Sony VAIO CR Review

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by Jerry Jackson

The Sony VAIO CR is the latest family of stylish, colorful, consumer friendly notebooks from Sony. Available in colors with names like “sangria” and “cosmopolitan,” the CR series is clearly aimed at college students looking for a fun and functional notebook. You can configure a VAIO CR online at SonyStyle.com in a variety of colors or buy a stock configuration from various retailers.

 

The VAIO CR is available with a full range of Core 2 Duo processors (from the Intel T7100 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo up to the T7700 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo). The only screen offering is the 14.1&quot; WXGA but the notebook can take up to 4GB of RAM. Built-in wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n is standard.

We reviewed Sony’s “dove” (white) version of the CR, priced starting at $1,140.00. Following are the specs for the notebook as reviewed:

• Screen: 14.1-inch screen WXGA (1280 x 800) with XBRITE-ECO (glossy finish)
• Color: Dove white
• Processor: 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100
• Hard Drive: 120 GB hard drive (SATA, 5400RPM)
• Memory: 1GB RAM (PC5300, 667 MHz, DDR2 SDRAM, 2 x 512 MB) -- 4GB max memory
• Optical Drive: DVD+-R Double layer / DVD+-RW Drive
• Ports and Slots: Three USB 2.0, one FireWire 400 port, one ExpressCard 34, one S-Video, one VGA, one MemoryStick Pro reader, one SD card reader, headphone / line-out, microphone-in, modem, 10/100 Ethernet
• Wireless: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (965 Express chipset with up to 358MB of shared RAM)
• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
• Dimensions: 13.2” x 1.67” x 9.8”
• Weight: 5.5 pounds

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Build and Design

The overall first impression that one has when looking at the CR series is that this notebook was designed to look nice. From the range of available colors to the polished metal-like accents the CR is a design that gets your attention. The dove white version in particular looks vaguely similar to a MacBook in some ways … something which was likely intentional given that Sony wants college students to buy the CR.

The lid of the VAIO CR also has a nice glossy finish with the VAIO lettering in a polished silver material. Overall the look is very clean. After opening the lid and seeing the white plastic interior of the CR I expected a cheap plastic case with a significant amount of flex to it. Surprisingly the case is very sturdy with relatively thick plastic and metal interior reinforcement in just the right places.

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The VAIO CR lid does not have a latch to hold it closed, but the hinge mechanism works well and firmly holds the lid in place. There is some flex to the screen lid but it’s just enough to keep the LCD from being too rigid. There certainly isn’t enough screen flex to worry about.

Sony officially classifies the VAIO CR as a “thin-and-light” notebook. However, at 1.67&quot; at its thickest point and a weight of 5.5 pounds, the CR is neither “thin” nor “light” by today’s standards. Given the fact that the CR will most likely serve as a popular media center for college students, the issue of size and weight  probably won’t be a major issue to potential buyers. That said, it’s just downright false advertising to call this notebook “thin-and-light” when most notebooks in that category are less than 1.2 inches thick and weigh less than three pounds.

Performance and Benchmarks

The Core 2 Duo processors that come with the VAIO CR-series provide more than enough performance, even at the 1.8GHz low-end configured in our test unit. Those consumers willing to pay for the 2.4GHz T7700 processor will find the CR packs an impressive punch … despite the fact that the CR doesn’t offer a dedicated graphics option. The 3DMark05 benchmarks are surprisingly low, but this is due to the fact that the CR uses the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 which shares the notebook’s system RAM and Sony decided to send us a review unit with only 1GB of system RAM. If the CR was equipped with 2GB or more these benchmarks would have been slightly more impressive.

