A Review of the VAIO VGN-CR410E/P a Pink 14.1" Laptop: Sony Finds Its Feminine Side with This Pink Vaio

Sony is highly regarded in the electronics industry. Their line of notebooks the "Vaio" is one of the most popular notebook brands on the market today. Often sleek with a black design they are also some of the most stunning. The Sony VAIO VGN-CR410E/P is certainly stunning but it isn't black, it departs from the typical Sony look by grabbing your attention with a shiny pink bezel. I have gotten my hands on one of these notebooks and have decided to give it a spin. I'm going to let you know how it performs. First let's get started with some of the basics.

Hardware:

Processor: 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5550

Storage Space: 200GB hard drive

RAM: 3GB RAM (upgradable all the way to a 4GB maximum)

Optical drive: CD R/RW with an integrate dual-layer DVD +/- burner

Video Card: Integrated Intel X3100 video accelerator (using up to 358 MB of system RAM)

Dimensions: 13.2" x 9.8" x 1.6" (weighing 5.5 lbs)

This notebook is certainly a head turner with the bright pink bezel. The screen is nothing to scoff at either. It is bright and clear with only moderate glare in direct bright light. This notebook has plenty of memory with 3 GB of RAM and a 200GB hard drive. I would like to see a little stronger processor but the core duo does a nice job. The only thing this notebook won't really do is play graphically intensive games however judging by it's design no hard core gamer would generally be interested in this notebook anyway.

The only thing I would recommend is removing Sony's trial ware (at least the stuff you won't be using). The majority of it is unnecessary because Window's Vista has many of the features integrated into it. Once this is done you'll notice a considerable improvement in startup time, I know I did.

Connectivity:

Integrated WiFi (to connect to wireless networks)

Integrated Bluetooth (so you can sync with Bluetooth enabled devices)

1 Ethernet port (so it can connect to a wired LAN)

3 2.0 USB ports (the gold standard of peripheral connectivity, use to connect printers, digital cameras, and mp3 players)

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

1 VGA port (a typical monitor output)

1 SVideo port (used to connect to projectors and some compatible televisions)

1 ExpressCard slot (to add additional peripherals like a cellular modem)

1 Memory stick and SD slot (so you can directly insert compatible solid state memory from mobile devices into this notebook.

1 Audio out / 1 mic in

The connectivity is fairly standard and there isn't anything I would change. The bottom line this is a great notebook for the crowd it was designed for; the teen / tween girl. It will do everything she needs. It has great mobility and is decently light. It will do plenty of work and comes with a trial version of Microsoft office. It also has plenty of room for music and videos on that 200GB hard drive. And at less than $1000 you'll be able to afford it for her.