Vizio is best known for its HDTVs, but they are diving head first into the personal computer markets. At first glance, their notebooks can easily be mistaken for a next-gen Apple product. Vizio’s notebooks feature an aluminum unibody design, with clean lines and tapered edges. You also won’t find any stickers on their products either. Continuing on their clean, minimalistic focus, their PCs will lack preloaded trial software that is the bane of getting a new computer. As with the stickers, not having preloaded software means that Vizio loses advertisement money. This just illustrates Vizio’s commitment towards sleek design, and not just in hardware.
Vizio did not go with a stock version of Windows either. Microsoft engineers worked with the Vizio team to optimize Windows to Vizio’s hardware. This means that every Vizio machine will have a finely tuned version of Windows 7 called Windows Signature.
Vizio launched their PC lineup with five new products: two all-in-one desktops and three notebook models. As a primarily HDTV company, Vizio knows how important screen resolution is. Their desktop units and 15.6” notebooks all come in full HD 1080p with 1920 x 1080 screen resolution. Their 15.6” notebook feature 2 USB 3.0 ports, a HDMI port, a SD card reader, a headphone jack, an Ethernet port, and a power port. Without having an optical disk drive Vizio was able to increase the size of their battery to an impressive 6 hour lifespan.
“It’s your primary interface with the computer and at the end of the day that’s what matters.” states Scott McManigal, VP of Design at Vizio. McManigal is referring to the keyboard and trackpad. Designers and engineers spent six months trying to perfect the design of the keyboard. They needed something that was easy to type on and also held the same visual appeal as the rest of the computer.
Since early on Vizio decided to ship a trackpad with their desktops, they had to make sure they produced one that would be easy to use and had high functionality. They did not even design a mouse. For years, PC manufacturers have failed to make a trackpad that can compare to that the Apple’s magic trackpad. The trackpads were made with “the top sensor[s] in the marketplace.” Everything else is custom. Microsoft even came into help tune the drivers and refine the experience.
There is a lot of speculation regarding the release of Windows 8. Many say that it will be coming late 2012. And Vizio had this in mind. Matt McRae, Chief Technology Officer at Vizio says that their entire product line was designed and tested with Windows 8. It is curious that Vizio will launch their new PCs so close to the release of a new OS. However McRae says that upgrading to Windows 8 will unlock some new features on their computers, sort of like an Easter egg. He described it only as a “pseudo-touch interface”. In addition, they are planning to release a new line of products when Windows 8 is launched next year.
From the aluminum unibody shell to their all-in-one desktop PCs, to the highly functional trackpad, and the planned release of a new product line within a year, Vizio’s PCs have a very Apple feel to them overall; the only thing missing is the high end price. Their notebooks start at $898 and their 24” all-in-one desktops starts at $899.99. Vizio’s new lineup of personal computers can be pre-ordered on vizio.com.
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