VAIO CR Owners' Thread

i just bought the cr490 and im very pleased but im need suggestion for a cooler any one have any/????

 

why do you need a cooler? does it even get hot? i wouldn't waste money on a cooler.

 

it does get a little warm next to the battery and would just like something to keep the temp down cuz i use it constantly

 

my advice:

if you are at home, remove the battery and plug it in.

if you travel, you will carry a cooler with you??

My point is, there is little use for a cooler.

if you hate me and still aren't convinced, check this out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834998051

 

Hello all, I just bought CR220E and download Windows Vista SP1. Then, there is a problem, no sound from my laptop, but I found if that just BIOS update problem. So I download and installed BIOS update from sony's website.

And here is the problem, I start installing BIOS update like the instruction. But, the installer said if I must connect AC adapter then click OK button. I don't read that part where I must put my AC adapter so I just skip them and click OK button without put my AC adapter.

The installation still complete like usual, but not forcing me to shutdown like the instruction, and when I click finished, appear a message from vista saying if my installation (BIOS update installation) not complete and give 2 option, revised or skip (I forget the exact sentence) and I choose to revised by vista, but nothing happen.

Then, I just shut down my laptop and wait 30 seconds before start up again, and the sounds back to normal. But then, when I shut down and restart my laptop another time, there is no sound again!!! I tried to install BIOS update again, but everytime I start installing the update it always say if "this update only can work for windows vista"

I don't know what I did wrong, maybe someone can explain to me and give some solution?

thank you
onizuka

 

*update*

I just installed RealTek update from Sony's website, and like I installed BIOS yesterday, this time after installing I still receive a message from Vista stated if the installation is not with recommended setting or something. What I did wrong here?

*info*
I tried to update with double clicking on VAIO's update icon, and it open internet explorer page but everytime I click on update it show user agreement and after I click "I Agree" it do nothing, so I copy the url and open with Firefox and download manually. Nothing wron with this, right?

 

I just got a VAIO CR ( VGNCR520DR)! I got a good discount on it as well.

I was wondering if I can do this on it...

And, for that folder you move to a different location, can I also move it onto a thumb drive?

 

Hello everyone. I have a sony vgn cr 120e with c2d t7100 2gb ram, 160 hdd sangria red and I was wondering if I can replace the cpu with t8300 and if anybody can help me upgrade (some photos, guides, etc). Has anyone succeded?....I don't know if my cpu is soldered on the mb (965gme)..thank you...or overclocking?

 

Hey.

I want this Sony VAIO CR510 laptop in White. Here is the link
link

The specs are:

Type: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5750 processor
Speed: 2.0GHz8
Front Side Bus Speed: 667MHz
L2 Cache: 2MB
RAM: 3GB(2GB+1GB) PC2-5300
Harddrive: Capacity: 250GB
Speed: 5400rpm
Interface: Serial ATA

The thing is, there was an identical one called CR520 that was 100 dollars more that has a 2.1ghz processor that was a T8100. I am going to university in September and I want a laptop for this reason. I am only going to use it to take it class, notes, email, web browsing, facebook, and run some multimedia programs like Photoshop/Dreamweaver/Fireworks. Is this laptop ok for what I need it for? Would I really notice a big difference in the T5750 2.0GHZ and the T8100 2.1GHZ? I am asking because money is tight and If I can save 100 dollars than that would be great. What do you guys think?

 

The CR510 is on sale at OfficeMax right now:

http://www.officemax.com/omax/catalog/sku.jsp;jsessionid=H1lwwmSDNdrP+7bWBXkjVg**.atgb2c2-app10?skuId=21671512&category_Id=325

 

Thanks.

Can somebody answer my question though?

 

Every time I try to install an update I get "This update ia not intended for use with your computer model" message. It was like this since day one. The model is VGN-CR220E. The original Vista home OS.

Please help because several programs (like SONY camera capture utility) do not work properly without new updates. Thank you.

 

I actually have the exact same question as aJun too! Answers would be greatly appreciated

 

Well, technically, the T8100 might get slightly better battery life since its based on the Penryn core.

 

Hey I ended up getting the T5750 one, saved 100 bucks so thats done with.

