Free Republic

We've yet to see a trade show where Sony left its Rhode Island-sized booth at home, and CEATEC is no exception. Aside from pushing its 1080p 3D installations with an epic amount of force, the company also had a smattering of swank new concepts on display that caught our eyes. A 0.2 millimeter-thin flexible OLED display was alive and displaying content, while an ultrathin Reader mock-up looked more like a MID and less like a Kindle. Without question, the two items that took our breath away were the all-panel laptop (which tossed the traditional keyboard in favor of a...

I am trying to create recovery disks for a Sony Vaio. After getting to help and support windows, and clicking on a link for "recovery disks," I reach a window that explains what recovery disks are and what they do. The last line in this window says, "to create recovery disks, click next." However, this window has no link labeled "next" and no clickable button labeled "next." Furthermore, the window cannot be maximized (there is no maximize icon), or does it have horizontal or vertical scrolling. In other words, there's nothing to click. Has anyone run into this issue? How...

Sony has begun offering Fresh Start, a controversial practice to clean its systems of unnecessary software. Initially available only with the VAIO TZ ultraportable, the option removes both VAIO-specific programs as well as games and other trial software. The practice is meant to "free up valuable hard drive space and conserve memory and processing power" before the system ever leaves the factory, according to Sony. However, the offer has already received criticism for its $50 cost, which lifts the price of the system despite restoring the performance that would be present with a default installation of Windows. The practice has...