Rescuecom PC Reliability: Apple, Asus, Lenovo
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:
- Apple (365)
- Asus (305)
- IBM/Lenovo (305)
- Toshiba (199)
- 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.
Every single one of the Macbooks had faulty DVD drives that stopped functioning after a year. Two of the Macbooks and both iMacs had critical failures of their video cards, preventing them from working until they were repaired. One had a defective battery that had to be replaced at full cost. My Macbook has several bad pixels and the screen bleeds severely on the left side. Every one of these computers have issues with overheating to the point that they are extremely uncomfortable to use in any application that puts the computer under load.
Having used my Macbook Pro exclusively as a personal computer for the last 18 months, I consider it to be the most miserable computer I have ever owned. I have had endless problems with it, and yet it cost $1,000 more than the Asus notebook I was considering of equal (and in some aspects, better) technical specs. I will never choose to own an Apple computer again after my experience, and it baffles me that some of my friends continue to buy from them in light of their own experiences.
Having said that, I will admit that Apple makes itself very available for tech support and repair. In almost every major metro area, Apple has at least one Genius bar in a local Apple store. In each case of trouble with our Macs, my friends and I (until my warranty ran out) turned to Apple for our support. From what I know of them, everyone I know that owns an iPhone, iPod, Macbook, or other Apple product goes to Apple when they have a problem, not a third-party tech support group.
In other words? I call foul on Rescuecom's claim of "Factual, unbiased data."
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.
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).
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
Every single one of the Macbooks had faulty DVD drives that stopped functioning after a year. Two of the Macbooks and both iMacs had critical failures of their video cards, preventing them from working until they were repaired. One had a defective battery that had to be replaced at full cost. My Macbook has several bad pixels and the screen bleeds severely on the left side. Every one of these computers have issues with overheating to the point that they are extremely uncomfortable to use in any application that puts the computer under load.
Having used my Macbook Pro exclusively as a personal computer for the last 18 months, I consider it to be the most miserable computer I have ever owned. I have had endless problems with it, and yet it cost $1,000 more than the Asus notebook I was considering of equal (and in some aspects, better) technical specs. I will never choose to own an Apple computer again after my experience, and it baffles me that some of my friends continue to buy from them in light of their own experiences.
Having said that, I will admit that Apple makes itself very available for tech support and repair. In almost every major metro area, Apple has at least one Genius bar in a local Apple store. In each case of trouble with our Macs, my friends and I (until my warranty ran out) turned to Apple for our support. From what I know of them, everyone I know that owns an iPhone, iPod, Macbook, or other Apple product goes to Apple when they have a problem, not a third-party tech support group.
In other words? I call foul on Rescuecom's claim of "Factual, unbiased data."
There's several companies that release this same statistic. For example, squaretrade lists them currently at Asus, Toshiba, Sony, Apple, Dell (in that order, best first). I recall seeing a similar article as well; I'm guessing it was based on another source.
...correct. Becuase I don't remember the last time an Apple user had a choice in this matter (i.e. not going to the Apple store).
Also, Dell packages most systems with a warranty (at least if you just click and buy, and not configure),so I would expect Dell's numbers to be skewed also.
Although you can make the same argument about most OEMs...hah
From this point of view apple's top reliability is valid - it offers a great lu$er experience, by having reliable HW, and/or great in-house support services, so an apple lu$er feels less need to go to third parties (rescuecom, in this case). Explained in laymen terms: even if the HW is crappy, the support is excellent, or vice versa, or somewhere in between.
As for the windumbed comments that a mac is not a pc, all are pcs - newer ones even use identical HW - just that the one you're considering to be a pc, is actually one from the ibm (compatible) bunch...
ps: No dell crap fanboys complaining?
Although HP might show huge numbers here, it may only mean that HP's tech support can't keep up with their sales volume. It doesn't mean that the HP laptops suck. By this article's statistics gathering, the top brand Apple could very well have many more bad systems, but their tech support is good, so fewer people call Rescuecom for support.
It is an interesting article if you understand its meaning. It is by no means saying Apple has the most reliable computers, just the best Tech support.