptic touchpad driver to the latest (go to Synaptics website), you can enable 3 and 4 finger windows 8 gestures built specifically just for this large touchpad. It is really awesome!
Buy VIZIO CT15-A5 15.6-Inch Thin + Light Ultrabook Now
I previously owned a 15" Macbook pro i5 (about 2 years old) and moved to this vizio. I've been using the vizio for about a week and can comment on most important aspects of it in comparison to my old mac.Pros
Designfeels great. Fantastic build qualityeasily on par with my mac. very light too! The chassis feels very solid with very minimal flex. I think I remember reading vizio is using some unibody-type construction like the macbooks do.
ScreenFantastic. I got so sick of the glossy screen on my mac so the matte screen on the vizio is a very welcome change. The resolution is fantastic and viewing angles seen to be better than most laptops.
SpeedI am doing mostly document editing, lots of web browsing and some video watching. Most computers are plenty adequate for this and the vizio is definitely overkill here. The SSD is incredibly fast (both in real world use and benchmarks). One of the best thing about this computer to me though is that it is so fast and does NOT get hot. My macbook would literally burn me if I played a flash video or anything slightly intense. This vizio doesn't have ANY heat problemsI'm really impressed here.
Neither pro nor cons:
Battery lifefor web browsing and document editing you should expect to get about 4.5 hours. This is fine for me but it simply can't compare to the 6.5 hours I got with my mac.
Speakersgood for laptop speakers, but they lack a lot of lows and are definitely inferior to my previous mac's speakers.
Touchpadit is probably the best touchpad you will find on a PC! That being said, it still isn't quite as good as the apple touchpads. What I think I miss the most is how fluid the scrolling was on the macthis vizio can't quite compare although I think it is more a limitation of microsoft windows.
Windows 8Windows 8 is just plain weird. I'm slowly adjusting to it, but this is seriously weird. I've used PCs for all except the last two years (when I got my mac) and have had quite a few confusing moments with it. I think I will get adjusted fine eventually though. The good news is that Windows 8 appears to be very efficient power and speed-wise.
Cons:
Keyboardit kind of sucks. The key travel is very low and there is a small amount of flex. Put these two problems together and it is definitely not the easiest computer to type on. You will end up accidently double-typing a lot of letters. I think this may be something I will adjust to though. It just will require you to adjust the way you are used to pushing on keys though. The keyboard on the macbook is the best there is on any computer and it definitely beats the vizio. Note the samsung 15" ultrabook has similarly low key travel issues too but I found it more comfortable to type on that this computer.
ChargerTwo problems: 1. It is piano gloss blackwhat this means is after 1 day of use you will already have plenty of scratches on it and it is going to look like crap after a couple of weeks. 2. I really wish more comopanies would design their power bricks so they can be directly plugged into the wall like apple does. As someone who always commutes with my laptop it is really annoying to have to pack not only the charging brick but ALSO a huge annoying cord as well.
Overall, I'm very happy with this computer though. I did pay significantly less than retail during a blackfriday sale but you will be very hard pressed to find a 15" ultrabook with specs anywhere near this for the price. Unless you really need the extra space and speed of the CT15-A5 the CT15-A4 may be a much more affordable option and likely has even better battery life.
Read Best Reviews of VIZIO CT15-A5 15.6-Inch Thin + Light Ultrabook Here
I finally bit the bullet and bought it from microsoft store for $799.Mainly because I thought that for 1080p IPS Laptop with Core i7 and 256GB SSD is pretty good deal and I can live with any downsides. And I think I am justified.
The main feature of this laptop is 1080p IPS MATTE SCREEN. Very vibrant and well color balanced. I am absolutely thrilled how good it is. I had a think pad x201 tablet and it was difficult to work with in direct sun but this one is workable even at the half brightness. The brightness is a little bit more than SONY VAIO S series 15" notebooks.
The second most important feature is 256GB SSD. It is not a whole lot of space to store your media. But other than that it is more than adequate. I run two VMs off of it and have documents and other stuff and does the job. Pretty snappy boot time. I had a samsung SSD SATA-II based and it is easily twice as fast as that.
If these two features haven't made you fall in love with this then third one is large trackpad and bloatware/trialware free windows. It looks nice and very sleek and lightweight and has a neat look. Boots in 3 seconds.
Great. Now stop here and go buy the laptop!!!
Okay Great you bought it!!! Honeymoon is over and now work on the compromise and respect each others's feeling. Stop complaining about the keyboard! Yeah I know you don't like it. The old thinkpad had a pretty good keyboard...but live with it. After sometime you will begin to like it.
Yes my only wish was dedicated PgUp and PgDown key and full size arrow keys. The key does misses sometimes. But hey that black spot above your nose doesn't look right either.
Okay I know your next complaint, Windows 8... well it is not too bad. You will get used to it. Learn a few gestures and with good trackpad you will have the honor of educating your friends on how to use windows 8 and start convincing them to drop their iProducts and make a switch (as if they will ever!! after all they earn for apple).
Battery life is what everybody said. And I am comfortable with that. The only complain is that to replace it is a pain when time comes. Good news is that replacing battery yourself will not void the warranty. Does it matter if it wasn't covered? Hell no. Because you will most probably be replacing the battery after warranty expires in one year. If you buy additional warranty, check if they will cover battery replacement or you may end up losing your warranty. You have been warned!!!
On warranty side, A three year warranty on this thing will probably cost you about $200 with ADP. So once you pay $200 and anything happens you get back $799. But that means you effectively netted $599 to get a replacement. So save your money ($200) because after two year you will want to buy a new laptop anyway. Hey Haswell is just around the corner. Isn't it?
