Asus, Apple provide most reliable PCs, survey says

Rescuecom, a third-party computer repair firm, fielded the fewest support calls to repair Asus and AppleApple PCs on average, said David Milman, Rescuecom's CEO. The companies offered PCs with high-quality components and excellent support, reducing the need for consumers to service PCs through third-party support companies. Alles zu Apple auf CIO.de

The ratings were based on 11,560 support calls fielded by Rescuecom during the second quarter and adjusted to take into account the market share of each PC maker. Lenovo, Toshiba and Hewlett-Packard held the third, fourth and fifth spot respectively in the PC reliability survey.

The study was released on the same day the University of Michigan and other organizations issued the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, which measures user satisfaction with products including cars and PCs. Apple topped the survey with a score of 85, followed by DellDell at 75, and a three-way tie between Hewlett-Packard, HPHP's Compaq brand, and Acer/Gateway, which scored 74. Alles zu Dell auf CIO.de Alles zu HP auf CIO.de

Consumers want PCs that require minimal repairs and good support, so the calls provide a good snapshot of PC reliability, Milman said. Companies that provide high-quality components tend to rate higher, while bad components and bad support may force PC owners to call third-party repair companies.

"We review ... a combination of how reliable the components are and how good the support is from the manufacturer," Milman said. Multiple PC components, including motherboards, memory and video cards were factored into the survey. The quality of software bundled by PC makers, including security and office suites, was also part of the survey.