Super Pi comparison results:

Notebook	Time
Sony VAIO CR (1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100)	1m 09s
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	1m 01s
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 59s
HP dv2500t (1.80GHz Intel 7100)	1m 09s
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7300)	0m 59s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo T7200)	1m 03s
Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 (1.73 GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T5300)	1m 24s
Toshiba Satellite A205 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 34s
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52)	2m 05s
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T2400)	0m 59s
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 02s

 

PCMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Sony VAIO CR (1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, Intel X3100)	3,612 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

 

3DMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	3D Mark 05 Results
Sony VAIO CR (1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, Intel X3100)	782 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6510b (2.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, Intel X3100)	916 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52, ATI x1270)	871 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	2,013 3D Marks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	1,791 3D Marks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,236 3DMarks
Alienware Aurora M-7700(AMD Dual Core FX-60, ATI X1600 256MB)	7,078 3D Marks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,092 3D Marks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI x700 128 MB)	2,530 3D Marks
Fujitsu n6410 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,273 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7400 256MB)	2,090 3D Marks

 

Screen

The 14.1&quot; glossy screen is a WXGA 1280 x 800 beauty with excellent color and contrast. The display features fairly bright and even backlighting with eight levels of brightness. Horizontal viewing angles are excellent, making the screen an ideal choice for two or more people to watch a DVD or streaming video. However, vertical viewing angles are among the worst I’ve seen on a notebook in this price range. If the screen is tilted just slightly forward the entire screen “washes out” making it all but impossible to see low contrast details.

The 14.1&quot; screen highlighting the &quot;AV Mode&quot; photo viewer. (view large image)

Keyboard, Touchpad and Other Input Buttons

The keyboard on the VAIO CR is perhaps the most unique feature of this notebook when you first open it. Unlike most traditional PC notebook keyboards the CR keyboard looks more like a MacBook than a PC. The keys are well cushioned and responsive to light touch though there is a somewhat noticeable degree of travel. If you prefer the traditional “indented” shape of keys then you might not like the flat surface of the keys on the CR. The keyboard is quite solid with no flex whatsoever. Overall, if you can get used to the lack of dedicated keys and the shape of the keys themselves then you will find this keyboard a genuine joy to use.

The very MacBook-like keyboard, touchpad, and nice speakers. (view large image)

The touchpad is nice and large with a very usable and responsive surface. The mouse buttons are likewise nicely sized, but the buttons have a very shallow feedback with noisy clicks which makes them uncomfortable to use.

The VAIO CR also features dedicated media buttons at the front of the notebook beneath the touchpad buttons. When a DVD is inserted these controls make the CR as convenient as a VCR or DVD player. Along the top of the keyboard is a dedicated “AV Mode” quicklauch button that lets you activate the media player functions without booting Windows. Next to the AV Mode key is a mute button, volume down and up, web camera “capture” button, and display backlight on/off.

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Input and Output Ports

Let's take a quick tour around the port offerings of the VAIO CR:

Front side: Nothing here except the media buttons beneath the trackpad. (view large image)

 

Back side: Nothing except the battery, DC power jack, and the modem port. (view large image)

 

Bottom view: Here you'll find access to the memory slots, some well-placed vents, the battery release switch, and the battery lock switch ... which is important later in this review. (view large image)

 

Left side: Kensington lock slot, heat vent, VGA-Out, S-Video, two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400, microphone and headphone jacks, and wireless on/off. (view large image)

 

Right side:  Ethernet port, USB port, optical drive, SD card reader, MemoryStick Pro reader, and ExpressCard 34 slot. (view large image)

Why Sony included a separate reader for the MemoryStick Pro card and another reader for the SD card is likely one of those mysteries that will never be solved. Many notebooks save space and weight by providing a single 5-in-1 memory card slot that reads SD/xD/MMC/MemoryStick type cards. I can only guess that Sony wants to draw attention to their proprietary memory card format.

Audio

The VAIO CR has stereo sound via speakers located on the left side and right sides of the keyboard. With the speakers located on the top of the interior in this way they tend to direct the sound at you and make for a surprisingly enjoyable listening experience. While the built-in speakers aren’t the best that I’ve heard in a notebook of this size, they are certainly better than most notebooks of this size. The headphone jack is located on the left side (an excellent location for people who like to plug in external speakers).

Heat and Noise

The VAIO CR runs extremely quiet with the 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor. I suspect the faster 2.4GHz configuration runs much hotter, but our review unit kept heat under control. The bottom left side gets a bit warm, but temperatures remained comfortable enough to keep the CR on the lap. Temperatures are likely kept within acceptable limits thanks to a rather large copper heatsink visible through the vent on the left side of the CR. Though the CR is thicker and heavier than anything in the “thin-and-light” category it remains remarkably cool.

