PC World has released the results of its 12th Annual Reliability & Service Survey, available in the January 2006 issue (on newstands now). The magazine surveyed its subscribers to gauge the reliability and service of hardware vendors in the following categories: desktop PCs, notebooks, printers, digital cameras, wireless gateways, and audio players.
In the digital cameras category, no manufacturers scored "better than average." Canon, Sony, Casio, Fujifilm, Kodak, Nikon, Panasonic, Pentax, Olympus, and Konica Minolta all received "average" rankings. "Below average" ratings went to HP and Vivitar.
Click on the headline of this article for the PC World press release.
IDG's PC World Publishes Results of Annual Reliability & Service Survey
Over 35,000 Readers Rate Vendors Across the Spectrum of Computer Hardware,
Including the Makers of Desktop and Notebook PCs, Printers, Digital Cameras,
Wireless Routers, and MP3 Players
For the twelfth year, PC World, the
most widely-read computer or business magazine, surveyed its subscribers to
gauge the reliability and service of hardware vendors in the following
categories: desktop PCs, notebooks, printers, digital cameras, wireless
gateways, and audio players. The article is featured in the January 2006
issue and is available on newsstands now.
Though few hardware makers stood out for reliability or service
performance this year, there were some highlights. This is the first year
Alienware has received enough feedback to be included and it was one of only
two desktop makers that received an "above average" rating in Satisfaction
with Reliability. Canon and Sony both did well in digital cameras, Canon
remaining at the top of the chart and Sony making a dramatic improvement from
last year.
There were three key trends in PC World's 2006 Reliability & Service
survey:
-- Ongoing problems with overseas tech support; language barriers continue
to make communication difficult
-- All products were slightly more reliable this year
-- Growing trend of users moving away from phone support and heading to
company Web sites as vendors do a better job of supplying relevant
answers there
Although manufacturers are attempting to move toward support on their Web
sites, delays in response from online tech support were a common complaint.
To compound the problem, information on some manufacturers' sites tended to be
less relevant, less coherent, and less likely to resolve the problem than
phone-based tech support. Though vendors have attempted to make first-time
resolution a top service goal, fewer people this year said their problem was
resolved after the first time they contacted a company's tech support than in
years past.
OVERALL RELIABILITY: DESKTOPS AND LAPTOPS
BETTER THAN AVERAGE AVERAGE BELOW AVERAGE
DESKTOPS -- Alienware, Apple, CyberPower
eMachines, Acer, Lenovo,
Independent sellers, MPC,
PowerSpec, Shuttle, Sony,
Compaq, Dell, Gateway,
HP, Systemax, ABS
NOTEBOOKS Lenovo, Apple Acer, Averatec, Dell, Compaq
Fujitsu, Gateway, HP,
Indepednent sellers, Sony,
Toshiba, eMachines
Overall PC reliability ratings were based on the following: any hardware
or software problem, problems on arrival, failed component, failed core
component (CPU, motherboard, RAM, graphics chip, hard drive, or power supply),
and general satisfaction with reliability.
In desktop PCs, only "Independent sellers" received a score of "better
than average" in Service Satisfaction; six out of the 17 companies were
"average," and 10 received too few responses to be ranked. Among notebook
makers, four companies were ranked as "average" in the Service Satisfaction
category, one was "below average," and eight received too few responses to be
ranked.
Of the four types of peripherals rated in overall reliability, Canon
inkjet printers were the only standout. The majority of peripherals were
deemed "average:"
OVERALL RELIABILITY: PERIPHERALS
BETTER THAN AVERAGE AVERAGE BELOW AVERAGE
PRINTERS Inkjet: Canon Inkjet: HP Inkjet: Brother,
Laser: none Laser: Brother, HP, Dell, Epson,
Multifunction: none Samsung, Minolta, Dell Lexmark
Multifunction: Canon, Laser: Xerox,
Dell, Epson, HP Lexmark
Multifunction:
Lexmark, Brother
DIGITAL -- Canon, Sony, Casio, HP, Vivitar
CAMERAS Fujifilm, Kodak, Nikon,
Panasonic, Pentax,
Olympus, Konica Minolta
WIRELESS -- Belkin, D-Link, Linksys, 2Wire
GATEWAYS Motorola, Netgear, Cisco,
SMC
AUDIO -- Apple, Creative, Dell, --
PLAYERS iRiver, Samsung, Sony, RCA
Conducted in conjunction with Lynd Bacon & Associates, the Web-based
survey was fielded from May 1 through August 1, 2005. Over 35,000 PC World
subscribers were polled about the computers and peripherals they use at work
and at home, and responses were limited to devices that were three years old
or younger. The data was analyzed using multivariate statistics and advanced
psychometrics to determine which companies performed significantly better or
worse than the competition.
