Vizio Silver 14" Thin Light CT14-A0 Ultrabook for $598 Walmart In Store and Ship

Quote from superflysocal : where does it say IPS?

At Amazon:

Small Size, Big Entertainment

The VIZIO Thin + Light delivers HD resolution with stellar picture quality. Enjoy larger 14-inch screen sizes with all the portability and performance of an Ultrabook. The display also features premium IPS screen technology for brighter picture, brilliant color, and wider viewing angles. A full-size HDMI output lets you step your entertainment up to the big screen, and SRS Premium Sound HD provides richer, fuller audio quality that's performance tuned for the best entertainment experience.

anyone find this in stock locally?

perfect blend of performance for a machine, my only complaint, no back lit keyboard, if it had that it would truly be perfect.

Would this machine make a good hackintosh?

Quote from cyrusfox : perfect blend of performance for a machine, my only complaint, no back lit keyboard, if it had that it would truly be perfect.

Agreed. I bought the VIZIO CT14-A0 instead of the HP Folio 13-1029wm even though HP had back-light.

The VIZIO is $100 more than HP Ultrabook at Walmart, but it has the 3rd generation Core i3 processor; the HP has the 2nd generation Core i3. The older Sandybridge based Core i3-2367M, 1.4GHz processor in the HP came out October 2011 and the Ivybridge based Core i3-3217U, 1.8GHz processor was released June 2012, 8 months later.

That 3rd generation Core processor has the HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics supporting DirectX 11, while the 2nd generation has the HD Graphics 3000 integrated graphics with DirectX10.1. The VIZIO's graphics performance is almost twice the HP's which helps it support the larger 14", higher resolution screen, 1600x900 IPS over HP's 13.3" 1366x768.

I like the silver wedge of the VIZIO (0.67" 3.4lb) but maybe I'd get used to the seemingly thicker (0.7" 3.3lb), boxier design of the HP. The VIZIO is a little tricky to pry open without fingernails.

And this criticism of the HP back-lit keyboard might be off the mark because I didn't actually use it in low-light conditions, but the back-light seemed to pour more light under and between the keys than illuminating the key-cap legends.

The first VIZIO CT14-A0 I brought home had a problem where the touchpad froze about every hour. VIZIO chat support and Walmart customer service get high marks for diagnosing and then replacing the faulty machine.

Quote from tpriddy : Agreed. I bought the VIZIO CT14-A0 instead of the HP Folio 13-1029wm even though HP had back-light. The VIZIO is $100 more than HP Ultrabook at Walmart, but it has the 3rd generation Core i3 processor; the HP has the 2nd generation Core i3. The older Sandybridge based Core i3-2367M, 1.4GHz processor in the HP came out October 2011 and the Ivybridge based Core i3-3217U, 1.8GHz processor was released June 2012, 8 months later. That 3rd generation Core processor has the HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics supporting DirectX 11, while the 2nd generation has the HD Graphics 3000 integrated graphics with DirectX10.1. The VIZIO's graphics performance is almost twice the HP's which helps it support the larger 14", higher resolution screen, 1600x900 IPS over HP's 13.3" 1366x768. I like the silver wedge of the VIZIO (0.67" 3.4lb) but maybe I'd get used to the seemingly thicker (0.7" 3.3lb), boxier design of the HP. The VIZIO is a little tricky to pry open without fingernails. And this criticism of the HP back-lit keyboard might be off the mark because I didn't actually use it in low-light conditions, but the back-light seemed to pour more light under and between the keys than illuminating the key-cap legends. The first VIZIO CT14-A0 I brought home had a problem where the touchpad froze about every hour. VIZIO chat support and Walmart customer service get high marks for diagnosing and then replacing the faulty machine.

How do u like it? How long does the battery last? Read review from CNet and from the other thread and kind of got discouraged bc they said it had battery and touch-pad problems

Quote from tpriddy : Agreed. I bought the VIZIO CT14-A0 instead of the HP Folio 13-1029wm even though HP had back-light. And this criticism of the HP back-lit keyboard might be off the mark because I didn't actually use it in low-light conditions, but the back-light seemed to pour more light under and between the keys than illuminating the key-cap legends.

It is true, HP backlit keyboards suck, or at least they do on my trinity A-10 DV6. I mean the light bleeds clear around the keys, its shoddy. My cheap $25 desktop backlit keyboard is far superior. I have seen backlit keyboards on some recent alienwares and that's what I expect, a crisp clean glow coming from ONLY the letters and not illuminating the outlines of every dang key. If there was brightness adjust somewhere it may alleviate some of the bleed. I am finding out that not all back-lit keyboards are created equal.