The system fan is quiet when running. You have to put your ear down at desk level to hear it over any other ambient noise in the room. Despite the lack of noise the fan pushes out a significant amount of heat … enough to make your hand uncomfortable if you put your left hand next to the vent during benchmarking.

The hard disk drive was noticeably loud in our test unit. While this may not be indicative of all production CR notebooks, it is something I felt obligated to mention. Even though I am not particularly sensitive to background noise I found the constant grind of the hard disk to be quite distracting.

Battery

Sony claims the battery life of the standard 6-cell battery at 2.0-3.5 hours of use depending on how you use the notebook. During my test I obtained 3 hours and 2 minutes of battery life using the notebook at half screen brightness, wireless off, and a mixture of Word usage and idling. Clearly you would need to have the screen brightness turned even lower and do little more than let the notebook idle if you want to obtain the full 3.5 hours that Sony claims. You can get a large capacity battery for an advertised 3-6 hours of usage time unplugged, but the larger battery will stick out from the back and add weight to the notebook.

One issue of note regarding the battery is the unusual amount of “battery wiggle” in our test unit. Even with the lock switch in the “locked” position the battery is loose in the back of the CR and makes an audible shaking sound as it moves inside the battery compartment. If the locking switch is set to the unlocked position the battery is so loose that you can accidentally disconnect the battery from the power connectors just by picking the notebook up and tilting it backward. This is an unacceptable design flaw because it means users can unintentionally power off the notebook while using it. The last thing you want is for your notebook to shutdown while you’re in the middle of typing a term paper.

Below is a video tour of the VAIO CR (hosted by Andrew Baxter) which demonstrates the battery problem.

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Software

Sony includes some useful and not so useful bloatware with the VAIO CR. Here's a short list of some of the highlights:

• Click to DVD - Sony DVD Creation software
• Sony SonicStage Media Player
• 30-Day Trial Version of Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI
• Microsoft Works 8.5
• 60-Day Trial Version of Microsoft Office 2003
• Norton Internet Security 60-Day Trial
• Napster
• VAIO Security Center
• VAIO Productivity Center
• VAIO Entertainment Center

While none of these applications are horrible and some are even helpful, many of these applications are hogging system resources when you startup the CR for the first time and experienced users will likely want to uninstall most of this bloatware.

Conclusion

The Sony VAIO CR is nice looking notebook with a solid set of features that are sure to be appealing to college students. It features an impressive multimedia AV Mode that can be launched without the need for Windows. However, the CR is cheaper and not quite as powerful as some other notebooks in the $1,000+ range due to the integrated graphics. The CR clearly stacks up well against the MacBook both in terms of features and appearance. Still, given the price point, the lack of dedicated graphics, and what can only be called a “design flaw” regarding the battery, college students might consider purchasing the Sony VAIO N series notebook. While the 15.4” N series only offers up to a 1.86GHz Intel Core Duo T2350 processor and up to 2GB of RAM, the performance is on par with the entry-level CR model and the N series costs several hundred dollars less.

Pros

• Very nice looks with a variety of colors you can choose
• Fast Core 2 Duo processors and up to 4GB of RAM provide plenty of system performance
• Screen has excellent horizontal viewing angles
• Solid build quality and sturdiness (with the exception of the battery)
• Stays cool and makes little noise
• Good keyboard with some exceptions (see below)

Cons

• Unacceptable amount of battery wiggle (design flaw)
• Too much bloatware installed
• Screen has bad vertical viewing angles
• Flat keyboard keys and lack of some dedicated keys
• Touchpad buttons have shallow feedback

 

Nice review for a sexy Mac looking beast!! Thanks jerry!

 

If it wasn't 1.67 inches thick, maybe i wouldve considered. I think there's so many better options available. Who the heck would buy this? Just spend 100 dollars more and get a fz, slimmer and only one inch wider.

 

A good informative review.

What make is that loud HDD? Hitachi? Toshiba? And is it under a very thin palm rest.

The loose battery seems to be a Sony S series feature which they have carried over to the CR.

