VAIO CR Owners' Thread

Who here owns a CR? What do you think of it?

Also, to potential buyers: post any questions about the CR here.

NOTES:

• The LEDs on the front can be disabled.
• The battery issue is not nearly as bad as people say.
• See my signature if you want to rid your CR of bloatware.
• Some CR models DO have Bluetooth.
• The CR could be thinner, but it's not huge.

 

i owned the vaio cr. i thought it was a pretty good laptop. nice looking, relatively light, and not as thick as it sounds. however, mine had a problem with the hard drive so i returned the laptop. sorry, but no more sonys for me (i bought 2 vaios and bought had problems out of the box)

 

My hard drive has actually gotten quieter as I've used it. It used to be rather audible, but now I have to listen for the "ticking" to notice it.

 

I have a Red CR. I love it. No problems whatsoever (unless you count the annoyance that is Vista), and I got it for a great price. I've been having a lot of fun with the integrated camera.

I love the design of the laptop - not only the beautiful shiny red lid and silver accents, but I've found I'm a lover of the different keyboard style. Great to type on.

I thought I might lament not having a dedicated graphics card on the go, but I've been pleasantly surprised. The X3100 runs Sims 2 perfectly fine, as well as City of Heroes/Villains at an acceptable level. More than enough for me.

So far, I'm totally pleased with my purchase.

Paid $1089+ tax.

 

I have the indigo CR and I really love the design.Keyboard is great to type on.Got it from circuitcity when it was on sale.Paid 1099+tax.

Now im planning to add 2GB of memory for a total of 3GB.Any suggestions on what brand to get?..How hard is it to change the ram in this computer?

 

vik4, I got two 1GB sticks and I regret it, because I'll have to sell one of them and buy a 2GB stick.

I know that doesn't help you - I just thought I'd share my tale of woe.

 

Is it possible to have a black CR customized?

 

Customized how?

 

I was wondering if you can customize the specs of the CR like you can with the other colors but with black. I was hoping to get one with a 160gb hard drive instead.

 

Apparently not via SonyStyle.com.

Have you tried calling?

 

I was looking at the several vaio CR series because i wanted to have the bluetooth built in. I went to the vaio uk and found one that has blue tooth but not 802.11a/b/g/n here is the site:
http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProductCategory.action?site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VN+CR+Series
just 802.11a/b/g

Do you know where i can find a bluetooth version here in the US?
also what is the difference between VGN-CR150, VGN-CR140, CR120 and CR190 besides the colors.
I checked in bestbuy.com which has $150 off for the CR120 and CR140 and the difference between them is color and CR140 has finger scanner

Thanks

 

I know that the CR120 doesn't have Bluetooth. I couldn't tell you on the others.

 

I plan to buy one, but I need help to decide which color to choose beetwen red and white.
Is the white really white or like the color of milk?
I have sony ericsson W800 and don't really like the color because the white is not as white as the picture. Is CR's white looks like W800?
I also read that the red one is very beautifull.
Any recommendation?

I want to ask my uncle to buy it in US since it is cheaper there. I checked the stores to see the actual model so I can choose which color to buy. Unfortunately, most of the stores in my town doesn't have anymore stock or display models. Stocks will come on 27 which is too late for me because my uncle won't be in US for long.

Thank you very much for your help.

 

I have the red and it looks great. It does require a little work to keep fingerprints down, but its no big deal.

 

I have 3 questions about the CR as im planning to buy one

1. I have read about battery wobble problem with the CR when it is unlocked, is it that bad?? (the battery can actually fall out? Or is it just that one machine?)

2. How big is the power brick? Any photos?

3. Does the notebook heat up badly? Would it be uncomfortable to use on lap?

Thx in advance!

 

and whats the CR's Windows Experience Index?? no one seemed to have mentioned it...

 

I don't think the battery wobble is really that bad. I think if the battery is totally unlocked, yeah, it may fall out. But I keep mine locked and I have no problems.

The power brick is fairly small probably 2"x4".

In my experience, this laptop stays very cool.

 

i have the white model... and its white white. i also thought, from the pics, that it was more like an ivory color.. but, it's really white once you see the real thing. And, the battery, well, at first, it did seem like it moved around, even locked.. but now, i don't know why, its way less. When it's locked, of course. but, who would leave it unlocked? it's not that hard to remember.

 

I posted a picture of the battery charger not too long ago. For that matter, I posted an illustration of the battery itself as well.

 

Hey, can you guys who have the CR (I know NinjaNoodles has already replied to my other thread about this, thanks for that!) post about fan noise? The fan on my brother's new CR120E (same as US CR190E) cycles on/off every 12-15sec even when its just sitting idle at the desktop. I just got off the phone with Sony support and they claim that this is "normal" and the guy there claimed he had an identical laptop beside him that was doing the same thing ... if the fan just stayed on or stayed off it'd be fine but the constant cycling is really annoying, IMHO it must be a hardware issue because while not particularly *loud* it doesn't seem right that the fan would act like this ... thanks for any opinions ...

