<![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC - Gizmodo Comments]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC - Gizmodo Comments]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @discounteggroll: It's soo veiny!

CODIFEROUS

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Bokusatsu_Tenshi:
totally made me remember this clip from "waiting"

[video.google.com]

beware of the bat wing...

discounteggroll

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Mandatory_Field: key word crapware - stop putting CRAP on the system and people won't be bitching about it.

skulldriveshaft

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Chillycat: the recovery discs from sony install everything that was shipped with your computer, and I mean everything.

try using a NORMAL WinXP install CD and see how long you last before cursing sony.

skulldriveshaft

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @tamoko: You shouldn't even be able to SEE him in the shadow of the apple fanboy's horse...

StarChaser Tyger

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Hey Sony Also has the right to charge you $175 for a safe sync for your new digital camera. The same type of device from anyone else is $50. Thanks Sony.

HeavyMellow

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @dirigoDIGITAL: Who says you have to pay to get decent software on your computer? I am not even referring to getting software illegally. I got a laptop for college and outfitted it entirely with things like avg anti-virus, paint.net, etc.

You seem to be arguing that buying a Mac is more sensible for the price, which is simply ridiculous.

allthosemoments

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> And for 50 more, they promise they won't fart over your computer before sending it to you.

Unfortunately, no options yet to avoid teabagging.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Paying more for a PC without bloatware actually makes sense. Bloatware, although annoying, is how they are able to lower the price of a PC. Simply put, being outraged by this is like being angry about paying more for a magazine without advertisements. Nonetheless, a person with any sense will save the $50 and discover start>control panel>add/remove programs

allthosemoments

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @dirigoDIGITAL:
But I don't want a mac.


WEGGLES90

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @mdawg4624:
No. No thank you.
I would definatly go to some sort of distro. I have no want or use for an apple. Ulike apple I have not really had much experience with many Linux flavors, but would be willing to give a distro like Ubuntu a shot.
Does anyone know anything good/bad with Red Hat?




Out2gtcha

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Jesus, Sony has a crap marketing department. Why didn't they just say something along the lines of "add a $50.00 discount to your purchase by accepting these free trial programs!"?

As others have pointed out, that's all this is: the cost of losing the bloatware money is passed on to the consumer. Of course, this doesn't explain the ridiculous Sony markup on what is essentially an unreliable piece of shit...

JustThisGuy

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Extra shitty since Sony already overcharges for their PCs.

Zlevee

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> I think they learned it from BB's geek squad

Iffrat

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @DaOtter: i haven't much liked sony since the end of the cassette walkman era.

@diverguy: exactly - this is the end of the world foretold by the HDDVD fans! the enemy is at the gates!

rawlus

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @svgjjc: Exactly. The manufacturer gets to knock $50 off the cost of the computer because somebody else is paying them that money to put software on the computer. So, either you pay that $50 or they do.

Petezah

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Hey now.. this is Sony remember.. this is the company that everyone was rooting for to win the HD format wars... so lets not forget the general populous killed off the better format by a more reputable company to be locked in with these guys that not only install root kits on your PC's but now charge you $50 to have them removed.

diverguy

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @snakepliskin: EVERYONE hates Sony when they do stupid BS like this. They have a history so full of idiotic design and just outright horrible PR moves that there IS NO "unbiased" anymore. If you're a geek, nerd, savant, or just a computer OWNER, this should piss you off to no end. Fuck Sony, ftw.

DaOtter

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> The $50 bucks is just to compensate for all the "rollys" they didn't sell.

kahri

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> If i buy a sony laptop im gonna ubuntu on it anyways so not a big deal to me. Engadget seems to really hate sony at any rate, they banned me cause i called ryan block out on being blatantly biased. True story.

At any rate the bloatware on sony laptops is bad, like horrendously bad.

snakepliskin

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @berribrand: Yeah, I heard Vista is awesome.