I love the laptop, its very stylish and I really like the keyboard. Only thing that seems to be giving me some problems is the touchpad. It works and everything, but sometimes when I am using the touchpad the pointer starts going all over the screen. Like it starts going all retarded for like 5 seconds and then it goes back to normal. Anybody else have this problem? Any way to fix it? I also feel sometime that i put the mouse over something on the desktop, and that program opens up without me double clicking the touchpad, i just rolled over it.

any help and answers would be appriciated!

 

Check to see if there are any updates offered on the driver site. Download the one that is for the touchpad. That may resolve the issue.

On another note, i had a wierd problem today. My keyboard, media buttons, power button all failed in the middle of chatting with a friend on aim. The mouse still worked and the system was still working. It wouldnt shut down either (waited 15 minutes and it kept logging out).

I had to unplug the power and remove the battery to shut it off...
I wonder what could have caused such an epic failure.

 

Hi all .
I need XP drivers for my CR220E/R laptop .
could anyone please send me driver's link for download ?

 

Hi all,

I've got Sony Vaio VGN-CR515E. I've got it as a gift. I don't have Sony disk for this laptop. No drivers, no Sony firmware. So bluetooth, biometric fingerprint device etc. don't work properly. On Sony.com CR515 is not listed in Support&Drivers. Could anyone help me with the firmware and drivers, please?
Thanks.

 

The CR's do not come with discs. They have a built in recovery partition - you could make recovery dvd's off of that.

Anyways, since i dont know the condition of your CR - sounds like it was wiped clean and reinstalled with a regular vista disc. Which is OK. Virtually all the CR's are the same.

510E should be close enough

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNCR510E

 

Yes, you are right. It was reinstalled with Vista Business. Could you please advice me how to make recovery disk from this sony partition?? But I think this partition is empty, may be it was corrupted when reinstalling Vista.

Thanks.

 

Hello!

I just got my vaio cr (590) today!
So far, i'm quite happy with it!

I just have a couple of questions. I'm rather bad with computers and don't use them for much more than internet and schoolwork, but anyway, there is alot of stuff the vaio comes with (that sony puts on it) and my dad said it used quite alot of memory and it made your laptop run slower.
So my question was if you can atually delete stuff like that, and if so, what exactly?

Then also, when you press ctrl+shift on your keyboard it 'changes'. Like ? becomes = and > becomes : etc. But it seems to change for me even though I dont press ctrl+shift and I dont know what causes it. Is there anyway to put that off?

And, I purchased the extended battery but unfortunately I didnt know it was bigger than the laptop itself. I dont know if it's uneasy to use because of this? I kinda found the normal battery life too short to run in class, a full day that is, but I don't know what your experiences are with the batterylife (and/or extended battery) so I can eventually purchase the normal one also if you say the extended battery is really uneasy to use because it's bigger and also heavier.

Thanks alot in advance

 

Sigh, actually was hoping on a reply..

 

If you don't have much of a clue what something is, I wouldn't delete it. Some items installed by default are clearly rubbish, like links to media companies, sample movies, that sort of thing. Some of the Sony utilities are arguably quite useful though. Things like Microsoft Works (if you have that) can be useless if you're just going to install your own copy of Office, for instance. It's really up to you what to delete.

I believe you access the special symbols on your keyboard using the Fn key, if that's what you're referring to?

The extended battery is also a personal taste thing. Obviously it's bigger and heavier because it has a higher capacity. If you need the extra run time without recharging, there's not much choice. But you can prolong your battery time by using power saving features, turning off bluetooth and wireless (unless you're using them at that moment) and turning down the screen brightness.

I hope this helps.

 

Just got a CR and Vista SP1 won't appear in Windows update! Can't find what the incompatibility is - have installed all the vaio updates (although the R2100Q0 bios update appears when I update to R2101Q0, and when I've updated, R2100Q0 appears again, which is odd) so I'm not quite sure what the incompatibility is with. Anyone faced a similar issue?

J

 

Does anyone who has a CR with a core 2 duo and 2 gb + of ram tell me how hot the CR gets? Does it ever get too hot to use on your lap?

 

Lol the thread keeps dying. D:

 

No, I'm not.
If you press ctrl+shift on your keyboard the normal symbols change. Instead of : you'd get ±, instead of ? you'd get the = symbol up there. Instead of = you would get ° things like that. It keeps on switching for me even though I do not press ctrl+shift.

