Vizio, the U.S. based company best known for selling budget flat-panel TVs, is jumping head first into the PC market and will be showing a range of sleek-looking devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Detailed specifications and prices are yet to be released but from its initial lineup it appears the company will be tackling two of the hottest sectors in the computer market: all-in-ones and Ultrabooks.
The lineup consist of two all-in-one PCs, in 24-inch and 27-inch sizes, as well as three notebooks including 14- and 15.6-inch thin and lightweight models (Vizio isn't officially calling them Ultrabooks) and a slightly bulkier 15.6-inch model that will offer "extreme portable performance." The computers will go on sale sometime around the June-September timeframe and will be priced aggressively. In fact, in an interview with Bloomberg, Vizio's CTO Matt McRae said that the products will be sold at "a price that just doesn't seem possible."
"We've built a business model and strategy to identify markets that have matured and have slowed and then turn them upside down," McRae added. "We are uniquely advantaged in attacking stale markets that have sleepy giants that are not moving the ball forward much."
Speaking to Engadget he also confirmed their machines will run Windows 7 (and 8 when it is available) completely bloatware-free, and all but the smallest laptop will have 1080p screens. In addition, the all-in-ones will get HDMI passthrough, so they can be used as an HDTV with their PC innards turned off.
The company jumped into the tablet market last year with a ~$300, 8-inch device powered by Android. Besides TVs, they have also expanded to include home theater products and Blu-ray players into their lineup.
