Accessories

Update
So we had to call sony and they sent out a tech to repair my keyboard, he did his thing, i was able to use the laptop for about a half hour,i shut it down adn when i strated it up, BAM the keyboard no longer worked. To me, since it was failed out of the box, i tyhink sony or Amazon should replace it. But that isnt the case sadly, sony said they can send someone out again and try to replace the motherboard or Amazon will refund us and we can use that towards a new computer. Ugh im so frustrated but I really want this laptop. I want one that works. Too much to ask? I dont think so.

Fun, strong and cool to carry
This laptop is one of the best that I have laid my hands on. It is fast and easy to configure and use. Slow to boot up but once you have the system loaded it is faster than ever. Cool aligator skin to keep the fingerprints and scratches from showing.

My kid loves it, in 'grey'
I ordered this Vaio (in grey) from Amazon over a month ago when it was offered as a Gold Box item. His Compaq mini-tower had died two months prior and I thought a laptop would make more sense for him now.

I am not going to go into the technical mumbo-jumbo because you can see the specs posted in the product description section. Suffices to say that it is adequately supplied with memory, has sufficient disk storage and comes with... hmmm... Vista.

On the computer itself, it is a true laptop, meaning that it's not a TOO large mini-super-computer-emulator but not too small either. The display looks great. The keyboard is only adequate. This model does not come with a mouse so, if you don't want to depend on the little touchpad, make sure you have a USB mouse handy.

Installation... well you turn it on and it works. As it is always the case with 'consumer' computers, as soon as you turn it on, you are bombarded with tons of tutorials and various pre-installed trashware/bloatware - the usual suspects: AOL, Macaffee, Adobe, Norton... It took me a couple of hours to clean it up and leave only the stuff that was not on a 'trial' base and get rid of all the well-meaning spyware.

So, after cleanup, we got ourselves a nice, Wi-Fi enabled, AOL/Explorer/Macaffee/Norton-free little laptop that my son loves using for his personal entertainment and for the occasional school homework - Microsoft Works comes pre-installed for that.

Battery life appears to be adequate but the battery is relatively slow to charge - I guess you can't have everything at the same time.

On the 'cool' factor. The laptop comes equipped with a built-in camera almost invisible, it plays DVDs and, of course it has a microphone. My kid also likes the text-to-speech capability but he's telling me that the computer is more often wrong than right when interpreting his words. The cool stuff that DOES work is the fingerprint authentication. You provide the computer your fingerprints and you no longer need to enter username/password ever again. You simply slide your finger (any finger) over the reader and, you're authenticated.

I never had to call the Sony customer service, so I can't comment on that. I am very much a do-it-yourself type when it comes to computer (never on cars).

Overall rating: I am satisfied with the the laptop but the keyboard could have been better.

Sony VAIO VGN-CR520E
I am extremely happy with the product. No issues so far...everything is in perfect condition...I would most definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for great performance and storage on a great laptop...

Thanks

Kelvin

Cunning Cute Computer
I have had this computer for about 3 days. I love it! When setting up I didn't have one issue. (There was only 3 steps, nobody should have an issue). I read other reviews and see people were having problems with windows, well Sony has always worked for me in the past. So much that I have bought a Sony TV and camcorder. I do however love my Canon digital camera that takes an SD card, which is another plus with this computer, it has a slot not just for Sony memory sticks but SD cards as well so I don't have to use the USB. AWESOME! I like the graphics and screen brightness. This computer even has very girly cute preset backgrounds which I thought was a nice touch seeing as anyone that would buy a pink vaio would probably want girly backgrounds as well. I just wish the viewing screen was a little larger.
Everything is super fast on this computer. I have a dell Desktop and even when that was new wasn't this fast. I like the keyboard. Doesn't stick or anything and makes typing easy. The only suggestion I could make is having the keys light up for when you want to type in the dark... I guess I'm spoiled from my desktops Saitek Eclipse Illuminated Keyboard.
Anyhow, another draw back about this computer that is MAJOR is the sound. I saw other comments on how the sound sucks, IT DOES. So I went back and looked at what the company said about the sound, I noticed they didn't write anything. I understand why, it's nothing to brag about. I haven't watched a movie on my laptop yet but have listened to music and I'd rather play it from my portable dvd player that links to my ipod. It had to be very quite in my room to even here anything on it at FULL volume. Overall though, if you want a cute, fast, compact, light computer, this is it. If you're looking for something to blast music, this is NOT it.