I'm also underwhelmed by the battery life. I would have expected much more from the Intel GPU.

John

 

Sony had its own design taste which was pretty stylish, why create something so similar to mac...?

 

Great review - thanks Andrew and Jerry.

But I have to say this notebook gets a thumbs down from me. Considering the price, semi-'pirated' design from Apple, and specs it just isn't worth it even for the Sony quality. For less than 200$ more, you can nearly double every spec and get a better, higher res. screen.

 

Nice review. The thing looks like a beast, but it's not worth it. The one I configure comes out to at least 1500 before taxes. Could get many better notebooks than that.

 

it is a kind of a copy of the macbook but you cnt deny the colours on the lid to choose frm look quite amazing i haf kind of grown fond of the maroon lid
but that just me
anyways great review
i too was expecting a bit more rom the battery

 

Nice review of what looks like a nice Sony for a change .

Can I comment about the videos ? they are a great addition to the reviews but you might want to choose a slightly higher zoom so we'd be able to see the notebooks better , another minor tip about composition is to avoid "background lines going into the presenter head" .

 

Isn't revisionist history great? Sony's always been stylish, and the main design cue that evokes the Macbook - the keyboard, was actually developed by Sony way back when with the X505. So Apple actually copied Sony. And god forbid Sony or any other manufacturer could make a white notebook...

 

great review - the vaio style is somewhat a la macbook. the battery thing doesn't seem to be a big problem...if you remember to lock it properly!

 

He made it clear that even if you lock it "properly" it still wobbles and shakes.

 

Exactly. The only reason I registered on notebookreviews today (has always been a reader, but never bothered to reply) is because of all the commentators that said Sony copied Apple.

People, the keyboard was on the X505. Google it to find the release date (hint: it was before Apple copied Sony).

The white colour isn't a creation of Apple.

 

I absolutely love the look of the CR. Very sleek and stylish. However the thickness and weight of this notebook kind of turned me off. It is thicker and heavier than the Inspiron 1420.

 

exactly. if i were to nitpick the review a bit it would have to be that the keyboard design originated from Sony, not Apple. it predated the design of the macbook/ibook keys by at least a year (if not more). not every stylish notebook is indebted to Apple, and Sony's been leading the way for quite some time

 

Huh, either way, whoever came up with it first I don't like the keyboard a whole lot. It's better for keeping dust and crap out, but I don't like the travel or feel of the keys of this style of keyboard. Plus it's hard (impossible?) to replace this style of keyboard yourself when it gets worn out, Dell and Lenovo keyboards are all pretty easy to replace for $20 - $30.

 

well, what I meant was if you remember to lock it properly the battery will not disconnect itself...I acknowledge the fact that there is wobbling though even when in the lock position. You are quite right though. Do you know if this is a widespread problem? Or is it just this unit?

 

Our review copy was a late pre-production model (meaning there shouldn't be any differences between our unit and what the consumer purchases except perhaps software and drivers).

I didn't go looking for negative things to say in this review. Overall, there are plenty of good things to say about the CR and unlike Andrew I like the keyboard. However, when I picked up the CR by lifting it in the front it powered off because the battery fell away from the connectors. This was the way it was shipped to us from Sony.

There is a reason manufacturers include both a lock switch and a "release" switch: Many (if not most) people don't remember to lock their batteries.

After the battery issue with the CR was discovered I checked five other notebooks both in our office and at home. Only 2 out of 6 total had their lock switches in the "locked" position. The CR was the only one that had a battery that partially fell out when the battery wasn't locked.

If only 1/3 of users put their batteries in the correct locked position that means 2/3 of users would run into problems if the battery fell out while it wasn't locked. That's why this issue was mentioned in the review.

If you remember to lock the battery and you like the design/features of the CR then you should buy it. It's not a bad notebook, but it's not perfect either.

Hmm ... maybe we should add that last sentence to many of our reviews.

 

Man, I am sure this works very well in a car review -- If you remember to lock your car and like the design/feature of the car then you should buy it.

