Sony: "Congratulations on your purchased machine... Surprise! We included GARBAGE in it!

Sony: "Should you CHOOSE to NOT WANT our LOADED ad-wares, junkwares, & CRAPWARES... why, we'll be more than happy to CLEAN your box... WHICH WILL COME OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET."

Sony charges fifty bucks for a crapware-free system
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9900516-1.html

Wow, another Sony bashing thread. I'm so surprised!

It's not a 'bashing thread' if you read what the author of the link has stated. How is it 'bashing' when Sony WANTS YOU to pay $50 for whatever junkware they installed in their VAIO machines- to be cleaned out? As the author demonstrated... attempting to get rid of these 'crapware' yourself, is not as easy as deleting a file (for the purpose of more storage space, including faster boot up). This forces the user to decide whether to leave the machine with the pre-installed JUNK (and deal with a SLOW machine), or pay Sony $50 to PROPERLY delete it for them.

Now how would you think the buyer of that VAIO would suddenly feel?

Even the author has expressed DISGUST over this practice.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/21/sony-hates-you-offers-50-fresh-start-option-to-build-your-la/

"The company's UX UMPC bluescreened on us the first time we turned it on, and crashed the first time we tried to shut it down thanks to all the bloatware on it, while a Laptop Mag review says their Vaio TZ ran "as if it were broken" before they managed to wipe it clean."

[Post edited by xplaytendo on Mar 21, 2008]

It amazes me that people are STILL mad that BR won, so they post threads like these to bash SONY.

Now, now... I own a PS3, for the sole purpose of blu-ray playback. This article, is nothing in regards to a hidef format... regardless of who won.

Gotta hand it to you xplay, when you're spreading FUD about Sony, at least you're doing it with passion.

Yea this is more of a Computer thread then anything else.

But while I do own a PS3.
I kind of lost respect for Sony when they were busted spying on the customers that caught the Vio.
And I am not dumb enough to not know that other companys do this. Sony was just one of the biggest offenders.

Quote:
Gotta hand it to you xplay, when you're spreading FUD about Sony, at least you're doing it with passion.

Yeah, I guess it's FUD if I translate the NEGATIVE article by an internet author... into sarcasm. I post it here... and I TAKE THE HEAT for it... regardless whether the article HOLDS MERIT. Then again whoelse would balance the mood, if all we hear are THE GREAT THINGS about a Brand Name? There's no such thing.

Shoot the messenger. Ask questions later. Having said that: Keep it coming folks! I know you're out there... now's your chance to get that suppressed emotions out!

Quote:
Yea this is more of a Computer thread then anything else.

Absolutely correct... which is why this thread was categorized under "About Everything"... I guess some were more offended by my sarcastic TRANSLATION of the article... more than the article itself.

[Post edited by xplaytendo on Mar 21, 2008]

Wow, this is great that Sony offers this!

We bought a HP computer from Future Shop for our daughter recently, and I found the easiest solution to get rid of all the spyware and addware on the thing was to buy a fresh copy of windows (the HD recovery idea installs everything again! grrr), reformat the disk, and install. If HP offered this option for $150 I'd go for it.

[Post edited by Skyhawk on Mar 21, 2008]

Again, another SONY bashing thread! When are you going to get the clue that it's yesterdays news?! It's f-ing old, move on! Expand the brain for christ's sake! There's an entire world of things to talk about -- Sony doesn't need to be the head topic day after day! ..!..

Unrelated but I am getting the new PS3 update right now,and it is taking FOREVER!!! Anyone else having this problem??

Quote:
Unrelated but I am getting the new PS3 update right now,and it is taking FOREVER!!!

I know what you mean -- it's like getting people to stop talking about their stinking PS3 day after day.

What do you mean FUD???

First of all, what xplay posted IS REAL, he (and everybody who bought a VAIO) can back it up...

You buy something wishing that it works, and it doesn't...sounds a lot like blu-ray....

SONY VAIO'S are Garbage PERIOD!!! Trust me, I owned one... They are nothing but a headache. If it doesn't work, you have to wait for SONY's version of the upgrade! Pure Garbage! Sony has it's way of not releasing stuff, that it finds relevant or important.

Actually ive owned 2 vaio laptops over the last 7 years and they were great, light and very powerful. Ive never had any problem updating in fact vista runs better on my new vaio than any other computer i have tried w/ vista.

Quote:
Actually ive owned 2 vaio laptops over the last 7 years and they were great, light and very powerful. Ive never had any problem updating in fact vista runs better on my new vaio than any other computer i have tried w/ vista.

"LIES! ALL LIES!!!"

Sony probably gets $50 in fees for all that crap. It's just advertising.
So pay the fifty bucks and move on. Or just get a different brand, like Dell ...Dude!

I totally agree with mv and xplay. Why is this thread FUD or bashing? It is a FACT that sony is doing that "service" for $50. So it isn't FUD since is not incertain, doubtful, and it doesn't cause "fear" for a factual service. As for bashing, maybe xplay comments are bashful (now that I read them again) but just because Sony wasnt to charge people to remove crap they pre-load in their computer doesn't mean he has to like it.

Honestly this is just another way for Sony to suck money out of people.

Quote:
Honestly this is just another way for Sony to suck money out of people.

Currency Vampires . . . I've heard of this but I thought it only existed in the oil and banking industry.

The ultimate currency vampires.?.......Inflation and other taxes.
Where's "Buffy" when you need her?

^"vampires"^.... as in John Carpenter's VAMPIRES (hehe - controlled by Sony Pictures). (would look great on Blu-ray)

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

Quote:
Currency Vampires . . . I've heard of this but I thought it only existed in the oil and banking industry

Tim, you're too much man.

BTW, for anyone crying about spending $50 for Sony to remove all the unwanted software, spyware, etc, here is a little tip.
Get your hands on the latest version of Hiran's Boot Disc and you'll find all the tools necessary to clean your Vaios of anything you don't need. Or any computer for that matter.
Or you could just separately get HijackThis, Silent Runners and Killbox. With these three applications you're almost guaranteed to be able to remove most everything. But, if there is a feisty little background application that always initiates upon bootup and just doesn't want to go away, then get your hands on either Winternal's ERD Commander 2005 or UBCD ver.4 and boot off of them. This way you can delete just about any vicious software/malware that normally hides or attaches itself to background applications.

Of course there is a learning curve involved with using these apps., but you'll are internet hounds and I'm sure are also fairly resourceful, so just go to the right forum and ask questions from the right people. I pretty much taught myself on how to use them, and I never really had to resort to restoring Windows to almost everyone because of these valuable tools.

Well, apparently Sony showed us once again that they're not such an evil company after all. They nixed the $50 fee for the "crapware" removal.

Read on:
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9900516-1.html?tag=dvdtown-20