Is Vizio is the Hyundai of computers?

[FlyinPenguin]

Does anyone remember when Hyundai made absolute crap? I mean total crap. Like they were the South Korean equivalent to the American Geo?

Fast forward a couple decades and they make cars that can compete with more expensive cars for half the price. Seriously. There are several Hyundai's (e.g. the Genesis) that can compete with some of the Lexus and Mercedes.

All of a sudden now, Vizio decides to enter the PC market. Has anyone seen what they are offering?   

Take a look at this shit: http://www.vizio.com/thin-light/overview

I am a hardcore ultra-portable guy. Despite the fact my Asus UL30VT can play 10-bit 1080p under Linux, my inner nerd is telling me I need a new laptop. I want something even thinner than what I have now, but I don't want to pay for hardware that is supporting an inferior and closed source OS (e.g. the OSX on the MacBook Air). This new Vizio seems to be quite a contender.

What do you guys think? Is it on your list?

Obviously gaming and high performance is not a concern. However, multimedia playback and ultra-portability is.

What do you guys think? Could they be upping their A-game?

[kitamesume]

no price so it doesnt concern me. i saw the price and it doesn't concern me.

i'd like a 14" 720p + B950 + GT640m at 600$ plox.

[FlyinPenguin]

no price so it doesnt concern me. i saw the price and it doesn't concern me.

i'd like a 14" 720p + B950 + GT640m at 600$ plox.

I already compromised on my last ultrabook and went form a 12" to a 13.3". 14" is literally pushing it as far as I am willing to go. I also paid close to $900 if I remember correctly. And price-wise, considering every time I buy a laptop I am willing to spend a little more, this time I think I could go $1,200 maybe $1,400 at the most. That is MacBook Air pricerange. However, I'm not about to pay for hardware that comes with a closed source OS and software. I know I can but LInux on it but at that price range I would rather buy a an even more powerful Windows machine and put LInux on it.

[kitamesume]

14" seems to be what i'd feel just right, 12" would be the most tiniest i can manage but it wouldn't be comfortable at all. 15" and above is just plainly too large to be portable.

and concerning prices ranges, i've seen a few B950 paired with GT520m at 450$, that would mean an asking price of 600$ for a B950 with GT640m is reasonable.
also performance wise the B950 should perform on par though slightly slower than a sandy-bridge celeron G530.

edit: also undervolting it would be a good idea because it usually leads to a longer battery life, which means more portability.

[xShadow]

I'm a bit skeptical, mainly because it has "...an innovative venting system that pulls in cool air through its display hinges...". I've had some friends that get really thin laptops (ie Mac) only to have to either travel around with a huge cooling pad (which doesn't help quite that much anyway) or just bear not being able to use the thing to nearly its full potential because of it overheating.

Most of the problems I'm talking about only come up in gaming, though. That thing doesn't even have a good graphics card, so worrying about that is pointless. The specs don't look quite that amazing for the price either way. Also note on this page how it has the flashy Signature beside the Windows 7. Windows 7 signature edition? Lol. Okay.

But it's enough to get most people. I'll give them this: I don't know about the quality of their laptops... but whoever did their site design deserves a medal.

[megido-rev.M]

But it's enough to get most people. I'll give them this: I don't know about the quality of their laptops... but whoever did their site design deserves a medal.

The web design is as "thin+light" as the advertised product, basic stuff.

[kureshii]

Most of the problems I'm talking about only come up in gaming, though. That thing doesn't even have a good graphics card, so worrying about that is pointless. The specs don't look quite that amazing for the price either way. Also note on this page how it has the flashy Signature beside the Windows 7. Windows 7 signature edition? Lol. Okay.

For those wondering, 'Signature' edition is Windows without all the bloatware/crapware it usually comes loaded with. As in, totally clean (cue the jokes about totally clean Windows being some variant of Linux …). And MS works with manufacturers who buy the Signature edition to have it tuned for their needs. They are also providing tech support to Vizio's customers (on top of Vizio's own tech support). Signature standalone costs $99 more than regular versions. Yeah, we now live in a world where a clean version of Windows costs more than a crapware-subsidised copy.

Interesting article on Vizio’s entry into the PC/laptop market: http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/15/3076519/vizio-reboot-pc-american-hdtv-success-do-it-again

[megido-rev.M]

I have always tweaked the OS' settings myself, so I find that hardly worth the extra hundred dollars.

