VAIO CR Owners' Thread

No bluetooth, but you can get a USB Bluetooth adapter for less than $20.

 

whats the big difference between: VAIO CR140E/B and VAIO CR140N/B
All I can see the N difference! and a 30-40$ price increase in N version.. any idea?

 

Netbramha, if you post links to each configuration we can probably tell you quite easily. If you looking at this through Sony's US website just use their compare feature, but i imagine for such a small amount it can't be anything too major.

My Sony laptop choose in NZ just got a whole lot more interesting, the price of cheapest FZ has fallen, Now I can't decide between these three...

Basic FZ configuration NZ$2,100
http://sony.co.nz/products/product/computer/vaio-notebook/vgnfz15g.jsp

The Higher end CR NZ$2,400
http://sony.co.nz/products/product/computer/vaio-notebook/vgncr14gnb.jsp

The lower end CR NZ$2,100
http://sony.co.nz/products/product/computer/vaio-notebook/vgncr11ghb.jsp

If you guys were in my position, what would you get? (be aware that this laptop is for uni)

 

I have a CR and I love it. But I hear a lot of good things about the FZ. It's really up to you and what you need it for.

 

I've got a White CR and I love it. I just upgraded to a 200GB 7200 RPM Hitachi Harddrive and 4GB RAM and it runs quite fast..I've also tweaked a lot of settings on it to make it startup, run, and shutdown faster..With the upgrades I just did and the tweaks I've done it runs like a beast..It's a good laptop especially with the upgrades.

 

Hi

I bought a sony vaio VGN-CR70B/W here in Japan, can I download some sony english software I found in sony USA site, even I did not found the model of my unit.. in the selection.

is there any one had encounter this kind of problem?pls give some advice..

thanks,

 

VGN-CR70B7W is another one of those "strange CR models" like CR123... because outside USA you can get CR with bluetooth and that sort of stuff (customize your laptop more). But basically, all CR's have the same basis.

Anyways... I just ordered a CR a few days ago and I can't wait to have it =D I liked it more than FZ just because of the screen size.

In terms of paper they don't seem much different but it's holding the laptop that you realize. Also, if you're into Uni and taking it to classes and moving around, believe, you'll need a 14.1'' laptop... 15.4'' it's just too big to move constantly. Also.. and this is just a plus, CR looks sooo great (specially white. Although I ordered black because I love it) it will get everyones attraction. =D


BTW: A simple question to anyone who may know... is FZ thicker or thinner than CR?? Because I love sleek notebooks, and my old HP nx6120 while being 15.0'' was muuuch thinner than some 15.0'' other laptops and even 14.1''... I don't know wheter CR is "sleek" style or not but I believe not... anyways, does somebody know?

Plz forgive misspellings...

 

The FZ is thinner.

 

Ok, but the CR?? it ain't "sleek" concept right?? but it isn't sooo thick neither right??

Anyways I already ordered mine and I totally love it.. from the pics xDD

 

I think it looks great. It could be thinner, yes, but it's not big by any stretch.

 

Ok, that's the important thing, thanks!!! =D when I receive mine I'm gonna play around with Vista and so.. but after a week or so I'm planning dual booting Ubuntu + Vista. I'll post a review, benchmarks and that sort of stuff =D

Thanks dude for all the help! =D

 

I would definitely buy a CR if it were customizable.

Does anyone know of any way to get a hold of one of these not through sony's US website?

 

anyone know what's the difference between CR-115E and CR-190E? any major improvements on the 190 model?

 

Through Sony website they are customizable, except for the graphic card wich is always an Intel X3100 but if you're not gaming (like me), that's more, but more than enough. Also, drivers are quite good (at least compared to nvidia's driver) so it works flawlessly.

But even on sites like Amazon you can find a couple of different customizations. There's the common CR with 1.8Ghz, without fingerprint scanner and so (160GB HDD 5400RPM), but also like the one I got, there's 2.0Ghz w/ fingerprint, and there's another one with 200GB HDD (although 4200RPM...) anyways...


Tenchi0001; Vaio VGN-CR115E has 1GB of memory (RAM), while CR-190E (and 140E) has 2GB

 

I bought the blue CR and I know this is gonna sound dumb, but I returned it because of the little blinking light. Annoyed me so much.

 

nolo451, you can turn off that light.

