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Sony has quite the history of crippling excellent, beautiful hardware with horrible, useless software. The company's UX UMPC bluescreened on usthe first time we turned it on, and crashed the first time we tried toshut it down thanks to all the bloatware on it, while a Laptop Magreview says their Vaio TZ ran "as if it were broken"before they managed to wipe it clean. Lucky for us, it appears Sony isfinally seeing the error of its ways, but instead of removing thecrapware altogether, Sony has the nerve to offer a $50 "Fresh Start"option, which "scrubs" the machine clean before shipping it your way.At the moment you can only configure the TZ2000 crapware-free, buthopefully Sony will be rolling out the choice to the rest of itslaptops soon. Or here's an idea, Sony: stop trying to milk profits andstart giving consumers laptops that actually work out of the box.
Update: Its now free
Engadget wrote:
After a minor outcry at Sony's new "Fresh Start" optionto skip the crapware on TZ laptops for a hefty $50 charge, the companyhas seen the error of its ways and is going to start offering theoption for free as of tomorrow. Sure, it would've been nice to have itlike that from the start, and there's no word yet if there will berefunds for those who did fork over the $50, but we got the impressionfrom the Sony spokesperson who spoke to us that Sony Japan was just assurprised as we about the charge, and quickly asked for it to beremoved. We're still waiting for word as to whether this option willhit other VAIOs, but we're cautiously optimistic.