Skip to main content

Vizio expands into PC market with ultrabooks, all-in-one desktops

vizio_pc_family
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Known for manufacturing televisions over the last ten years, Vizio is taking the leap into the PC market with two all-in-one desktops and three laptop computers. This new lineup of computer products will be shown off at CES next week, but won’t be available until May 2012. The all-in-one desktops have been designed to use 24-inch and 27-inch monitors while two of the laptops utilize a 15.6-inch screen and the thinner ultrabook offers a 14-inch screen. No pricing has been announced for any of the models yet, but Vizio plans to adopt the same aggressive pricing strategy that the company uses to undercut other television manufacturers. 

According to company officials, Vizio sees value in expanding out to selling personal computers as the market for computer hardware has grown over the last two years while the TV market has remained flat despite the launch of 3D-capable televisions. According to DisplaySearch analyst Paul Gagnon, flat-panel television sales were down by four percent in 2011. Vizio is also targeting consumers looking for video and gaming entertainment by offering large displays with the all-in-one computers as well as sub-woofer speakers to create a fuller audio experience for users watching movies, television or playing the latest Call of Duty shooter.  

Recommended Videos

While Vizio was declared the top LCD brand in the United States over 2010 by DisplaySearch, the company came under negative scrutiny during September 2011 after customer services representatives at the company told Vizio owners with broken televisions to simply purchase a new TV after the twelve-month warranty period expired. In several cases, the television was just 1 month over the warranty period and included defects such as red or black spots or lines across the screen. Other reports detailed experiences where a defective television was sent in for repair during a warranty period, but replaces with a refurbished unit rather than repairing the customer’s television. 

Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
DT Giveaway: Enter now to win an HP Envy 32 4K all-in-one desktop PC
HP Envy 32 all-in-one PC giveaway

HP offers a huge range of great computers, but in today’s laptop age, its desktop PCs, unfortunately, don’t get as much attention. And even among desktops, the sleek all-in-one doesn’t always get the love it deserves, but the HP Envy 32-a0035 is a shining example of what these machines are capable of now. If your desk could use a new computer, then step up and roll the dice: We’ve teamed up with HP to give one of our readers a chance to bring home one of these HP Envy 32 4K all-in-one PCs. Read on to find out more about this awesome setup and how you can win it.

The basic idea behind the all-in-one PC is simple: Ditch the bulky desktop computer tower and integrate the hardware into the display housing. This sounds simple, but obviously presents some design challenges, and it’s safe to say that modern hardware advancements (ironically driven by the ubiquity and popularity of laptops) is what made modern all-in-one computers like the HP Envy 32 possible in the first place. Combine that design with the included mouse and keyboard, and you’re pretty much ready to rock right out of the box.

Read more
The next Snapdragon X chip will be even more powerful than we thought
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus

As part of Qualcomm's latest Investor Day, the company confirmed that its next PC chip, the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2, will use the Oryon v3 CPU. This comes as a surprise to many, as the Oryon v2 was just announced last month alongside plans to use it with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset for smartphones.

Since the current Snapdragon X Elite chip uses an Oryon v1 CPU, many assumed that the 2nd-gen chip would use the 2nd-gen CPU -- but it seems the PC chips will be skipping over this generation entirely.

Read more
The Windows 11 24H2 update is causing even more problems
Windows 11 logo on a laptop.

The Windows 11 24H2 update had already been giving users a real headache with problems such as bugs for visual layouts and flaws for certain wallpaper apps. And now, as Microsoft confirms in a support document, some people without administrative privileges can't change the time zone in the Date & Time view, among myriad other issues related to the important Windows 11 update.

A Feedback Hub post also reports a time issue after exiting Sleep Mode, specifically after about one out of every five overnight sleep cycles. There is also a report that the time is not syncing correctly following daylight saving time. Put differently, the update doesn't break the time zone, but only affects the toggle or makes it very difficult to modify it.

Read more