Sony VAIO VGN-CR123E/B 14.1" Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Black | List Price: $2,799.00
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Brand: Sony
Binding: Personal Computers
Release Date: 2007-08-12
Features: - Stylishly designed notebook in deep black with 14.1-inch screen and multimedia playback control buttons
- 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, 160 GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM (4 GB max), dual-layer DVD burner
- Three USB 2.0, one, FireWire, ExpressCard 34 card slot, Memory Stick & SD readers, fingerprint reader
- Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), 10/100 Ethernet, Intel X3100 video card with up to 358 MB of shared memory
- Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (with Media Center capabilities); integrated WebCam
Good laptop with a terrific screen [Posted on 2007-09-25]
The screen for me was the most important part of my laptop purchase. After returning a 15.4" Dell Inspiron laptop because the 1680x1050 TrueLife screen looked terrible [to me], I went to the Sony store to check out screens in person. For whatever reason, I liked the CR line with 14.1" XBRITE-ECO screens. I thought the text was easy to read and the color looked good. I preferred it to the XBRITE-HiColor screens but opinions probably vary on this.
Other than that, the laptop looks sharp out of the box. The CR-series comes in multiple colors and having seen the other colors in the store, I prefer the black, then red and then blue (which looks the best in online pictures). The keyboard is easy to use and feels nice with space between the keys. I have fun using the fingerprint scanner to log in and store website passwords as well (I've never had one before). Also this configuration comes with the 7300 CPU whereas most of the CR-series - at the time of this writing - comes with 7100 unless you get a custom build from their website.
The Vaio came preloaded with all sorts of bloatware and it took me about 3 hours to remove most of it (I chose to not do a clean install especially since they don't provide any disks in the box). They've preinstalled AOL, Norton trial, Acrobat trial, SpySweeper trial, Office Home+Student trial, LocationFree (need to buy an appliance to use this), Vaio Media center, Corel Photo Pro Plus XI, entire Spider-man movies that you have to purchase to unlock, etc, etc.. Plus they have a bunch of useless Sony apps that just open up a bunch of links to things that cost extra. Don't be afraid to uninstall the "Sony OOBE" or Sony "Out of Box Experience" - that will get rid of a bunch of ad links and will clean up your "Welcome Center" from all of the lame Sony offers.
In spite of having a vanilla video card, having so much bloatware, and otherwise having almost identical specs to the Dell, Vista seems much more responsive on the Vaio. It might be because the Dell had PCIllin installed and this had a trial of Norton installed (Replaced with AVG Free). I also suspect Dell had more system-draining Windows features turned on by default (like indexing) and just needed to be configured a bit.
Other thoughts are that the battery life is not great and the battery itself doesn't fit snugly when it is locked onto the laptop so you can wiggle it. I will append to this review if Sony Support helps me with the battery issue. Also the computer doesn't run very hot when I have it on a flat surface or on my lap. I haven't tried the AV mode yet so I can't comment on that. Also Amazon, as usual, was great. I splurged for the one-day shipping because I was jonesing for this guy and it only set me back about $30.
Overall, this computer is probably not going to be a great gaming rig mainly because of Vista compatibility issues and the vanilla video processor, but for anything else I think it has more than enough power. It loses a star because of the bloatware and battery but I knew about both of those issues ahead of time.
Pros
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Great screen
Fast processor
Comfortable keyboard
Looks cool
Vista responsive and Aero interface works well with the Intel chipset
Fingerprint sensor fun for me at least
Doesn't run that hot
Nice size and weight
Cons
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So much crapware it's almost comical
Battery life
Battery doesn't lock in solidly to the laptop
Sony accessories cost a fortune
Doesn't come with any install disks
Just like a limited edition record [Posted on 2008-05-04]
You will find this particular item hard to find, and that's the catch!. Black color suits more than perfect for business and the T7300 processor is enough power to run virtual machines and extensive databases without any hassles. All work no fun for certain it's not, as the Media Center and interface similar to PS3 will delight you in your free time. Can buy with confidence, you may want to get rid of the additional software and movie offers it's packed with, but once done it will run smoothly and make a positive impression everytime.
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