Sounds like Sony really took that whole
Greenpeace finger-wagging to heart -- it can't be fun to be named the absolute least green of all major consumer electronics manufacturers in the midst of a global environmental movement. So with great gusto today Sony launches some, ahem, "eco-cool"
Vaio FZ Graphic Splash Eco Edition laptops with a number of "eco-conscious" features (many of which are completely reaching for it, like "Slim design for minimum use of natural resources," and "Packaging comprised primarily of recyclable materials") and four obnoxiously naturalist and out of touch lid designs including -- wait for it -- an ironic-on-too-many-levels Leopard-skin pattern. The specs and "eco-friendly features":
- Prices start at about $1400 for the VGN-FZ290EGS - Spotted Life; VGN-FZ290EGE - "Clay Earth"; VGN-FZ290EGC - "Caribbean"; VGN-FZ290EGB - "Bloom"
- Machines feature a 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 15.4-inch display Vista Home Premium, and the rest of the usual FZ specs
- All are RoHS compliant; use "Slim design for minimum use of natural resources," "Easy-to-recycle materials for resource conservation," "Packaging comprised primarily of recyclable materials"
- Laptop and battery are eligible for future recycling under last year's trade-in program (and this year's recycling network)
- A small percent of sales to the aptly named charity 1% For the Planet. Seriously.
- Available in limited edition (because who'd want to ship eco laptops en masse?) starting in November
You know, Sony, there's doing it, and then there's overdoing it -- which tends to lead folks like us to think you just slapped some lids on your FZs, committed 1% of sales to charity, and greenwashed the whole thing so you could put that nasty Greenpeace debacle behind you. Then again, maybe it really isn't easy being gre-- eh, nevermind.
posted Nov 8th 2007 8:00AM
These will look great with my eco-friendly H2.
haha
Slim design? c'mon Sony. That thing is thick as a brick.
Vaio FZs are 1.4" thick; which is pretty thin for a 15.4" laptop. They also have the TZ laptops that are .76" thick.
For every laptop sold Sony will have an assistant shake their head sadly as they fly over a rain forest.
I mean they'll kick a couple o bucks to an organization.
THERE'S the warm fuzzy!
Eco-friendly and vaguely aesthetically pleasing on the outside, hideously polluted with junk on the inside.
I bought an FZ laptop with bluray in September. It is currently away for repairs due to faulty memory supplied with it that was producing a BSOD on startup.
Not to mention the mass of bloatware junk that Sony piles into the system, making a brand new laptop feel like one you've had for ages buried in old programs and files you never got around to deleting. 'NEW' means 'CLEAN' to me SONY!! I don't frickin' want Spider Man 1 and 2 in SD preloaded (but not unlocked - you have to pay) onto my new BLURAY ENABLED system! I don't want ANYTHING to do with AOL! I don't want trial version of Norton!!!!! I don't want advertisements hiding in obscure folders for EVERY SINGLE THING SONY HAS EVER RELEASED.
As soon as my laptop comes back, I'm selling it and staying far, far away from Sony until I hear that they've cleaned up their act. I'm going to use that money for an Apple or for a Dell.
TeddyN @ Nov 8th 2007 9:05AM
Not to mention the mass of bloatware junk that Sony piles into the system, making a brand new laptop feel like one you've had for ages buried in old programs and files you never got around to deleting. 'NEW' means 'CLEAN' to me SONY!!
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Dunno about Apple, but Dell (and all the other big names) still load your stuff with bloatware/ unnecessaryware.
It's all about getting their cut from two sources; you and the companies making software they choose to bundle with their PCs.
I know, but Sony is unusually bad with it... Check out the reviews of this series on cnet where they single it out as one of the biggest drawbacks of the Vaio. I guess I'm particularly bitter because for the same price I payed (apprx $2000) I could have gotten both a Mac and a PS3 and had more overall functionality (ie a laptop + bluray + gaming). I didn't think the Sony bloatware was a big deal when they mentioned it in reviews but it really is annoying. It's not so much the 'bundled software' like Sony DVD burning apps and Acrobat Reader pro that annoys me-- it's Spiderman, AOL links and browser toolbars, and software that is installed but which you have to pay for to unlock (but which is very difficult to uninstall).
sigh... more weak attempts at bashing sony. people alway complain about the crap sony preloadeds their laptops... who doesn't? i've had to remove so much crap from friends laptops when they bought them, ranging from hp, compaq, and fujitsu. they all have crap preloaded. so open your eyes and realize that sony isn't the only company doing it.
Bigger, slower, and more expensive than my MacBook. Pass.
However, I do like the leopard pattern. :)
It won't be better than you Macbook if this has a carbon fib......ah forget it.
sony actually does pack a lot of bizarre software.
their recovery paritition is the most hated thing...why can't they simply put the window$ on a cd or dvd..
Will they get custom wallpapers to match the lids?
I doubt it, but you will probably get Bonus Free Exclusive Spider-Man 3 wallpaper as mine did :/
Twenty bucks says it runs leopard.