Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3402 in Personal Computers
- Brand: Vizio
- Model: CT15-A4
- Released on: 2012-10-26
- Dimensions: .68" h x
9.90" w x
14.92" l,
3.89 pounds
- CPU: Core i5-3317U 1.7 GHz
- Memory: 4GB
- Hard Disk: 0GB
- Display size: 15
Features
- 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5
- 128 GB Instant-On Flash Storage
- Touchpad Built for Windows 8 Gestures
- 15.6-Inch Full-HD LED IPS Display
- Microsoft Signature Windows 8
VIZIO CT15-A4 15-Inch Thin + Light Ultrabook
Product Description
With a striking unibody aluminum design, the VIZIO Thin + Light with Windows 8 is the Ultrabook that’s impossible to ignore. But don’t let its thin profile fool you - it outperforms notebooks twice its size. The high-performance 15.6" Thin + Light sports a Full HD display and premium SRS sound for the best entertainment experience. Powered by 3rd generation Intel Core processors, the VIZIO Thin + Light uses instant-on, flash-based SSD drives for speedy boot-ups and comes with Microsoft Signature for the best way to get the most out of the entirely reimagined Windows 8. If good things come in small packages, this must be the best there is.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Impressed
By Hackworth
I must admit that I was not expecting the world when I picked up the CT14-A0 version of the Vizio thin-and-light laptop as a secondary notebook to take on vacation, for general family use if one of the main computers goes off into the weeds, or perhaps to use a dedicated Linux machine. I was so impressed after several months of use that I recently purchased the CT15-A5 version.The build quality is superb, all metal, and the unit has an elegant, understated design. For web browsing, email, watching videos, light photo editing (cropping, red-eye removal, and the like), and typical office tasks (word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations), the Intel Core i3 processor in my first model (the CT14-A0) is far faster than I expected it to be. I love the clear, bright display and the high resolution, as too many (and even more expensive) ultrabooks offer only the generic low-end 1366 x 768 resolution.The keyboard is a joy to type on and I'm finding that I like the slightly larger beveled keys far more than the traditional island-style keys on my Sony laptop. I noticed a bit of keyboard flex, but I'm a heavy typer and have experienced some degree of flex on every laptop/notebook I've ever used; the keyboard is still top-notch as far as I am concerned. Because of the types of computing tasks I do, I typically use a Bluetooth mouse with laptops/notebooks more than I do the trackpad, but I think that I can get used to this trackpad; by the way, there is a recommended driver update for the trackpad on Vizio's site.There is a full-sized (not micro) HDMI port for connecting sound and video to a large monitor or TV. (An HDMI cable is, of course, not included.)Sound quality was better than I expected, although a disclaimer is in order: I don't typically listen to music while working, and I'm no audiophile.The SSD had no funky partitioning scheme to undo; there was just a single partition. I appreciated not having to waste any time getting the system set up and running properly.Three possible cons:* There is no SD card slot; you can easily find an inexpensive USB adapter for your flash memory cards if that is an issue, but without a dedicated slot, you won't be able to keep an SD card permanently mounted as a sort of secondary hard disk for extra storage.* There are only two USB ports, one on each side; the good news is that they are both USB 3.0.* The keyboard is not backlit; however, the screen is bright and the keyboard is silver, if that helps.My humble suggestions to Vizio for future models:* Include an SD card slot.* An 8-GB memory option would be sweet.Unless the cons represent a problem for you, it is difficult not to like this machine. It seems that Vizio sat back and watched the ultrabook market develop, learned from the mistakes of others, and only then released an initial series of excellent ultrabooks that hit most of the right notes. I look forward to seeing more from Vizio in the ultrabook market.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Quick thoughts - more later
By Timothy W. Long
EDIT 12/1 - I have had a chance to put the PC through it's paces with several full battery runs. That is, working on it (writing, web-surfing, email) a couple of times. The battery life with real world use is about 3 1/2 hours. Maybe a tad less. This is with setting the power plan to "power saver" and the screen at half brightness. Also I ran HWinfo and after 4 charges the battery wear is at 4.8% which is weird.Bottom line. This is a terrific slim laptop IF you can deal with the terrible battery life. Ultrabook specs call for 5+ hours of battery life so I don't think it can be classified that way.