ILikeMacsWhatAboutIT

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> sony is the debbil. i'm not buying an eReader, PS/3, minidisc walkman or one of the most expensive windows bloattops or craptops or adtops ever. never ever.

rawlus

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> OMG! That makes we want to go buy an overpriced Mac that would cost even more with the same level of hardware. :/

berribrand

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> The trial software that you find on almost all computers has helped to bring down the cost of the computer. If you don't want it on there the companies have to find a way to make that money back.

internetzlol

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> this is just sad

kickace

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Lizard_King:

that's on top of the $50 to remove all the crap on there already ; )

Gonzie

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Here's an idea.... [www.apple.com]

mdawg4624

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Wow this just seems unbelievable to me. It's actually insulting. Personally if I was going to purchase a new Vista machine I'd take it as is with all the bloat ware. I'd then wipe it clean and install a clean pirate copy of Vista. Next I'd change the serial number to the legit one that came with the bloat version. Problem solved. It's sad that it's come to this. Actually even more sad for Microsoft is the fact that I'm typing this from a Ubuntu machine.

Lantesh

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Honestly, I think it's a bargain to ensure that your family member's new PC comes fresh from the manufacturer minus resource hogging crapware. Better then having them bother me to do it for them.

Johnny Chimpo

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> well it's kinda the way sony and other PC makers make money. they find companies that pay them cash to install trial software, and whatnot.

simpleflow

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> if you don't want to completely restore OS (which is what I would do to be honest), PC decrapifier + REVO uninstaller is what I use to get rid of unwanted bloatware and 3rd party shit

[pcdecrapifier.com]
[www.revouninstaller.com]

discounteggroll

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> nah, i'd rather look at it as "i'll save 50 bucks to spend a half-hour removing it all...."

an1m3fr33k

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> I wonder how much Sony will charge me if I don't want to buy a Sony computer at all?

frigg

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> For anyone interested, here are some more details including a list of all the "craplets" Sony installs (it's a lot):

[www.techconsumer.com]

Bob

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Soooo... when is Sony going to have the rocks to NOT charge a 300% margin on their gadgets?

FrankenPC

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Lizard_King: Garage Band, that is.

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Lizard_King: Yeah, never used it, except to screw around. My bro loves it though.

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @nutbastard: The antivirus is the worst.

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> The easy thing about crapware for the mac is it is VERY easy to find. It all starts with an "i".

I kid, I kid....it's just too easy sometimes. Some of it starts with "garage" too

;-)

Lizard_King

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @ILikeMacsWhatAboutIT: It depends. It could be anything from loads of demo software, most of which no one will ever touch, or things like international font support; where you have 1.5 gigs of space taken up by Portuguese, Albanian, and Farsi fonts. I've taken that much bloat off of several of my Mac machines, and that is just the unnecessary font support.

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @ILikeMacsWhatAboutIT:
Serious Answer: Crippled, trial software from companies you've never heard of, everything from burning software to IM to video streaming 'services', video editors, photo managers, and antivirus.

nutbastard

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @dirigoDIGITAL: The only problem with that theory is that in the end you still have a mac, which for my purposes doesnt do anything for me.

Out2gtcha

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> If you guys actually went to the site, you would see that its 25 bucks overall: 50 dollars for Freshstart and minus 25 for the video, photo and works software. I agree its retarded but not 50 bucks retarded...Also this is only available for Vista Business, something I really don't understand.

daftrok

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Lizard_King:
I know, it's scary. And we let these people vote, for gods sake.

nutbastard

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Serious question: What kind of programs are included in "bloatware?"

ILikeMacsWhatAboutIT

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Having just received my new Macbook Pro, so I'm Bi-PC, and kinda neutral... All this talk from Mac users talking about PC/Windows box bloatware need to have a good look at their Leopard install... I see 3 (THREE) trialware/bloatware items. Office, Aperture and iWork. Sure there's no stoopid charge like Sony to not have it, but neither do Dell charge for this "service".

