PC Magazine's issue with the annual reader survey of reliability arrived yesterday, with results based on reader experience with over 26,000 computers. Here are some key results:
The top desktop computers in terms of satisfaction were Apple, Dell, Sony and Alienware (which makes pricey, high-performance, very well-built machines for gaming geeks), Dells are said to be as reliable as ever (Dell and Apple have always topped the list), but Dell's tech support is noticeably slipping since farming it out to people for whom English is a distant acquaintance (something I have experienced personally as a longtime Dell driver).
In terms of laptops, Apple and Lenovo/IBM are at the top, with Dell having dropped significantly in recent years. (Lenovo is the Chinese company that bought IBM's laptop business.) Sony's laptops also fail to measure up to their fine desktops.
(My employer has a "deal" with HP/Compaq--I call it a "full employment for repair techies policy"--so I'm stuck with them at work, including our computer labs. The reader survey again confirmed that in terms of both desktops and laptops, Compaq is substandard.)
Gerry Grzyb