 

my CR's fan doesn't do that... i don't remember even hearing the fan, because its not on very often.

 

I noticed the exact same problem with my indigo cr the first day I turned it on. Ive since installed Ultimate and it still does it. Annoying as heck. I suspect, for us, its a non-uniform distribution of arc silver (or whatever they use) over the cpu. That might explain why some cr's have it and others dont...

 

BTW, do any of you guys have a case you might recommend for the cr? Any review of the official sony case?

 

I bought the neoprene sleeve from the Sony Style store for this model. It was only $22, and I like it very much. Protects pretty well and now I have the option of using a variety of bags. I thought the $69 sleeve looked pretty good too, but it was a tad bulky.

Link to the sleeve I got.

Here's the other one. It offered more impact protection, but would be hard to cram into most bags.

I am still in the market for a good laptop bag, mostly because I haven't decided between backpack or messenger. I kind of want a Northface bag.

 

Can someone describe the feel of the keyboard?

 

The keyboard is incredible.

But I encountered my first CR setback today. The DVD burner doesn't burn. Apparently the issue is rather unique, so there really isn't cause for concern. I'm just not thrilled about sending my shiny friend back to the factory for a week or two.

Regarding the case, I got the matching red one from Sony. I can't say it was worth 80 bucks, but it's a good case.

 

I have that exact case, the black neoprene case for laptop and AC adapter. I like it a lot. Fits right over my FZ and keeps everything together in style.

 

I have it too....I just wish it fit a little tighter.

 

Well you have the CR model right? I have an FZ160 which is a perfect snug fit into the 15.4 inch designed case. I am just a little cautionary if it would still be good enough for an FZ model with extended battery, if I choose to purchase it in the future.

 

No I have an FZ too.

 

I want to get a CR (just a matter of whether or not I can get the money together), this version of the CR will set me back $2,500, what do you guys think?

 

What version of the CR is that? I'm guessing it's not for sale in the US due to the fingerprint reader and the graphics card.

By the way, don't even consider running Vista on 1GB of RAM. Also worth mentioning is the fact that I got a CR with a 2.0GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and a 120GB HD for $1,365.00. Are you talking about $2,500.00 USD?

 

Woops, forgot to mention this is in New Zealand (exchange rate at the moment is NZ$1 equals US$0.70)

 

count me in this CR thing from now onwards

 

hmmm. I'm liking the non-us version of CR more than the US.
I know that the black CR models come with the fingerprint reader CR150 and CR140.
I wonder why the US don't get the graphics card and bluetooth however we do get the 802.11n.

 

yes and that too when there is no need to get impatient over 802.11n as yet

 

Its not a particularly good graphics card, but its certainly better than nothing. Unlike you Americans we can not customize our laptops much...its cases, mice and extra batteries/adapters (thats pretty much it). If for example we want more ram we have to do it ourselves.

 

Btw i was looking at the CR model non-us it says the max ram is 2GB instead of the 4GB like in the US or are they saying that each slot has a maximum of 2 GB.

I'm kinda curious about that any idea?

 

Not a clue, but it is certainly strange.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/13/sony-debuts-the-vaio-cr20-and-nr10-series-laptops/

 

I've just got my CR123E/B for $999 from BestBuy. T7300 4MB L2 Cache 2GB RAM 802.11a/b/g/n Biometric Fingerprint Sensor. A much better spec then CR120/140.

One question, how to downgrade Vista to XP on VAIO CR?
I got the following link from UK for downgrading CR1 to XP, has anyone tried it yet? does it works? The UK models only have MAX 2GB RAM, US models have MAX 4GB RAM...
ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/OS/XPDOWNGRADE/CR1/

THX

 

does the CR have bluetooth?

 

Are you sure it's not the DVD drive?

EDIT: This was in response to a post that was apparently deleted.

 

The battery is exactly the same as my old S150. As long as you keep the lock engaged, it will be fine.
Am I the only one that doesn't like having the LED pulsate when the machine is hibernating?

 

You can disable that from VAIO Central.

 

Unbelievable. Two different levels of Sony tech support told me it wasn't possible to exert any sort of control over that LED at all. You're right though; it's right there in Vaio Central. Any similar insider knowledge about increasing the volume level?

 

The volume is controlled hierarchically:

• The buttons on your notebook control the physical speakers
• -The taskbar volume mixer controls the overall volume
• --Applications like iTunes can control volume specific to them

 

Dear folks,
I lost my recover disk for CR 120e/p by accident,can someone kindly let me know where to download the instanton application for av mode key?I can not make it works any more.all other drivers/apps can be download from sony official website except this.

Appreciate if you guys can help.thx

 

WOW, finally, i downgrade my CR123E/B to Windows XP with EVERYTHING working (all controls and webcam) except the AV Mode.

Does anyone know how to make the AV Mode working in Windows XP??

 

I am planning to pick this!
VGN-CR140E
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1190310345&sr=1-7

Does this model have bluetooth? The reviews are all not that great. Is FZ a better option?
I know buying from Amazon is not the best thing, but I have a lot of coupons there.
Thank guys.