For those brave souls who want to install Virtual Machine. The key to get to BIOS is F2. (to save yourself time to search). If you are unable to get to BIOS after repeated shutdown and pressing F2 then you are probably just resuming windows not restarting. Use the restart option of windows 8 and then press F2 and enable Virtualization in BIOS and you will be good to go.
Will update if I notice any problem....
**UPDATE 2/1/2013 **
Spilled some coffee on the laptop. But was quick in drying it out so didn't encounter any issues. The key felt sticky for next two days but became fluid again.
The keyboard feels fine now..that I am getting used to it. So folks .. it takes some time but you will eventually forget about it.
The screen still feels very good... I work with about 30% brightness and still think it is very bright.
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**EDIT April 10 2013: After deliberating for 4 months and looking at the latest 15.6" laptops, I finally settled on the HP dv6t-7300 Quad Core with 1920x1080p 15.6 inch screen. The HP is a serious powerhouse with 2.4-3.4GHz Quad Core CPU and state of the art Nvidia GT-650m 2GB graphics card. It has all the ports I wanted, and a DVD/BlueRay drive plus backlit keyboard. I ordered a 1TB hdd with it, and you can easily add a mSATA SSD (up to 480GB) if you want, providing a total of 1.48TB storage. The total cost after discount is still under $1K! The only negative is weight, the HP is 5.6lbs, but I think the additional weight is well worth it for the features I get in return.----------------
Original Review:
Purchased this from Amazon a week ago, tried to like it, but the defective battery and questionable design choices ultimately doomed this laptop. A bit of background I am a laptop aficionado, after all I have owned close to a hundred laptops over the years, from a 4.5" Sony Vaio UX to 17" gaming machines. I simply think if you are going to shell out a grand or more for a machine, you should expect a lot from it. Here are my observations for the CT15-A5:
Pros:
1. Thin and relatively light for a 15 inch laptop
2. Cool industrial design striking to look at
3. Nice rubberized bottom
4. FAST Toshiba mSATA SSD (Windows experience index 8.1 -fastest I have ever seen!)
5. Nice, sharp screen with good viewing angles
6. Windows 8 really made this machine fly boots lightning fast, shuts down quickly, a pleasure to use
7. Great WiFi I am getting 300Mbps connection one floor up from my WiFi router, using 5GHz band. This is the best result I have ever seen amongst all the 20+ laptops I currently own.
8. Solid chassis and lid. The chassis is solid with no flex, and the lid is almost perfect no matter how hard you press on the lid, the LCD screen will not show the slightest bit of waviness. The chassis should be very good for frequent travelers.
Cons:
1. Defective battery this brand new laptop is already showing 13% battery wear (using battery meters), and only lasts about 3.5 hours on a full charge, instead of the advertised up to 7 hours. While I don't expect a full 7 hours, I was hoping at least 5 hours. This is really disappointing.
2. It feels a lot heavier than it looks, probably due to its large, thin form factor. When you hold the edge with one hand, the size makes it unbalanced and hence feels heavy.
3. Slow CPU/Graphics speed for a Core i7 they killed performance by using a single channel RAM (below par graphics and memory speed that could be easily rectified by using 2x2GB instead of 1x4GB RAM)
4. Touchpad STILL not the best difficult to get charms and double finger scrolling (yes I upgraded the driver to the latest version)
5. No backlit keyboard would have really made the design great
6. Wrong screen color balance too much green and red hue on the 15.6 inch display, had to adjust it in Windows calibrate color to make it look neutral
7. Proprietary AC connector good luck trying to buy any 3rd party power accessories like AC adapters or external batteries none will work
8. Aluminum design means it will scratch, ding and nicks easily
9. Machine is not upgradable in any way, form or shape. You are stuck with what you have.
10. Not enough ports just two USB ports, HDMI and headphones?? Why can't they add more ports and an SD card reader like the CN15?
This is a nice, fast machine for day-to-day usage (not games), but the defective battery forced me to return it. This is really sad, as I had high hopes for this machine and was excited for its potential. However I am still in the market for a 15" laptop, and these are now my choices:
A. Sony Vaio S 15.5: Nice backlit keyboard, light 4.4lbs, internal DVD/Bluray, lots of ports, but I don't like the numeric pads that skewed the keyboard, and standard battery life is not much better at 4 hours. Around the same price as the CT15-A5. Optional sheet battery will increase the battery life to 8 hours at the expense of 0.5lbs weight and 1/2 and inch added thickness. Crummy speakers.
B. Samsung Series 9: The lightest, thinnest 15" at 3.5lbs, but no optical drive nor HD screen and pricier at $1500 average configuration, but even sexier than the Vizio. A really nice machine, but I want full HD on a 15" screen.
C. Vizio CN15-A5: power hungry 45W Core i7 runs hot (The Vaio S is 35W and the CT15-A5 is 17W), no backlit keyboard, heavier at 5.2lbs and still no optical drive, but slightly cheaper with 32GB SSD accelerated 1TB drive and more ports, same battery life, Not quite sure about this guy.
D. HP Envy 15: slightly older design, thicker and heavier, but built like a tank, nice optional full HD screen and lots of ports, may have been discontinued though. I think there is a new 15" Envy with full HD screen, lighter but weaker battery.
E. There is always the ultimate MacBook Pro 15" Retina display laptop, but it will burn a big hole in my wallet.
Not sure which one I will get eventually... leaning towards the Sony right now, will have to get the sheet battery and live with the extra weight + thickness. Just hope I can learn to tolerate the skewed keyboard.
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