A Review of the 14.1" Sony VAIO VGN-CR420E/L Blue Notebook

Sony notebooks are some of the most popular and most expensive on the market. While the name Sony draws a premium (just like Apple) the Vaio remains one of the most popular notebook series on the market today. The 14.1" Sony VAIO VGN-CR420E/L is no exception and it has seen a great deal of success recently spurred on by price reductions from Sony. I have gotten a hold of one of these and have decided to give it a review; I'm going to get started with a few of the basic stats.

Hardware:

Processor: 2.10 GHz "Penryn" Intel Core 2 Duo T8100

Storage Space: 250GB hard drive

RAM: 3 GB RAM (upgradable to a 4GB maximum)

Optical Drive: A CD R / RW with an integrated dual-layer +/- DVD burner

Video Card: integrated Intel X3100 video accelerator (sharing 358 MB of system RAM)

Dimensions and weight: 13.2" x 9.8" x 1.6" and weighing in at 5.5lbs

The most immediately noticeable thing about this notebook is that the VGN-CR420E/L departs the from the typical Vaio look of glossy black to a unique indigo blue. The 14.1" screen uses Sony's proprietary XBrite technology and looks great. The processor is quick however the Penryn isn't as powerfull as many of the slightly older but more power hungry mobile processors. I notice a little bit of lag while multitasking as well as longer startup times with this notebook. The battery life however is excellent. The integrated video card is a little bit of a disappointment from Sony, don't expect to play much in the way of graphically intensive games.

Connectivity:

Integrated Wireless

Integrated Bluetooth

1 Ethernet port (to connect to wired LANS)

3 2.0 USB ports (the gold standard for connecting peripherals ranging from printers to digital cameras and MP3 players)

1 FireWire port (used for high speed data transfer often between other PC's or digital camcorders)

1 VGA output (a typical monitor connection)

1 S-Video output (used for connecting to projectors and some compatible televisions)

1 ExpressCard (to add peripherals like cellular modem)

Memory stick slot (so you can directly insert a Sony memory stick card)

Secure Digital card slot (so you can insert an SD card directly to the notebook)

1 Audio out / 1 Mic in

I'm not surprised by the connectivity. I love the placement of the USB ports although I would like to see perhaps one more. Everything else is fine. This notebook is priced at $1200 which is right on target for a Sony Vaio. If you have your mind set on picking up a Sony, I wouldn't expect to pay much less than that. I would look around and compare with other manufacturers because for $1200 you can get a lot more computer from the other brands.