 

Any CR users still hanging round this thread? I love my CR but am wondering whether to do a semi-clean install. I've removed some of the bloatware already, and it runs fine apart from the first 2 minutes after logging in, which are painfully slow, and full of the vista freezing while the startup programmes load. I can't work out what is causing it - I thought it was the free trial of Norton 360, so I switched to McAfee as I already have a licence on my XP machine and have always found it worked well... Any advice?

 

I own a VGN-CR22G/B which I bought in Singapore. I am now residing in the Philippines.

I have a problem with my in built motion eye camera. Despite utilizing my recovery discs and recovering my vaio to factory settings, the camera cannot be detected as one of the hardwares found in the device manager. It is supposed to to found in the imaging devices but only xerox copier can be detected.

What is noticeable is the existence of an unknown usb device which I suspect can be the cause of the problem. I tried to uninstall and install the same but no luck at all. I tried to download a driver for the same but no luck too.

Lastly I downloaded the drivers for ricoh vcc6 visual communication device but everytime I run it I end up being told that said driver is for vista only. This worries me because I am using a Vista Home Premium.

I contacted Sony Singapore and was told that I need to send my vaio to them for troubleshooting....I am inclined to do this despite the expense...however, if anyone here can direct me to the right direction to restore my motion eye camera, it will be much appreciated.

Thanks for the time.

 

Hi I was just wondering if anyone else who owns a CR has had a problem updated the graphics drivers for it? because my CR520D doesn't seem to recognize any of the generic drivers from intel and it comes up as an error telling me its not compatible.

 

Hello. I've been using a VGN-CR420E/R for 4 months now and have no complaints about the computer itself. However, I did hate vista that came with it. So I've downgraded to XP and am in the process of finding the drivers. Not an easy process I must say. I have a question for the wise though.

1. What is the most compatible model to the VGN-CR420E? (Out of the rest of the CR Vaio's of course.)

 

Anyone persuade SDHC cards (as opposed to SD cards) to work in the Vaio CR31? I haven't got a card to test it with...

 

Hey guys, I am planning to buy a CR320 does anyone knows the performance of this model? Does the screen can view by 2 or more than 2 person or I mean can I view it from the different angle without changing the same quality when you are at the proper position? Thanks you in advance for the reply.

 

Am planning to paint on the top of my CR, gotten bored with the way it looks .. any tips from anyone...

 

Hi Everyone.

I currently own a CR22G, I was thinking about upgrading to 7200 rpm hard drive, I was wondering if anyone had experience installing it on the CR series such as mine, I couldn't find any info on it. I hope someone here can enlighten me on it or point me to some pictures would be great.


THanxs.

 

hi all..

I'm going to buy vaio CR354B soon, and I want to know what you think of it and if it has any problems.

thnx.

 

Hi
Is there any extreme ram modules that can be used for the cr24g?

 

Anyone installed the Win7 beta on a CR yet? Everything working fine? (I'm sure many have, but just wanted feedback before I go about installing the beta on the wife's CR23)?

 

Hi guys!

I recently bought a Samsung LCD monitor and have attached it to my Vaio CR-490. The problem is I can't seem to get it working outside of windows. When I tried installing windows or linux, I had to use the laptop's LCD.

I've tried upgrading the BIOS, but it still has the same basic options that do not mention anything about an LCD or external monitor.

I was just wondering, would anyone happen to know how to perhaps mod the BIOS or something?

 

I am currently dual-booting my CR123E/B between Vista Ultimate x64 and Windows 7 (x86). I actually prefer booting on Windows 7 these days cause it's much faster and of course, I like the updated UI.

 

Did you find the right drivers ? I have an cr42 and I'm planning to go back to Xp and to wait till 7even will be sold.

Thank you,

 

Hi. I recently found a webcam software I am happy with and I was wondering if it is possible to change the capture button on my vgn-cr290 to run my new software instead of the VAIO camera capture utility? Thank you.

 

Hi there, seems this thread is really dying...sighs...well I have a CR 420E/W. So far so good, it is 8 months old. I am thinking about upgrading the HDD to a 7200rpm, 320gb and to 4gb ram pc2-6400.

Any tips as to increasing the speed of this baby???