 

wow, now someone tells me. I freaking chatted with a Sony rep and they said there was no way to turn that light off.

Oh well, because of that I returned it. I didnt expect someone from Sony to tell me a false truth.

p.s., mind telling me how to turn it off? My brother has one too and I bet he'd like to know how to.

 

Start Menu >> VAIO Central >> Illumination LED Setting

 

the cr190 does have bluetooth

 

That's the only major difference?

thanks.

 

I ordered this
Sony VAIO VGN-CR140E/B 14.1" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7100, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Black


And I'am waiting eagerly too get hands on this black beauty. I don't understand these stupid people don't have bluetooth! That's a bare minimum now. That's the only disappointment I have.


But I guess a USB will do the job. Any other upgrades I can do after I receive the lappy?

 

@jsf_enthusiast

I would have taken the $2400 one.. power packed.

But as said for UNI you can pick a 14" rather than a bulkier piece. FZ's are sleek as well though.

 

All going well its laptop shopping tomorrow, fingers crossed i can't find a CR at the sony 'seconds' store. The store basically sells Sony electrical goods that have scratches or stuff that needed basic repairs or has minor faults (like one USB port not working or something like that), sometimes you can save up to 40%, although you only get a 3 month warranty.

 

hmm i'm pretty sure it's only customizable from US website...

all the other countries you can only get the standard 1.8ghz, which is kind of pathetic for a pseudo-high end computer imo

i'll check out amazon though thanks!

edit: i guess they sold out of the more powerful models at amazon? cause i can only see the cr120. i'm looking at a cr because my dell that i ordered is suffering from the typical delays

edit again: okay i see it if i search through google, guess it's not included in amazon's default search because it's out of stock.

actually they won't even ship it outside of the US. wow. haha sony must really hate selling laptops...

 

That made me laugh.

 

Well I ordered a Dell (14'') and have decided that if it does not ship on the Estimated Shipping Date, I will go out and purchase the Vaio again.


That was like a month ago when I first bought the CR Vaio though and I had a question:

Do the palm rests get warm at all? I dont remember it getting unusually warm, but maybe I just forgot(I only had it for 2 days).

If I do end up getting it, at least now I know that you can turn the light off.

 

The palm rests, at least on mine, remain at room temperature. There is a little warm air around the laptop, but nothing uncomfortable at all.

 

i just checked sonystyle.com and there is now an update to the cr series even with bluetooth! good thing i waited.

 

That's awesome! It looks like they may have improved the battery life too. This notebook is finally a good alternative to the Macbook.

 

This is exactly my situation, except I know Dell my won't ship by the ESD (won't even start building it until after...) I'm kind of happy now because I really had my sights set on the Sony before, but got distracted by Dell's pretty colours/specs.

Now I just need to decide if it's worth driving down to a sony store in Buffalo to buy it (might save me a few hundred bucks) but either way i should be officially joining the CR owner's club by next week

 

New user here so please be understanding. I am trying to help out my son who just purchased Sony VAIO VGN-CR140E/B. He is 20 and just went in the Air Force; he wanted a laptop to stay in touch and do what 20 year olds do. He thought he was getting a system that would meet his needs by stetching out and getting this system only to find it won't run some games he wants to play to keep himself otherwise occupied and out of trouble.

It doesn't appear we can do anything about the integrated graphics card so I am looking for any suggestions anyone may have to work around his problem. Is it maybe not the graphics card so much as Vista??? Another friend ran into game compatibility issues with a new Vista desktop. Would cleaning out the junk trial programs, upgrading RAM, upgrading Vista or downgrading to XP (sounds like an option) be of any use at all or is he out of luck unless he sells and gets another? Sorry so long but I feel quite bad for him after laying out so much $ on a junior Airman's budget.

 

It depends on what kind of games he is trying to play, but in general integrated graphics (which is what the CR series has) aren't good for playing games. He should be able to play many older games, but very few new ones. Do you know what kind of games he likes?

 

Like Ken said it depends on what games exactly and at what resolution.

Besides that downgrading to XP will definetly increase performance, especially for games.

And making your install (XP or Vista) as clean as possible is also good for performance.