[Proin Drakenzol]

But it's enough to get most people. I'll give them this: I don't know about the quality of their laptops... but whoever did their site design deserves a medal.

The web design is as "thin+light" as the advertised product, basic stuff.

Which is incredibly rare. The website has a very nice, clean and user friendly design unlike, say, the Sony website (very cluttered) or EA's website (very unfriendly and very cluttered).

[megido-rev.M]

But it's enough to get most people. I'll give them this: I don't know about the quality of their laptops... but whoever did their site design deserves a medal.

The web design is as "thin+light" as the advertised product, basic stuff.

Which is incredibly rare. The website has a very nice, clean and user friendly design unlike, say, the Sony website (very cluttered) or EA's website (very unfriendly and very cluttered).

The less input from a marketer to a website design the better it will look :).

[GoGeTa006]

Vizio has been improving a lot, I used to sell TV's couple of years back and I was amazed at how Vizio was improving their image quality, and we had less and less returns, and TBH I would compare them to mid-tier Sony/Samsung TV's but at almost half the price. . . very much worth it.

Vizio is the incarnation of Hyundai in a different market

[xShadow]

But it's enough to get most people. I'll give them this: I don't know about the quality of their laptops... but whoever did their site design deserves a medal.

The web design is as "thin+light" as the advertised product, basic stuff.

No it's not "basic stuff". That's just stupid. First of all the entire site design is NOT just for their laptop line. Something you could have noticed at a glance.

Their entire site design is practically modern art mixed with practicality. It's all the little touches (which there are a lot of) here and there that keep the site looking functioning in a sophisticated manner while being good to look at. It moves fluidly, it's easy to find things, and it's probably one of the better minimalist designs I've seen in a while. Of course their products also have to look the part (which most of them do).

Compare it to ASUS:
http://www.asus.com/

They try to go for the same feeling, but it's not hard to see which one is superior. Granted, ASUS probably delves into more product lines than them, but whatever.

[blubart]

if you are indeed a "hardcore ultra-portable guy" - isn't that notebook a little bit out of your scope?
disregarding all the beveled edges fake-thinness the thin+light is more in the range of a macbook pro than a macbook air:
macbook air: 3-17mm, 1.1/1.3 kg
asus zenbook: 3-18mm, 1.3kg
macbook pro: 18mm, 2kg
visio t+l: 17mm, 1.5/1.8kg

the listed 17mm thickness of the visio seem to be the averaged thickness between the thinest and the thickest part. assuming the size of a usb slot is constant among all notebooks the thickest part of the visio t+l is roughly 20mm.

at least for me the most important part in portability is battery lifetime, which is an area quite hard to improve and usually the last area a new contender is able to match the established labels. i wouldn't be surprised if you get 3-4 hours of actually working done before you need to plug that one in.
i'm even surprised to see 7 hours still being an acceptable lifetime for a battery charge nowadays - the ultra-portable i bought 5 years ago already managed 6 hours of actual working with the notebook + you where able to bring a spare battery + it even included a dvd burner.

[occasional]

I think you're better off getting the Air and installing whatever OS you want to use on it.

[megido-rev.M]

But it's enough to get most people. I'll give them this: I don't know about the quality of their laptops... but whoever did their site design deserves a medal.

The web design is as "thin+light" as the advertised product, basic stuff.

No it's not "basic stuff". That's just stupid. First of all the entire site design is NOT just for their laptop line. Something you could have noticed at a glance.

Their entire site design is practically modern art mixed with practicality. It's all the little touches (which there are a lot of) here and there that keep the site looking functioning in a sophisticated manner while being good to look at. It moves fluidly, it's easy to find things, and it's probably one of the better minimalist designs I've seen in a while. Of course their products also have to look the part (which most of them do).

Compare it to ASUS:
http://www.asus.com/

They try to go for the same feeling, but it's not hard to see which one is superior. Granted, ASUS probably delves into more product lines than them, but whatever.

I never said the entire site nor any of the graphical design is solely to advertise said laptop line. I needn't explain anything as your mentioned bold part suffices for it; I don't exactly imagine mobos and PCI cards hypothetically fitting in with the other products on the site either.