 

hi, folks!


i'm a happy owner of a VGN-CR260A.
(originally: T7250, 2.0GHz, 2GB DDR2-666, 160GB 4200rpm HDD, Intel GM965).

i just felt that i should share my experiences of last week.
note that, according to sony policy for my country, Brasil, i've voided my warranty by not using a certified service center... and that's why i've waited untill it expired (1 year).


BIOS updates:
worked fine. just used SW from sony website.
(i'm currently R1121Q0).

change HDD:
- piece of cake.
just bought a new one (320Gb, 5400rpm), unscrew, exchange HDD, screw back.
booted and used a recovery DVD-DL.
- after recovery, i used 'pc-decrapifier' to clean up the installation, and then updated everything from sony site, then allowed windows update to go through (up to latest update, including SP1).
- just uninstalling the norton antivirus still leaves some remains of symantec programs on the system. go to the symantec site and get the 'norton removal tool' for a decent cleanup.


change RAM:
- also easy, but not as rewarding.
unscrew, changed the parts, screw back.
good: BIOS recognized the entire new 4GB.
bad: - RAM timings are locked (no smart BIOS)
(333MHz - 667 on DDR2, CL 5-5-15, the memory i've used
could go up to 400MHz - 800 on DDR2, CL 4-4-12)
- windows vista 32bit does not recognizes more than 3,5GB
(3GB for actual SW, taking into accountthe shared video RAM).
-make sure you use two identical parts (in size), or dual channel will not engage!


video drivers:
- sony drivers are not fully directX 10 compliant.
due to the driver id being proprietary, windows Vista does not allow upgrage to latest drivers from Intel site.
if you want to, you can uninstall the sony driver; reboot (as vga); and then install latest Intel drivers (forget updating from sony site from now on...).
in my case it became faster; windows scores went from 3,1 to 3,3 on the video, and i can now play (hoever slowly) some directX 10 games (e.g.: NeverWinterNights2, and a horribly slow Assassin's Creed).


my todo list:
- i'm trying to find a way to get better RAM timmings (either the 400MHz, or the better CL 4-4-12; or, better yet, both).



best regards,
-majist.

 

Great post there...

I am planning on actually upgrading the OS to either Vista Ultimate or Home Premium both 64bit, after that the upgrade for the ram. By the way, the CR-260A comes with an Intel GMA X3100??? Seems so in a specs sheet I got.

Well then, the video score on my CR is 3.1, and as per your post, you got it from that to 3.3. So, basically you just uninstall the one that is currently installed and then install the one from Intel directly?

 

yep... x3100.
(the GM965 chipset with x3100, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA)

it really bugged me that sony is a little behind on Intel release schedule.
(latest Intel is 15.12.1.1608, latest sony is 7.14.10.1295 - only last number is really important...).

i went to device manager, opened the graphic adapter properties, driver tab, and completely uninstaled the 7.14.10.x driver.
then rebooted (Vista detected a standard 800x600 vga), and installed the driver from Intel site (and then... rebooted).

i will not make any promisses, but it has been working fine (and better than before) for at least 2 weeks now.
i usually do not use sony bloatware, so there could be a reason there for sony not updating their proprietary driver releases (or they are just lazy... )

however, i do not know if sony drivers are vista-64 compatible... so if you'll be doing a clean vista-64 install, you might get the Intel drivers from the start... and then update to latest!


best regards!
-majist.

 

To be honest it seems that Sony focuses on their new products, because they have at least no updated the drivers page for at least 6 or so months. I know they launched the new CS series which is basically and upgraded CR, supporting better CPU's and a "better" Integrated graphics card. Go figure. I will try that approach, I have been downloading from intel directly, but never uninstalled the previous driver.

Thanks there!!!

 

Anyone know how to check/detect the CR's fans? There's no control in the bios of my CR31 and the usual bits of freeware can't detect the fans...

 

i m using CR520D, i want to get rid off VISTA, and use XP...i cant find any XP drivers for CR520.....

 

I'm a newbie, and am thrilled by all of the information that is being shared. I have a VGN-CR390, and my machine will not read cd's or dvd's. Four of these machines were purchased at the same time, and the same problem has occurd on two of the machines.

I contacted Sony Support and followed their instructions, but could not get the problem resolved. Has anyone else experienced similar problems?