Putting My Hands On Vizio’s New Machines Gave Me Computer Envy

Vizio says it’s trying to disrupt the computer market, and I think it just did. These are simply gorgeous machines, and are fast and powerful to boot.

We saw three lines today, the Thin + Light laptops, its Notebooks, and some really amazing all-in-one desktops. The entire line features great industrial design by Scott McManigal, and Vizio says it plans to build each machine with top of the line (and as-of-yet unannounced) components. I’m also hot on what it’s doing with Windows 7. The machines come with clean builds — meaning they aren’t bogged down with a bunch of crap programs and garbage you won’t need. It’s been working with Microsoft to make that happen, and says that when Windows 8 comes along it will go even deeper.

The Thin + Lights come in two configurations, 14-inch and 15.6-inch. Both have milled unibody aluminium design, and a really unique-looking keyboard that gives more real-estate to the buttons than you get in a typical chiclet keyboard configuration. The 14-inch has a 1600 x 900 display, while the 15.6-inch is 1920 x 1080. Vizio makes some pretty great displays and you can see that lineage. They’re very pretty, and loaded up with USB 3 ports on either side.

Like its new tablet, the specs aren’t final, so Vizio won’t say just how thin, or how light they are. But the 14-inch felt comprable to my Macbook Air, and looked to be similar in terms of thickness. (See comparison shot.) Bottom line, this thing will be a breeze to shove in a bag and tote around all day.

There’s a lot left to ponder on specs. Chipset? Vizio isn’t saying. Graphics? Not saying (other than that it will be integrated). Ship date? Price? Not saying. What it will say is that the components will be the highest quality available in the world, and that it should be able to announce all this in a few weeks (hint, hint).

I was also pretty impressed by the All In Ones. These are basically desktop entertainment centres that double as powerful computers. They come in 24-inch and 27-inch configurations, and have a 1920 x 1080 resolution. The computer itself is in the base of the machine, and is so small you might not even notice it. (See the gallery photos to see how it compared to my pen.)

Both will come with options for discreet NVidia graphics (no specifics yet) and terabyte SSD. They have 2.1 sound, with a subwoofer that doubles as a power supply. Each also has two HDMI inputs, so you can hook up an XBox or DVR and use it as a TV with the computer powered down. It also ships with a very nice trackpad, keyboard and remote control. There are three USB 3 ports. It’s a very sleek little setup.

Meanwhile the 15.6 Notebooks are also pretty great, if not quite as mind-blowingly beautiful. The 15.6-inch notebooks will have that same great 1920 x 1080 display, and discrete NVidia graphics. It’s also going to sport a high end chipset, that’s still unannounced. You can also spring for an external optical drive.

All in all, it’s quite a lineup.

Note: Over in the US, Vizio became a big player over the last few years with pretty-good-for-the-price big-screen TVs — and now they’re looking to shake up tablets, laptops and PCs in the same way. So far, Vizio TVs haven’t come to Australia so don’t hold your breath for computers either. Still worth keeping informed, though — especially if you’re partial to having things internationally shipped.