Comments on: Sony Charges $50 Extra to Sell You Laptop with No Crapware

By: donna

donna — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:14:06 +0000

Hi, I just got my Sony Vaio back from Sony Repair and it is doing weird things it never did before. The worst is that the LCD fades within a few minutes of idle (all power management is off and its on AC, not battery) and music starts playing shortly afterward. The the minute I hit the touchpad, the music stops, but I have to tap the touchpad to death in order to get the LCD brightness back. I assume it’s a Vaio program but does anyone know which ones it might be? Thanks.

By: mad at sony

mad at sony — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:34:17 +0000

I have always beena sony fan but after my most recent experience I will be hesitant to buy from them again. Received a laptop which was cracked, I am having to wait 2 days to get an RMA for the return, then wait for their shipping label. AFter that I will have to wait for them to build the unit again and then ship. For this much money I expected better service. My boyfriend ordered a Gateway, they sent the wrong one, he called and they overnighted the correct product without any hassle. BTW, Fresh Start was “free” on my purchase however I was required to select the Vista business option (over the home) which forced me to spend an extra $150.
Really dissapointed in Sony and I have been a die hard prior to this.

By: Sony’s Big News Plus A Recap of Its Blunders Just in The Last Year | TechConsumer

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:33:56 +0000

[...] Sony Charges $50 Extra to Sell You Laptop with No Crapware [...]

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:04:01 +0000

Folks,
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I used to wonder why sony laptop takes for ever to do anything. I have a dual CPU Vaio Laptop. This damn things runs slower than the IBM Thinkpad T30. Just cant believe this. I already changed battery on my Sony Vaio and my friend also went through changing his battery on his Vaio too. I am sold on the fact that sony laptops are bunch of crap never am I going to buy sony again or recommend sony.

By: Bob Robinson

Bob Robinson — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:46:05 +0000

Like bwahahaha above I make money to remove the rubbish. It takes about a hour on most systems so it costs.

If OEM’s made the “offers” available but not installed and all in one folder, with the icons on the desktop if thy must. Then we could choose whether to install or not. That way the advertisers get their way, the OEM gets some income, the buyer gets to choose to try if he wants; everyone wins. I do think they would have to agree to have proper uninstalls that remove all that they installed including all registry entries, log files and config files.

By: Just because you're used to an abusive relationship, it doesn't make it OK. - Someone Else

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:19:45 +0000

[...] crapware on Sony machines coming to the forefront, with Sony USA having the sheer cheek to try and charge customers an extra $50 to uninstall the junk from their new Sony computer so that it actually works properly. The most [...]

By: Matt Ellsworth

Matt Ellsworth — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:04:11 +0000

as crazy as that all sounds… a friend of mine bought a laptop from circuit city and they offered to go through it all and remove all the crap from it for like $20 or so. So apparently vaio isn’t the only one.

By: Amazon’s Attempt at Helping Its HD DVD Customers | TechConsumer

Amazon’s Attempt at Helping Its HD DVD Customers | TechConsumer — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:02:11 +0000

[...] this isn’t nearly as bad as Sony’s marketing mistake, it’s still a bit of an eye roller. In related news, don’t forget to check out [...]

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:02:35 +0000

“Vince says:….You’re under the impression that the $50 the crapware companies pay to the OEM are passed on as savings to the consumer? That’s a joke, as they probably lower the price $2 bucks and line their pockets with the other $48….”

Geez, of course it is a savings to the consumer. Do you think that if Sony suddenly gave up the $48 per laptop, they would just eat the loss, do you think shareholders would not demand better returns. If they had to give up the kickbacks from crapware, of course they would make it up by charging the consumer. Don’t be deluded into thinking otherwise.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 12:53:50 +0000

“Mike Says: …. the fact that windows is bundled by default is damn near illegal especially considering MS is a convicted monopolist in many countries.”

Huh…If it is “damn near illegal”, who are you says is committing the crime? Microsoft is not forcing Sony to buy Windows, so you must be saying that Sony is the criminal for choosing to install Windows. Sony installs Windows because that is what the market demands. If they could make money selling (and supporting) Pre-installed Linux, they would. As it is not yet practical($$$) for them to pre-load Linux, they will continue to load windows.

Your statement comes off as a silly fanboy remark, and “damned near” really stupid