--I received this ultrabook on Nov 28th and thought I'd give some quick thoughts then expand later. I'm a writer and I need a laptop with a good keyboard. I took a risk on this laptop but have been pleasantly surprised by the way the keys behave. They don't have the same travel as your typical keyboard - it's a bit shallow but I am a heavy typer and I appreciate the over sized keys. The text is black on silver and a bit hard to read without a back light. Wish they had backlit keys.The box and packaging was good in fact the box is white, colorful, and very sturdy. Amazon shipped the laptop in a small box with only some small padding on the side so I was a bit concerned but the laptop is fine. The docs are minuscule but who reads those anyway?The screen is gorgeous. I mean GORGEOUS. It' bright and it is such a relief to view a true HD screen after spending several weeks looking at crappy 1366 resolution. Even the Samsung 15" Series 7 with a matte display looked washed out at 1600 x 900 and was the main reason I avoided the Series 9. The Vizio screen is amazing and the high point of the laptop.It's fast, boots rather quickly. Seems to have overall snappiness with all apps I have tested including office 2013.Now the downside. The battery life stinks. I'm at 60% and it says I have 2 hours left. I suspect the life is a bit under 4 hours. I was really hoping that this model, with the i5, would have better battery life.More later.Edited to correct some typos ...Now that I have a day on the laptop I continue to be amazed at it. I do think it is necessary to mention that the dreaded touchpad problems persist. I did not try the first generation - just read the horror stories. At times this touchpad is great but at others it's maddening. Something like scrolling a page appears to be laggy until I lift my fingers. Swiping from the left to switch windows works about 25% of the time (this is a windows 8 gesture). Tapping and two-finger tapping work very well.I wrote about 1,500 words today in a new project and found the keyboard to be quite nice. As I mentioned I really like the large keys. I've used macs for the last few years and find the keyboards to be amazing but I fat finger a lot on the small keys.I've run the batter down to 10% today and I think I got about 3 1/2 hours out of it. That is simply unacceptable in an ultrabook but I can't find another computer with a true HD 15" screen with these kind of specs. As much as I want a 15" Macbook Pro Retina, I refuse to pay over $2,000 for a laptop. My next choice was the Zenbook Prime but I don't think my eyes can handle the tiny screen.The power brick with the Vizio is really nice. It's compact and the plug features a light that indicates when the laptop is charged.I noticed that Amazon added the CT-15 A5 to the $200 free gift card deal - kind of irritating since I purchased this PC the day before. I would have paid the extra $250 since it now comes with the gift card. I thought about sending this one back and exchanging but with my luck the deal would run out the minute they issued my credit.I appreciate the clean look off the PC as well as the free space on the hard drive. Because this is a Microsoft signature ultrabook it is not loaded with bloatware. I was really impressed that I didn't have to spend hours uninstalling Norton and Mcaffe crap. Also there were no stickers all over the case. Nothing says cheap quite like opening a new laptop only to find logos all over the palm areas and stickers hanging off the screen that show the PC stats. I KNOW what I just bought, you don't have to remind me that my computer has X amount of hard drive and RAM installed.I'm really leaning toward bumping this review to a 4 star. It's a strong 3 1/2 right now. I hope that some new drivers will make the touch pad experience better.BTW I'm a writer but I am also a gear-head with 20+ years of working PC experience. It's the day job ...
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Great value
By uhuhsaur
I've been using this laptop for 2 weeks now and I've been extremely pleased with my purchase. This is the best value for an "ultrabook-style" laptop. I was pretty close to buying a 13" mac book air until I saw this computer. It has similar build, it's just as thin, it has the same components but with a larger 15" 1080 screen and it's almost half the price. I was a little concerned when i purchased it because there were quite a few reviews of the older model complaining about the track pad and the keyboard. I guess they've changed the track pad because it's one of the best I've used however the keyboard is still mediocre, not a deal breaker though.Pros:Basically a knock off mac book air that runs windowsprice!very fast. boot time is amazingcan do light gamingexcellent screenbattery lasts all day under normal web browsing/e-mail usethin and lightweightCons:keyboard is just okayOther thoughts:the keyboard doesn't have home or end keys. most people probably wouldn't even notice but it really bothers me.15 inches is the perfect laptop size in my opinion.SSD is a must for any new computer purchase. 128 GB is ampleWindows 8 is a little strange at first.There is no bloat ware included. That was a refreshing change.
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