Rescuecom PC Reliability: Apple, Asus, Lenovo

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Rescuecom has once again published its computer reliability report based on its own internal breakdown of computer tech support needs, including data recovery, virus removal, wired and wireless networking.

According to Rescuecom's Computer Reliability Report, which it claims to give factual, unbiased data to determine the reliability of today's personal computers, the top five manufacturers with the best overall computer reliability performances for 2010 are:

  1. Apple (365)
  2. Asus (305)
  3. IBM/Lenovo (305)
  4. Toshiba (199)
  5. HP/Compaq (149)

Rescuecom pointed out that Asus was definitely the manufacturer to watch in 2009 with a skyrocketing market shipment percentage and a lopsidedly low number of computer support calls. Apple finished the year with a higher score than Asus; but the latter company had to also contend with 190.7 percent growth, year over year. The firm said that Dell's negative growth and poor reliability stopped the U.S. PC giant from reaching a top five position. Conversely, Rescuecom gave honorable mention to Panasonic and Samsung for reliability, despite shipping in smaller numbers.

The following data was used by Rescuecom to calculate reliability scores for the 2010 Computer Reliability Report:

As for how it came up with these rankings:

Rescuecom determines the reliability of a manufacturer by comparing their market share of shipped computers, weighed against the percentage of computer support calls Rescuecom handles for that same manufacturer. Higher scores indicate better reliability. Reliability is attributed to a combination of two areas: quality of components used by a manufacturer, and the success of after sale support provided by the manufacturer. Low-quality components lead to more frequent repairs, and a lack of manufacturer support will lead to customers seeking outside support options, such as Rescuecom.

Of course, the reliability ranking doesn't account for users who experience problems but enlist the services of the OEM. For example, those experiencing difficulties with a Mac might choose to deal directly with Applecare rather than Rescuecom, which wouldn't be tracked in the aforementioned report.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
52 Comments Comment from the forums
  • buddhav1
    this is exactly why i tell people looking for a solid windows based laptop to buy an Asus or Lenovo. Acer used to be really good until they bought out Emachines. since then, the entire product line has had a big drop in reliability.
    Reply
  • razercultmember1
    didnt he already post this a few months ago?
    Reply
  • deadlockedworld
    Are they certain this doesn't just reflect the intelligence of the consumer in their choice to call or not to call a service as stupid sounding as "1.800.rescue.PC" ? SELECTION BIAS.
    Reply
  • mianmian
    Why would I call a third-party number if my laptop got problem within warranty?
    Reply
  • akoegle
    as someone who worked for a local PC shop for a while I can confirm that the most troubled brand was HP with thoshiba a close seccond. We hardly ever saw an Asus PC and only one person every brought a mac in and all he wanted was for us to backup his data.
    Reply
  • jrharbort
    mianmianWhy would I call a third-party number if my laptop got problem within warranty?Some people depend on their PC to run their business, and can't wait for the manufacturer to recieve their PC via shipment, and then wait for it to come back up to 2 weeks later.

    And I agree with akoegle, the two brands I seem to fix the most are HP/Compaq and Dell.
    Reply
  • ezz777
    Why would an Apple user ring a 'Rescue - PC' line? They'd have to be completely clueless... ... ...

    Yes the article does make mention of this, but it seriously questions the intention of the article.

    It'd be like Toyota quoting it's impeccable reliability by how many calls were made to Ford's service department (in my part of the world, anyone can service anything... so it's a fairly valid comparison).
    Reply
  • griffed88
    I can attest to this, i worked as a computer repair guy at my university and we had next to no Apple or Asus problems, probably close to 95% where hp and dell.
    Reply
  • Marcus Yam
    razercultmember1didnt he already post this a few months ago?Rescuecom releases reports in a regular basis. The last one was in August, which is probably the one that you were thinking of.

    Here is a search string that will dig up the other two previous reports:
    http://www.tomshardware.com/search.php?s=rescuecom
    Reply
  • akoegle, I used to work in a shop as well, never touched apple but that doesn't mean there were no problems with Apple devices..... alot of people prefer to deal directly with apple, because a non-certified tech would void your apple warranty...
    Reply