So STFU.

McWindows

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Chillycat:

Hell yes! Re-partition that puppy!

olternaut

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @lilaliendog:

If it was so simple sony wouldn't be trying to rob you of $50.00.

olternaut

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> they don't have windows install discs WITHOUT the bloatware streamlined into the install, so you're paying them the labor costs of going back into the machine and removing the bloatware. lol

xeijix

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @archercc: Yeah, you bought a Thinkpad to be like EVERYONE ELSE.

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Reminds me of a fast food place in Los Angeles that once they charged me an extra 10 cents to have a Coke with no ice...

jurena

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Stacky Botrus: Exactly

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @archercc: lameness is in the eye of the beholder... Get off your moral superiority high horse.

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @Thomas Palmer: and steel your porn and post it all over the interwebs

Iffrat

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @dirigoDIGITAL: FAN BOY FTW!!!

Iffrat

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @nutbastard: I think the word you're looking for is "Bravia".

ideaman2020

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> News like this make me wish HD-DVD would have won the battle

mrxcel

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> And they wonder why people download Windows off of the internet. The moment I get a new computer or work on someones a clean version of whatever OS is already installed is getting thrown back on that way there's no extra crap other than what I or anyone else wants installed.

Superevil

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @dirigoDIGITAL: Yes it doesnt come with the junkware on it but the problem with the mac is you have to be lame to own one. Id gladly pay $50 to not be like you.

And I did, thinkpad f0 lyf3 y0.

archercc

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Of course those of us who read Gizmodo and Digg everyday have the technical skill and knowhow to remove bloatware easily or wipe the machine, but thats not the point.

Good rule of thumb, if you mother cant do it, its not easy enough. Just because you know how to wipe your brand new laptop does not mean that everyone else knows how to also. My sister purchased a Vaio desktop a few years back and it was so crippled that she had to return it twice. She was about to give up when she called me and i walked her through a wipe and clean install of XP, but it still took a few hours.

Simply saying that you can easily add/remove programs is giving Sony a cop out...there is absolutely no reason you should have to spend 3 hours to get your brand new $2000 machine to run properly.

I have both Macs and PCs in my house, and i use them both, but a Sony will now never be one of them

dstreelm

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Inevitable unintended side-effect and consequence of Microsoft's losing of all of those court cases re anti-competitive behaviour, subsequent consent decrees and everything else. They wanted to continue to have sole control of the user experience and lost. Everyone kept saying how much of a good thing that was, that vendors now had the freedom to put whatever crap on the PC that they wanted. This is the inevitable down side. Don't forget that the OS is a cost item for the vendors, but the crapware is a revenue item....

Mandatory_Field

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @svgjjc: basically, its not like they are doing anything bad. Everyone else puts the spyware on their cheapo computers. Im sure when I buy a business class like the Latitude I am paying an extra $50 to cover the costs of having that crap left off.

Although I doubt I would spend the $50, its must easier (and wiser) to just nuke the OS and reinstall fresh to my own specs anyway but I guess if you arent computer savvy it would be worthwhile.

archercc

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> You want a cheaper PC? You get bloat. End of story. You want a smoking system, then you have to pay for it. Simple economics.

Pretty much every PC vendors has bloat to off set the cost of making your system.

Now get off your lazy butts and start > control panel > add/remove programs

Nuff said!

Machoduck

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @nutbastard: There are people *gasp* that install every stinking piece of trial ware or software that comes with a peripheral. I worked on a PC recently that had mouse managers (multiple), Microsoft Intellikey, 2 trial graphics editors and 4 CD burner programs. This was along with a 650MB HP printer software package, when all that was needed was the driver. This is the kind of attitude that causes instability. Mouse managers?!?! WTF?

We can all be happy for the death of the floppy. Now anytime you buy a product, and it comes with a disc it is filled to the 700MB+ brim with crapware.