Come on, the release button is not designed to replace the function of a lock button. If you put two "lock-unlock" buttons, because they easily slide sideways on the bottom on the notebook, you may accidentally unlock both of them when you move your laptop on the surface with some low obstructions. The release button forces you to actually applying constant sideway pressure on the button while pulling the battery out in a different direction, making it very hard to achieve accidentally. If you put two "release buttons", you are subject to the mechanical failure of the spring, which is much more likely than a physcial stop like the "lock-unlock" button. As a result, combining both give you the lowest chance of unintentional battery release -- it would still happen, just very very very unlikely, assuming you operate it correctly.

When you insert a battery and you intend to use the laptop, you should always lock your battery in. Some battery insertion scheme are a little more tolerant to the fact that you don't lock the battery in -- for example, if your battery is inserted into a slot like an Express card, obviously there is support from all sides and your negiligence in the lock may not give you problem. However, that still doesn't make not locking the battery the right way to operate it. In fact, if you actually consulted page 22 of the operating guide that should have come with your laptop, you should find the instruction that asks you to lock your battery. In case you didn't receive one with your review unit (shame on Sony if that's the case), here is another copy:

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/VGNCR100series.pdf

The fact that people don't operate it correctly does not make it a bad design -- it's just less fool-proof and there apparently are a lot of fools out there. Now, if the battery was not locked in on the lock side but actually properly secured in the release side when the event occured, I can see a problem with either the design or low manufacturing precision. However, judging by the statistics that you just quoted about how many laptops are unlocked, I am not sure you actually "properly secured" it on the release side, either. I would recommend you to try to repeat the event a couple times before you jump to a conclusion.

To be fair, like queshy mentioned, the battery wiggle for this type of battery insertion scheme in a Sony laptop has been a constant complain since way back when (maybe 1999 when they released Z505), but it has never been a big enough problem that forced Sony to move away from it. I would not be surprised if the low-cost and low-quality manufacturing in China has finally reared its ugly head and pushed this less fool-proof design over the edge for people who don't read their manuals. Still, I don't think you are making a case here with one event and evidence of BKC (between keyboard and chair ) errors.

Since I am on a rampage here, might as well shoot off some other remarks. Since when was "less than 3 lbs" considered a criterion for "thin-and-light"? Not that these classifications ever have any consistency among the manufacturers, but I thought less than 3 lbs are considered "ultra portable"?

And for Andrew, why would the keyboard be harder to replace than any other keyboard? It is still one keyboard -- it just has larger spacing between the keys and when you install it you put the keyboard in first before the top cover. I can understand you don't like to type on it, but I don't understand why this is harder to replace.

As for who copies who on the style, man, I've heard it all before and not just the style. Like how we rave about the XPS M1330 being very stylish and its 9-cell batter sticks out to tilt the laptop up as a nice design feature. Yeah, for a Dell, but I had been using the pretty much the same style and that sticking out battery on a Sony S170 since 2004.

People just have short memory and this statement seems to be closer to the mark when it comes to fashion and computer. I guess there is just not enough style and color to go around and we are just too geeky to crave for the newest computer platform. Someday Apple and Steve Jobs are going to make the unapologetic styleless Thinkpad design the "in" style and people will claim IBM engineers developed time machine and came to the future to copy it.

Now, Sony has done its own fair share of "learning" from it competitors -- we just don't follow all the Japanese-exclusive laptops that much to know all the stories. The bright side of this is that we get better and better laptops. The down side is that some of the more "innovative" companies tend to charge a little bit more than the others.

BTW, Sony is celebrating VAIO laptops' 10-year anniversary. If you are interested in the history of Sony laptops and fluent in Japanese, you can click the "VAIO chronicle" on this dedicated anniversary page:

http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Concept/Vision/index.html?product=10th

Gives you a lot of history about all the laptops they've ever made.

 

It really is a copy of the MacBook, and with the annoying battery issue, I would really buy a MacBook. When you spend that amount of money, you do expect everything to be perfect.

 

This isn't the only Sony with the wobbling battery, the FS/FE/FJ was notorious for having this as well. I guess it isn't a problem they want to fix

 

This whole battery lock issue is blown out of proportion. My X31 has a battery lock. My girlfriend's Acer has a battery lock. Hell, even my 1998 Dell Inspiron had a battery lock to prevent it from sliding out.

