Sony charging $50 for not installing crapwares?

[IllegalPaladin]

jasonnc80 said:

IllegalPaladin said:
While the argument in the OP was about Sony, I recall that's something that's done with PC's and Windows from stores and such. Both Dell's my parents (and the ones my friend's bought) had some trials and other junk like that pre-installed on them.

Sure, while you'll lose that tech support (is it really THAT awesome?)... is it really worth it to overpay on everything? Building my own PC was quite the learning experience and comparing the price of building your own parts and then going to a place like Dell.com and checking out the price of (pretty much) the same parts should make anybody proud.

The problem is that there is no real viable way to build your own laptop. With the cost of laptop components vs desktop components that warranty and support is much more needed from a reseller. Sure you can get "crapware" free notebooks from several boutique dealers (Alienware, Voodoo, Falcon Northwest) but they are grossly more expensive then a comparable big retailer.

 

Back on the main topic. I have to give Sony props for listening to the outcry from customers already. They dropped the $50 fee for the "fresh start" and are offering the "service' free of charge now. I plan on having my machine for a while now but if this offer is still going on when I look for my next laptop it will most likely be a Vaio.

Link to engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/21/sony-is-giving-fresh-start-a-fresh-start-losing-the-50-fee/

 I know the article was talking mainly talking about laptops, but I was mentioning PC's because it's not like they're immune from the crapware.