Product Review: Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R

The Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R is not the newest amongst Sony's CR series, in fact, if you go to the Sony Style website, it is not listed amongst the Sony CR series, however, some retailers are offering the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R at a discount and even though its not the latest it's still packed full of features that would compete even with the newest models out in the market. However, bargain or no bargain, is it worth your hard earned money?

Let's start the with specifications of the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R. First, since it is a member of the Sony CR Series, naturally, it has a 14.1 inch wide screen. The Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R also has an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 2 Ghz processor, 2GB DDR II memory, 200 GB hard disk drive, Intel GMA X3100 graphics card, DVD-RW optical drive, built in camera, a modem, WiFi, Ethernet, memory card slot, ExpressCard slot and comes pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium.

The 14.1 inch screen of the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R produces sharp and clear images thanks to the XBRITE technology and its 1280 x 800 screen resolution. Its perfect for watching your DVDs plus Sony's A/V controls will let you playback any CD or DVD without ever booting up Windows, it's almost like having a portable DVD player. The Intel Core 2 Duo processor is also fast, good for basic picture editing, DVD playback, word processing, and good for medium multi-tasking. If you have the habit of putting a laptop on your lap, the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R doesn't warm your thighs after extended use. Another plus factor on the Sony VAIO VGN-CR220E/R is its 200 GB hard disk drive. That's a lot of space compared with other laptops on the same price range.

This notebook is also a head turner, thanks to its color and of course, the VAIO logo. Though the processor on this notebook is good for basic multi-tasking, playing graphics hungry games is not a good idea. The Intel GMA X3100 graphics card has a shared only memory so if you load World of Warcraft and other games here, expect some game lag. There's also no fingerprint reader and no Bluetooth, something which even cheaper notebooks offer but others would consider this as no biggie.