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″ 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
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.