Sony, Hold the Baloney, Costs $50 More - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

MTI · #1 03-21-2008, 05:23 PM

Sony is charging customers to remove trialware and other unwanted software from their new Vaio TZ notebook computers.

Others have dubbed it crapware. It's all that extra trial or demo software that's installed on a new PC, but the vendor receives a little bit of money that offsets the ultra-slim profit margins in the cut-throat PC industry.

Last year, Dell announced that based on customer feedback, they would make the trialware a configuration option for the customer.

Sony, however, has decided to charge the customer US$50 to have it removed before shipment. The option is called "Fresh Start," trademarked no less. And to get that option, the user must spend an additional US$100 to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Vista Business. Total cost: $150.00.

MTI · #2 03-21-2008, 06:04 PM

Well, that didn't last long . . .

Sony drops its $49 “no crapware” fee

The blogosphere is buzzing today with contempt for Sony, which just outlined its Fresh Start program and immediately ran into a buzzsaw of criticism for its plan to charge $49.99 for the privilege of getting a crapware-free PC.

The echo chamber at Techmeme is working overtime, led by Engadget: “Sony has the nerve to offer a $50 “Fresh Start” option, which “scrubs” the machine clean before shipping it your way.” My colleague Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a typical reaction:

To get a craplet-free Vaio TZ2000 I’d have to pay Sony an extra $50 just to remove all the junk software that it installed on the system that I don’t want in the first place?

This morning, I had a previously scheduled interview with Sony’s Mike Abary, Senior Vice President of the VAIO division. In what must be the fastest turnaround in corporate history, Abary told me that the $49.99 charge is dead. “We didn’t intend that to happen,” he said late this morning, blaming the snafu on an internal miscommunication. “We’re removing the $49 charge,” he told me. Beginning this spring and rolling out to all products through the end of the year, there will be no charge to order a custom-configured Sony VAIO computer, and you will be able to opt out of every trialware application, without exceptions.

“We heard the message loud and clear,” Abary told me. “VAIO is the poster child for negative experiences people had [with trialware]. We recognize that, and we acknowledge it. We’ve been really beat up by this issue. We’re listening and we’re taking action.”

catmandoo62 · #3 03-21-2008, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTI

Well, that didn't last long . . .

Sony drops its $49 “no crapware” fee

[i]The blogosphere is buzzing today with contempt for Sony, which just outlined its Fresh Start program and immediately ran into a buzzsaw of criticism for its plan to charge $49.99 for the privilege of getting a crapware-free PC.

The echo chamber at Techmeme is working overtime, led by Engadget: “Sony has the nerve to offer a $50 “Fresh Start” option, which “scrubs” the machine clean before shipping it your way.” My colleague Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a typical reaction:

To get a craplet-free Vaio TZ2000 I’d have to pay Sony an extra $50 just to remove all the junk software that it installed on the system that I don’t want in the first place?

This morning, I had a previously scheduled interview with Sony’s Mike Abary, Senior Vice President of the VAIO division. In what must be the fastest turnaround in corporate history, Abary told me that the $49.99 charge is dead. “We didn’t intend that to happen,” he said late this morning, blaming the snafu on an internal miscommunication. “We’re removing the $49 charge,” he told me. Beginning this spring and rolling out to all products through the end of the year, there will be no charge to order a custom-configured Sony VAIO computer, and you will be able to opt out of every trialware application, without exceptions.

i]

however the price will increase by $49.99

Hatterasguy · #4 03-22-2008, 12:09 AM

This was dumb, why didn't they just hide it in the price?

pawoSD · #5 03-22-2008, 12:27 AM

Half of the work I currently do at my job is sitting and cleansing poor new-pc's (and older ones) of crapware. It has gotten out of control. You do not need 50-100 stupid little trial and extra software items included with a pc. Especially anti-virus or "pc health monitoring" and all those....they're the worst because they actually slow the system down and destroy things.

Thats why I prefer building them myself, nice fresh install of the OS. Only things on it are what I want there...and nothing more.

The main reason companies put all that junk on them to begin with is that they make money off of it. Its just like advertising for all those companies that make the crapware.

Hopefully someday that will go away, then again, its great job security as it often messes up peoples computers beyond their abilities to fix them.

Hatterasguy · #6 03-22-2008, 12:42 AM

When I first got mine I tried to delete everything I didn't think I would use. But then it warned me that I was deleting the drivers for the video card, so I stoped thinking those would be good to keep.