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Sony offers bloatware-free Vaios, for a fee
Update: Now, that's the power of the web at work. After a mere few days of severe bashing from the online community, Sony has stepped back and removed the $50 charge for their "Fresh Start" option that gets rid of unwanted pre-installed software. You will still need to pick Vista Business ($100 extra) over Home Premium to select the option however.
In a move that is not going to garner any good publicity to Sony, its Vaio PC division has come up with a new customization option for ultra-portable laptop models TZ2000 and TZ2500. For a $50 fee, they are willing to remove some of its own trial applications, and other third party time-limited software that would normally come pre-installed on such systems. Furthermore, the so-called "Fresh-start" option requires Vista Business which is $100 extra on top of the above. You can already hear the screams from the online community, and especially from those who wouldn't buy a Vaio anyway.
Pre-configured OEM Windows PCs have for a long time received the thumbs down for bundling a huge load of trial applications that can many times be difficult to uninstall, can potentially slow down your system, and finally just make a hassle for the consumer to spend money for something they didn't ask for in the first place.
Manufacturers have blamed slim profit margins and harsh low-cost competition for looking into other ways to turn a profit on computer sales. It seems like the excuse has been reused too many times now. Sony, Dell, HP, and the rest of the pack could learn a thing or two from Apple for once. Yes, I just said that.
In a move that is not going to garner any good publicity to Sony, its Vaio PC division has come up with a new customization option for ultra-portable laptop models TZ2000 and TZ2500. For a $50 fee, they are willing to remove some of its own trial applications, and other third party time-limited software that would normally come pre-installed on such systems. Furthermore, the so-called "Fresh-start" option requires Vista Business which is $100 extra on top of the above. You can already hear the screams from the online community, and especially from those who wouldn't buy a Vaio anyway.
Pre-configured OEM Windows PCs have for a long time received the thumbs down for bundling a huge load of trial applications that can many times be difficult to uninstall, can potentially slow down your system, and finally just make a hassle for the consumer to spend money for something they didn't ask for in the first place.
Manufacturers have blamed slim profit margins and harsh low-cost competition for looking into other ways to turn a profit on computer sales. It seems like the excuse has been reused too many times now. Sony, Dell, HP, and the rest of the pack could learn a thing or two from Apple for once. Yes, I just said that.
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User Comments (2)
Post a comment| Macstinx on March 21, 2008 4:10 PM | Dell has had the 'No Bloatware' options for a while, but a buyer has to carefully unclick the options to get it that way. Sony will learn... As for Mac - Itunes, Safari, and their cheesy built-in apps count as crappy bloatware anyway...
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| funkmesideways on March 22, 2008 5:42 AM | Yes I know I'm doing what you expected TS, but yeah...totally outrageous!! One day manufacturers will realise that they will be dealing with the computer literate generation and everyone will know how, or at least be confident to try, formatting and making a clean install of an operating system at least with clear instructions.
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