If people are too stupid not to lock the battery in place and lose data then they have themselves to blame. Blaming Sony for something as trivia as this is like blaming car manufacturers because the passengers forgot to lock the door.

 

well at least I dont have that problem on my FZ. I can keep it unlock and my battery won't move out of place. I had to test it right away since all this thread seems to talk about is the battery issue. and the keyboard which i love.

 

I'm sorry -- you love the FZ keyboard or the CR keyboard? I'm really interested in this computer and would like to hear something good about it.

Also, why does the Sony site show 5 models in the CTO pic (including a black model), but there is no option for a black computer? I don't really want a bright pink computer.

 

I'm interested in hearing good things about this as well, is the wobbily battery noisy? or does it just move and people dont like that..?

 

I just got back from Best Buy where they had a CR on display. I asked them to bring out the battery so that I could test it and the battery does fall out, just like on the video in the review. What's more -- the lock doesn't click into place like it does on the Vaio I have now, so it wouldn't be very hard for the the battery to unlock in a backpack or when moving around on a desk.

Also, the model at the store (which they just got a few days ago) already had a huge gouge on the cover.

Overall, I was VERY disappointed in the computer. I would definitely recommend looking at it before purchase.

 

I purchased CR14GN last week, i am very happy with it, true that there is the slight battery wiggle.. which is tolerable though as i carry it in the vaio pouch.

The performance is great, am running vista business. I also like the AV mode, where i can run AV without any need to start windows.. that saves power too i guess.

Great laptop for a decent price

 

Hi everyone!
I just bought the CR11 via sonystyle (for 1350 Euros with a bag and a mouse in white). I hadn't seen the laptop before, I just liked the pictures and the review I saw in this forum!

I am totally happy with the CR11S It is a great, fast laptop (which looks very nice too). If you lock the battery it doesn't disconnect. Knowing this, I'll guess I can remember to lock it. I am also satiesfied with Windwos Vista- it has some great features (as the gadgets or widgets).

The only thing that doesn't work yet, is the wireless connection. But that's our broadband routers' problem which is quite old...

Thanks for the review and greetings from Germany!
Binessa

 

When I went to Best Buy this past weekend to see the CR120 (the pink version), my first impression was the cosmetics. I liked the pink cover on the outside but wasn't a fan of the baby pink on the inside. The laptop has nice features but I would have liked to see a mini remote to go along with the notebook.

Some people have been comparing the Dove White edition to the Macbook. I think it's reasonable to think so. The keyboard reminded me of the Macbook. Although at 14" and nearing 6 lbs., I would buy a Macbook and it also cost less and weighs less.

Btw, for Canadians interested in purchasing CR120, I'd check out the Sonystyle.ca is selling 3 CR120 "Back-to-School Bundles" in Blue, White or Pink including the laptop, Backpack, leather notebook case, MP3 player, a digital camera and a bonus $100 Roots gift card for $1900+tax. The laptop itself sells for $1599.99 on the website. It's a pretty good deal I think, since the digital camera is also 7.2 megapixel with a 3x optical zoom. (The pink model does cost more though).

 

The black one is available on the Vaio Professional section of the sony site, but you're right - the black one doesn't seem to be available on the personal side of the site (even though a photo of the black one is shown multiple times). Weird.

 

Can you please install everest on the laptop an look for the part No. Of the LCD... the Screen looks very nice IMO.

 

Took delivery of red CR Series (last week) - Vista seems ok but have configured it to look like XP (simpler) however am waiting for the crash as have heard to be expected at some point.

The red cover looks great, although easily fingerprinted, the body isn't heavy, i have no battery wiggle at all, locked or unlocked, the heat is fine, the keyboard is the best laptop keyboard i've had the pleasure of typing on, and the screen resolution is sweet.

Having thought long and hard about whether to switch to Mac, am glad I didn't this time around. There is a lot of 'Mac-ness' about the Vaio without losing the pleasure of having the 'right click' around.

I'd say go for it, myself.

 

Breekom,
can you please tell me how is it with noise?
In the review teh author said: "The hard disk drive was noticeably loud in our test unit. While this may not be indicative of all production CR notebooks, it is something I felt obligated to mention. Even though I am not particularly sensitive to background noise I found the constant grind of the hard disk to be quite distracting."