Quote from IamPro : How do u like it? How long does the battery last? Read review from CNet and from the other thread and kind of got discouraged bc they said it had battery and touch-pad problems

Battery life - seems pretty good. The Windows Notification Area Icon for the battery seems to estimate the remaining power very pessimistically though so I think some actual benchmarks are due.

Touchpad - The first CT14-A0 I brought home had a problem with the touchpad freezing every hour. I learned I could thaw it with a hibernate/resume cycle. Working with VIZIO support chat, we couldn't fix it even with the recommended driver. Walmart replaced that unit and it seemed better, but it's frozen once since.

It comes out of the box with a driver version that wouldn't let me be at the ready, with my right thumb or left index finger on the left-click-area, while I simultaneously move the cursor with my right index finger. The recommended version on the VIZIO web site (Sentelic version 9.3.4.6, 7/19/2012) remedied that. Then Windows Update (optional update) replaced it with a later driver (Sentelic version 9.3.7.4, 8/17/2012). The ready-to-click feature was still fixed but it is with this version I've had one frozen cursor so I'm trying the VIZIO recommended driver again and blocking that Windows Update for now.

Quote from IamPro : How do u like it? How long does the battery last? Read review from CNet and from the other thread and kind of got discouraged bc they said it had battery and touch-pad problems

Quote from tpriddy : Battery life - seems pretty good. The Windows Notification Area Icon for the battery seems to estimate the remaining power very pessimistically though so I think some actual benchmarks are due.

Update: With no background activity, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios off, brightness and volume low, it will play 6 hours of video. With Wi-Fi on it will play 4 hours of Netflix streaming.

Quote from tpriddy : Touchpad - The first CT14-A0 I brought home had a problem with the touchpad freezing every hour. I learned I could thaw it with a hibernate/resume cycle. Working with VIZIO support chat, we couldn't fix it even with the recommended driver. Wal-Mart replaced that unit and it seemed better, but it's frozen once since. It comes out of the box with a driver version that wouldn't let me be at the ready, with my right thumb or left index finger on the left-click-area, while I simultaneously move the cursor with my right index finger. The recommended version on the VIZIO web site (Sentelic version 9.3.4.6, 7/19/2012) remedied that. Then Windows Update (optional update) replaced it with a later driver (Sentelic version 9.3.7.4, 8/17/2012). The ready-to-click feature was still fixed but it is with this version I've had one frozen cursor so I'm trying the VIZIO recommended driver again and blocking that Windows Update for now.

Update: The 9.3.7.4 driver is best, but mouse still freezes, but less frequently it seems. I can defeat the freezing by disabling the 2 fingered gestures in the Sentelic control panel or by using the PS/2 mouse driver. Either way it behaves like a touchpad out of the nineties

11/01/2012 Update: Upgraded to Windows 8 Pro yesterday for $14.99. I installed all of the Windows 8 drivers off the VIZIO Support drivers download page. There isn't a Windows 8 Sentelic driver available yet. VISIO support says it will be available soon. I now have a Synaptics Pointing Device Driver v16.2.12.15, so it's still has no advanced features. The Win8 Metro UI with a wireless mouse can be a little taxing, but I'm learning the keyboard controls and that'll be valuable.

11/23/2012 Update: Found the "new" Win8 Sentelic Touchpad driver ("This driver is provided by Sentelic, it supports the T+L (CT14/15) model TouchPad driver. Version 9.3.7.4".) on the VIZIO Support web site. It's the same version of the driver I'd found earlier for Win7 on the Sentelic Support web site, but it now works. The multi-finger gestures are working well and the device is not freezing-up. I'm now able to use all of the new navigation features of the Windows 8 Start Screen. The Microsoft Store, across from the Apple Store in the Valley Fair Mall, tells me they're not calling it Metro UI any longer.

This is a great Ultrabook, and definitely a slick deal at $598, though I now wish it had a touchscreen and those Ultrabook convertibles are beginning to look compelling. In a year I expect a Win8 Ultrabook convertible slick deal under $700.

Thanks for the reviews. I have this on the way from Amazon, but I think I will return it. While it seems great for the price, I think I'll just end up regretting not spending for something lighter and faster when I'm using this over the next 4 years.