Sony Crapware

By Evan Ackerman

Sick of all that crapware that inevitably shows up on new computers? Good news! Sony is taking steps to make sure that your expensive new system arrives clean, pristine, and free of useless junk. After all, doing so will “free up valuable hard drive space and conserve memory and processing power while maximizing overall system performance right from the start,” according to Sony. Brilliant! And how is Sony going to make your computing experience so much better? Easy! You pay them $50, and they won’t install all those stupid free trials and game demos and crap. Hey, thanks Sony!

[ UPDATE: Sony reacts to widespread online outrage by scrapping the $50 fee and offering the option to remove the crapware for free, as long as you upgrade to Vista Business.]

VIA [ Engadget ]

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8 COMMENTS

  1. As bogus as it sounds, I think I remember reading somewhere a while ago (this blog?) about kcomputer companies piling on crapware as a means of cutting the final retail cost. A sort of advertising thing, where companies pay to have thier demos distributed. I’m not sure how true it is, but I don’t mind deleting a a bunch of demos if it means a cheaper laptop.

  2. Mike: You’re right, of course… If I recall correctly, Dell thinks it drops the cost of each computer by $60 or less. But I just find it amazing that Sony has completely dropped the pretense that this stuff is at all beneficial, and is admitting that they’re deliberately crippling your computer in order to make money.

  3. I agree with Mike Godfrey. It is easy to install an app like Spybot and cleanup all that stuff. I bought a vio last week, and it did have add-ware on it, but I got it for only $850. It is a great laptop. I had 2 HP laptops, and needed something more reliable. The HP laptops also had a lot of add-ware on them when they were new.

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