I have Dell D520 which doesn't make any noise, but I have to buy a new notebook. I bought Dell inspiron 6400 which was squealing and I returned it to shop. Maybe for lots of people that isn't annoying, but squealing makes me nervous
So, how much and what kind of noise does realy make Vaio CR? Does make noise like squealing or?!?!?!?

Thank you very much
Mate

 

From the various contributions so far, it is apparent many buyers have varying experience with the CR. I bought an Indigo CR131E recently from Costco and it's been wonderful. No wobbling of the battery as many stated, quite fast (2G ram, 2GHz with 160GB disk space), sleek, beautiful and EXTREMELY QUIET. I guess the wobbly issue is a factory defect which may not apply to all CR's. But then, I have fingerprints to contend with on the notebook.

One question: I just installed Adobe Professional 6.0 and I kept on having an error message that says it couldn't instal Adobe PDF printer and stuff. I have tried all methods to solve the problem. Could it be a 16/32 bit issue or what? I previously installed the same software on my previous Dell Latutude C830 (windows XP/SP2) and it worked perfectly well.

Thanks for the response.

 

i disagreee with all the " it looks like a mac" stuff. i think it wouldnt look that much like one if you got a red or blue one. but i do love the style, with the chrome band. is awesome!

 

i've not had a problem with the noise, then again i'm not spending hours on it all day waiting to get nitpicky or at least being exposed to it. of course you have the usual rota of whirring all laptops suffer but it's certainly not constant, nor is it distracting. to me.

strangely i didn't get audio on sites like youtube to begin, although the inbuilt sony screensavers and stuff (including an annoying spiderman 3 trailer) are loud. uploaded a new version of flashplayer and hey ho it we have sound, somewhat inexplicably as all the settings were for sound to begin with.

another week down the track of daily usage and i've still not too much to complain of. only thing i would say is that with all functions on premium performance the battery life is quite short, but having reduced screen brightness and other fun stuff the battery issue is resolved. clearly it's not the longest-lived battery out there, nor is it the worst.

the keyboard still rocks. i used a friend's mac laptop at the studio over the weekend and remain happy with my new purchase as a viable option.

 

I have to disagree. The machine is really fast indeed, but the keyboard is just a crap. It's not suitable for people who types fast. Double keys (like the "R" in the "irritate" word) are missed in fast typing. If you're fast at typing, stay away from this machine.

I've made my own review here: http://www.cfgigolo.com/archives/2007/09/sony_vaio_review_vgn-cr150a.html
(portuguese text)

 

I've got to give this one to Sony, they done a cracking job on the design aspect of this laptop. I love the look of the Apple Macbooks, so its a good job that Sony have bought out a laptop that looks like an Apple Mackbook as Im after a good looking laptop and it seemed that Apple was the only make that produced modern looking units. I've never used an Apple mac in my life and I'm very satisfied with Windows, so the Sony CR series just seems like a perfect combination of the two!
I'm after something that stands out from the crowd & this seems to be it!

I'm kind of after an opinion here, whats the quality of the Motion Eye web cam like? e.g. is it clear & vivid, or a bit blurry & washed out? Also, is the only way of tilting the web cam by tilting the screen forwards & backwards or can you alter where its pointing to without moving the screen? I'm asking as my sister has an acer laptop and you can tilt hers up & down as its mounted to a pivoting piece of plastic at the top of the screen, which i must admit is an excellent idea, because you're not then restricted to have the screen angled at an awkward position just so you can be seen clearly on web cam!

Also whats this thing about the battery, I've read mixed opinions & reviews about this so i just want to clear this one up...

If I put the battery in and lock it securely in place, will it be held in place firmly or will it wiggle about and disconnect, therefore cutting out the laptop's power supply?

Oh & another thing here *You'll have to pardon my ignorance* but the Core 2 Duo processor... is that :

2 X 1.80 Ghz processors
or
2 processors that total in 1.80 Ghz?

I might have got the wrong end of the stick here and it could possibly be one processor all together, actually i think I'm getting confused with a Dual core processor, anyway, can anyone help me, as I obviously don't know what I'm on about?

