ABC News
June 14, 2012
By Joanna Stern

When you hear "Vizio," you likely think about the affordable HDTVs lining the aisles at Costco, Sam's Club and other retailers. But very soon you might start associating the company with computers.

Today Vizio is launching a new line of Windows 7 computers, including two thin and light laptops, one standard laptop and two all-in-one desktop computers. All of the machines start at just $898.

"Vizio is launching a PC product line with premium design, ultra-thin form factors, and best in class performance," Vizio CTO Matt McRae told ABC News.

But McRae is determined to set Vizio apart from the other companies, like Dell and HP, which are all vying for a piece of the Windows computer market. And one of the ways it plans to do that is through clean installs of Windows. All of the new Vizio PCs will have Microsoft's Signature edition of Windows 7, which means it won't be preloaded with any ads or third-party software when you get it out of the box.

"The software image is fully optimized and contains no bloatware that can ruin the customer experience and reduces overall system performance," McRae stressed.

Other PC makers offer the Signature experience, but they only offer them on limited models and at limited locations. Vizio's new computers will be available at Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, Target, Amazon.com and Microsoft's own store.

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