Lizard_King

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> When I buy laptop, I Fdisk the fucker and install my unlimited corporate version of XP anyway.

END.OF.STORY.

Stacky Botrus

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Hopefully the extra $50 is buying you a genuine OS disc, instead of the crappy "restore disc" that all the manufacturers are pushing out now.

And by "restore" they mean "Restores all the crapware to your pc"

bpatten

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Way to shoot yourself in the face, Sony. Bravo.

Fortunately most morons don't recognize crapware for what it is, I just have to wonder how many RICH morons with a penchant for purchasing EVERY upgrade without even looking will be disappointed that there brand new, super upgraded laptop "Doesn't DO anything!".

nutbastard

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Well, I guess it's still cheaper and safer than having Geek Squad charge you $100+ to do the same thing.

Thomas Palmer

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Kind of put's things in perspective doesn't it.

A PC manufacture charging you $49.99 to take the completely useless junky software off your computer... You could keep the software on there and start using it, but usually it's a "Lite" version or a trial version so you'll have to upgrade to keep using it. Or have it removed for 50 bucks and go out and buy your own software for let's say $250... Either way, bend over.

A Mac comes with incredibly useful, powerful and fun software - for free - out of the box... or $79 bucks if you want to have the latest and greatest.

Huh.

dirigoDIGITAL

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Can I charge them $50 because I don't want their laptop?

MJDeviant

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Seriously. I love the ps3 and some other sony products I've had, but this is just LAME. Vaio's are some of the most EXPENSIVE windows lap tops out there too!

ParJoe

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> I am trying to figure out what makes this latest inspired move by Sony any different from plain old extortion.

Still thinking.

tundraboy

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> why does sony have such a bad marketing team? they need to fire those lazy fuckers. except the ones who came up w/ the naked chicks and dead goats for god of war

Weihovah

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Hell If it comes with a legit copy of the opsys of your choice and a driver disk (which if you bought it from Sony it obviously does) then why not just uninstall the programs and clean the registry or in a really bad case, why not just "Nuke & Pave" ?

Uninstalling bloated apps = Free
Opsys & driver reload = Free


Out2gtcha

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Hey Sony, how much to install Linux? $250? $300?

Lizard_King

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @lilaliendog: Never removes everything on a Windows PC. I'm hoping this is a fresh OS install, with no adware.

Never Installing>Uninstalling

It's funny, since all the adware came out, you notice how we never get original Windows discs anymore? No we get ones molested by the likes of Dell and HP so you reinstall the OS, you get a fresh install of every other thing too, including adware. I like Dell's "clean" version with their Vostro's especially - which includes crap software from Dell and Google - Can I just get the OS please?

Lizard_King

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @lilaliendog:
Exactly. How hard is it to remove programs or just re-image the machine when you get it?

plankbr

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> insert OS > reset > any key to boot from CD > DONE

Chillycat

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Isn't the purpose of the crapware to lower the cost of the laptop?

'We'll pay Sony, then they can release a product for cheaper.'

I don't like it, but isn't it a legitimate reason?

cayton

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Wow... Just wow.

tamoko

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> I was thinking about getting a Vaio laptop as a destop replacement. Screw them if they I will pay an extra 50 bucks to not put crap on my pc.

Conker1958

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> start > control panel > add/remove programs

lilaliendog

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> That is just wrong! $50 is Highway robbery! $40 is a lot more reasonable. Come on, Sony. Help a brother out.

GoatMonkey

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> @svgjjc: Either way, you pay more for a clean OS... great marketing strategy.

Joseph

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> Exactly.

multimoog

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> I will now never buy a Sony Laptop.

Y2KGTP

]]> <![CDATA[Sony Has the Balls to Charge You $50 to Not Install Bloatware on Your New PC]]> They just spun it wrong.......without the subsidized software on the laptop, we can't get the $50 discount.

svgjjc

]]>