 

A dual core processor (Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, Athlon X2, Turion X2, etc) is a single chip with 2 distinct processing cores. They have the same clock speed, so its 2 cores with 1.8GHz frequency each.

 

Thanks very much for clearing that up for me, very useful info!

 

I don't remember what it's called, but Vista has a feature that automatically defrags the harddrive in background. Maybe that's why your harddrive is loading excessively? If that's so, you're out of luck. The last time I checked, it's impossible to disable the feature, and guess what, as long as your computer runs Vista, it's not going to be dead silent.

 

The biggest problem with Vaio CR is VISTA!

You have a killer laptop and an extremely slow sluggish OS, I'am extremely unhappy with the Vista performace and experience. Moreover Sony does not offer any other drivers for you to install any other operating systeM!

Beat that. No looking back to Windows Xp what ever you do. Just a money making tie up with Microsoft I guess.

If someone knows where to find drivers for me to install any other OS please let me know. Thanks a ton!!

 

Hello all,

I am planning to instal a broadband at home mid-Nov 2007. In my research, I was reading where someone commented that his notebook with 4965AGN wireless would not work with a Linksys Router WRT150N.
Could it be so that my CR131E would not work with the router or he has problems with his notebook?
I have bought a WRT150N in readiness for my broadband... Is that a waste on my part?

Thanks.

 

The Linksys WRT150N also supports the wireless b and g standards and I would expect the CR to work fine with the router using g, which is still much faster than your broadband connection.

The uncertainty relates to the wireless n standard. The final version has not yet been ratified and, until it is, manufacturers are using various draft versions which may not work together. At present, the only sure way of getting wireless n speed with the Linksys router is to use a Linksys wireless n card.

John

 

Thanks for your response. In fact, I 've got the broadband, couldn't wait till November as earlier planned.

One problem I've been having with the CR in the past few hours is connecting to the network. It couldn't pick signals from the network through the network slot/port. I tried it with other notebooks and they worked....and this notebook is new. Has anyone had any problems with it and solved it in anyway? Could it be the port not activated or faulty?

Thanks.

 

Vaio CR... (CR-AP)

I honestly think this laptop Ruins Sony's High Quality reputation, Along with Vaio NR. I mean, Vaio NR was designed for budget so at least she has an excuse, but CR with all the battery wiggle, heavy weight and thick size, and smudgy glossy look with lack of dedicated GPU W/ 1000 dollar price tag is just, disappointing

 

This is perhaps the worst choice I ever made.I looked at reviews and finally bought this laptop from John Lewis.Within two months its harddrive started losing connection. I had to return it back to them for repair once it came back, worked fine for some days, then once I was moving the screen back from near the hinge to have a better view..the screen cracked.Not that I am a rough user, I have had laptops from HP and IBM before from work and they all worked out well except for this one..expensive, defective and not sturdy at all.

 

Another thing to look out for on this model is a VERY weak DVD bezel. The faceplate that protects the DVD actually wraps around the bottom of the laptop and consequently takes much of the daily pressures of use: transport, sitting on your lap etc... Mine broke off. One day it just fell off because all the plastic tabs holding it on had cracked. This was due to day to day use.

This is a problem for two reasons. One, this laptop is aimed at a very mobile crowd, college students. It should stand up to a reasonable amount of day to day handling, but it doesn't. Two, if this breaks for you, Sony will make you send the whole computer in, even though it is still functional. Apparently it takes a qualified technician to snap on a plastic part properly. And they will not return it in the promised 7-10 days, leaving you without your precious laptop for more than 2 weeks. Buyer beware.

 

Okay, I was thinking of buying this, now I must know, The battery problem, its been like a year IS IT FIXED?
next if its not, if its in the locked position, and it 'moves around'
does it turn off? If not I dont care

HARDDRIVE, someone said its noisy, and all that, is it really that noisy? and what problems has people had with it, besides what was mentioned above..

 

I don't know if this was mentioned before:

It's not Sony that copied the design of the keyboard from Apple. It was Apple that copied the design from Sony.

I believe it was Sony's 505 that was the first one to have this keyboard.