 

Thanks Folks, keep them coming...I'm open to trying anything. How do we go about changing to operating system to XP if that ends up being the route we take? Do we actually buy a verson and load it up or is there a site we can download it from? I'm not familiar with Vista at all. From the comments, I assume it doesn't have the compatability settings like other Windows versions where you can make specific programs run as if your system is actually an older operating system?

 

If you want to put Window XP on the notebook, then you will need to purchase a new version of the operating system, or get a new product key and use existing install discs. This isn't something that will be easy to do though because XP isn't officially supported on the CR. You will need to find the appropriate drivers for the various notebook functions, which might be difficult. There is a post on the forums about putting XP on a Sony SZ, and a lot of those drivers may work for the CR.

A number of threads in the Sony forum outline how to perform a "clean" install of Vista, which removes a lot of the bloatware that comes on the notebook.

If you let us know the specific games your son is trying to play, we can make better suggestions. The GMA 950 won't be able to play a lot of games no matter how well a notebook performs. Unfortunately, it might be a lost cause.

 

IMHO, Installing Windows XP is a lot of trouble¹ now for something that will just cause you a lot of trouble² later to avoid something that's really not too much trouble³ to begin with.

¹Installation, Drivers
²Compatibility
³Vista

 

1) When buying a new laptop it's important to know what you'll be using it to. maybe he didn't know but you can't play new games on a VAIO CR or any notebook that has integrated graphics... but he already bought it.

2) There is no workaround for this. The problem is the integrated graphics card, and you can't do anything about it. Maybe sell the VAIO and buy a gaming machine. Installing XP, Vista or Linux won't make a difference, and besides, installing XP = lots of trouble.

 

3D performance on XP is significantly higher than on Vista, so it does make a difference.

 

Yes, it is significantly better, but Vaio CR has an Intel x3100 wich won't play any new games, not even actual games, "good". So, make it Vista or XP, it simply won't play what he wants, so, as I said, there won't be any difference considering all the trouble he will have just to get there (XP).

The problem (as have been said) is the graphic card, not the OS.

if he had, say, an 8600GT, there would ahve been difference in installing XP versus Vista because games would have ran smoother on XP. But, he has x3100... so just forget about gaming. Unless you want to play old games (like I do), that will be just fine =]

 

Right on dotHack!!

 

how can i put windowsexp on cr seriese of vaio notebook?is there any driver on internet to download? thanks

 

You'll probably have a lot of driver problems.

 

Hello. Newbie here with a brand new CR220E/N, Gold in color. It is nicely equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2.00 GHz 800 MHz FSB. 2GB memory. 200 GB Hard drive w/SATA (4200rpm).CD/DVD writable. WXGA TFT w/ Xtrabrite-Eco technology, and some other stuff I'm not familiar with....Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm sure I'll have some questions soon.

 

Hi there, Liam. ... Liam, how good is your battery doing for you ? i'm interested in the differential of the 220 against the 120.

 

I really havent tested it yet. Ive done about a hour of downloading and stuff using about 34% of the total. Its charging now. I am noy sure which battery I have either. It appears to be a nine cell?

 

another question, ok... so we know that sony's CR290 have bluetooth, a 200GB harddrive @5400rpm, and the T7500 (2.2Ghz) processor... but the commercial version.... the Cr220E, well, i've seen in online stores that it has a 200GB hdd @4800rpm, and i don't see bluetooth anywhere... and the T7250 (2Ghz, 2Mb) processor. I just want to confirm this... anyone ?

 

Hello Chaps!
Got my CR today.. as said earlier the black beauty.

Am happy but there are few issues.. the hard disk and the cd rom both make noise during processing!! HDD is still ok.. but the dvd drive too is noisy!

Any tips to rectify the same?
Also will be cleaning up using Semi Clean Guide
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=146033

Thanks guys.

 

No Bluetooth on mine. I'm pretty sure my HDD is only 4200 rpm too, not 4800 rpm. Mine did come with an a/b/g/N card though, which will be nice for future N routers, when they become more popular. I managed to have them throw in a belkin N router for free when I made my deal at BestBuy, but havent hooked it up yet. I do have one complaint though....The volume at max is not very loud, especially while watchin a DVD. Any secrets out there to help with this issue?

 

Can anyone with a US 220 series or European model chime in with what bluetooth module is used in their CR? I would like to track down what module that is and install it into my US CR120 model.

 

Why don't you buy a bluetooth usb adapter ?