Vizio details its first laptops: two thin-and-lights and a mainstream 15-incher, available now for $898 and up

Back at CES, Vizio taught us a valuable lesson: you don't have to be a seasoned PC maker to build a beautiful laptop. The outfit, best known for its value-priced TVs, didn't dip its toes into the personal computer market so much as plunge in, head first: it teased three notebooks (along with two all-in-ones), each bearing a clean, surprisingly tasteful design. Now, right on schedule, they're finally going on sale. The company just announced that its first laptops, the 14-inch Thin-and-Light, the 15-inch Thin-and-Light and the 15-inch Notebook, are available now for $898 and up.

Funnily enough, as much as we've written about these laptops, we didn't know their names (much less specs) until now. So listen up: it's time for a quick (and long-overdue) run-down. First up, there are two "thin-and-lights" (Vizio isn't using the word Ultrabook). These come in two sizes: a 14-inch version with a 1600 x 900 display and a 15-incher with a 1080p panel. Aside from the resolution, the two models offer similar specs: Ivy Bridge processors, Intel HD 4000 graphics, SRS Premium Sound HD audio and battery life rated at seven hours. There's also a mainstream laptop, appropriately dubbed the 15.6-inch Notebook, which offers similar innards, except it has an unspecified Kepler GPU from NVIDIA. It, too, is rated for seven hours of runtime.

Across its PC lineup, Vizio will be including a so-called V key on its keyboard, which will serve as a shortcut to services like Hulu Plus, Amazon, Vudu and Netflix. (If you were wondering how Vizio would incorporate its TV know-how, this is it.) The peculiar thing is, none of these services will come installed by default as bloatware. The point is, the key is there to use as a shortcut if you chose to enable these services, and Vizio says these multimedia partners plan on offering deals specific to Vizio PC owners.

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Vizio details its first laptops: two thin-and-lights and a mainstream 15-incher, available now for $898 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.