Consumer Reports: Mac Laptops Have Fewest Repairs; Best Tech Support
TMO Reports - Consumer Reports: Mac Laptops Have Fewest Repairs; Best Tech Support
by , 1:10 PM EST, February 8th, 2005
Apple's iBook and PowerBook portables have the fewest reports of repairs and the best technical support of any laptop PC on the market today, according to the March issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
Using data similar to that released last December in its desktop ratings report, the Consumers Union (CU) said Apple had the fewest repairs of laptops at 16%. Toshiba and Sony were second and third at 17%. Gateway had the worst laptop repair ranking among more than 57,000 CU members at 23%.
A similar survey of 69,000 desktop users gave Apple the best repair history at just 13%.
As for technical support for laptops, Apple got a readers score of 84, making it the highest of any PC manufacturer. It received a 'better' ranking in problem solving by phone technical support, the shortest time waiting on the phone, knowledgeable phone staff and Web-based support. In second was IBM with a score of 69.
in December, CU gave Apple a score of 76 for desktop Mac support. Again, Apple received a 'better' rating in all categories. No other PC company received a 'better' rating in any category. Dell was second receiving a score of 57 and no better than an 'average' rating in any category.
In laptop ratings, Consumer Reports recommended Apple's 14-inch iBook with Combo drive as its top pick for reliability and support, giving it a score of 72 out of 100 -- a 'very good' ranking.
The 15-inch, 1.33GHz PowerBook also received a score of 72, but was not as highly recommended. The iBook model received better scores for expansion and energy saving than the PowerBook, but the more expensive model got higher marks for its warranty and display quality.
Since December, Consumer Reports has updated its desktop PC ratings to reflect newer models. New to the rankings: The G4 1.25GHz eMac with a score of 76. Repeated from the December ratings: The 17-inch, 1.8GHz G5 iMac with an overall score of 80 out of a possible 100.
While good ratings, they were well below cheaper, Pentium 4 systems running at 3.2GHz which all received 'excellent' scores of over 91. The difference: better 'convenience' and 'expansion' ratings than Macs.
Observer Comments
Tue Feb 08, 2005 4:44 pm Subject: Geez my eyesite must be bad...
Tue Feb 08, 2005 4:47 pm Subject: Re: Geez my eyesite must be bad...
Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:22 pm Subject: Re: duh
QuoteAnonymous wrote:
duh? if you express it as a percentage -- e.g., 16 percent -- then number of sales is irrelevant. No?
Stick around for awhile. Eventually you'll "get" the in-jokes around this place. I know it's never fun to be the new guy, but you'll catch on eventually. It shouldn't take too long.
Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:26 pm Subject: Sorry But, Top 4 Desktops and Laptops Are All PCs
Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:29 pm Subject: Re: Sorry But, Top 4 Desktops and Laptops Are All PCs
QuoteRealityCheck wrote:
Looks like the Mac Observer failed to mention that according to Consumer Reports the 4 highest rated desktops and laptops are all PCs. The best the Macs could do was 5th place. Sorry Mac fanboys but you lost again.
At least the article gave some facts.
4 highest rated at what? Overall score? By how much?
QuoteRealityCheck wrote:
Looks like the Mac Observer failed to mention that according to Consumer Reports the 4 highest rated (by overall score) desktops and laptops are all PCs. The best the Macs could do was 5th place. Sorry Mac fanboys but you lost again.
So The Mac Observer should publish an article titled "Four Out of Five Highest Rated Desktops and Laptops are PCs." I think the TMO staff will leave this to the PC fanboys to cover.
QuoteRealityCheck wrote:
As far as reliability, the constantly failing iBook logic boards and the flimsy PowerBook hinges and screen white spots are notorious. The reliability stats are skewed by fanatic Mac Kool-Aid drinkers who underreport problems.
Sorry, RC, but in a recent post, you claimed that Apple quality was going down, since warranty costs had increased. But you failed to note that sales increased at a faster rate than warranty costs, therefore, quality is improving. But that's probably due to Apple underreporting warranty costs and overreporting sales...
Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:03 pm Subject: Subjective ratings
"While good ratings, they were well below cheaper, Pentium 4 systems running at 3.2GHz which all received 'excellent' scores of over 91. The difference: better 'convenience' and 'expansion' ratings than Macs."
Huh? My iBook, iMac and eMac are a hell of a lot more "convenient" than any ol' PC. What's so convenient about cable spaghetti, a virus and spyware-prone OS, and greater downtime? Were those negatives factored into the ratings? Apparently not...
As far as expansion goes, it's never been an issue. I've just "expanded" my daughter's (already G4 upgraded) strawberry iMac with a new 80Gb drive, replacing the original 6Gb drive. It took all of 5 minutes to swap the drives out. It's been pretty simple to expand any of my "limited" Macs with minimal effort and expense... and I enjoy running Panther on them all too!
So HOW exactly are these 4 higher-rated PCs better??!! 
-Ken P
Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:01 pm Subject: Re: Subjective ratings
Quotepyxl8 wrote:
What's so convenient about cable spaghetti, a virus and spyware-prone OS, and greater downtime?
Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? The more time the laptop is down, the more time it can be used for other things, like holding the door open, supporting a wonky table...
Windows PCs are extremely versatile beasts, you know.
Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:39 pm Subject: Re: Subjective ratings
Quotepyxl8 wrote:
The difference: better 'convenience' and 'expansion' ratings than Macs."
Convenience and expansion may refer simply to volume. Larger volume of available software and expansion pieces from different manufacturers. Now don't flame me because I know that there are plenty of great software selections for Mac and of course expansion is straightforward, but that's probably what they're referring to.
"Looks like the Mac Observer failed to mention that according to Consumer Reports the 4 highest rated (by overall score) desktops and laptops are all PCs. Sorry Mac fanboys but you lost again. "
Looks like you fail to realize that's an unrelated fact. Being placed fifth in their overall ratings doesn't mean that Apple laptops suddenly aren't Consumer Reports' highest-rated laptops in tech support and low repairs. Or that Apple doesn't have their highest-rated repair history. Sorry, Reality Check, but your scam fails again.
"As far as reliability, the constantly failing iBook logic boards and the flimsy PowerBook hinges and screen white spots are notorious. The reliability stats are skewed by fanatic Mac Kool-Aid drinkers who underreport problems."
As far as reliability, Consumer Reports gives Apple laptops their highest rating. Since your crusade against Apple isn't based on facts, you have to dismiss the good news by making up bull****.
I wish you'd start trying to defend your "arguments" again, that was funny to watch. But I guess doing that made it too obvious you don't deal in reality.
[edited by Gavin for language]
spxyu02
No flame here - there are a lot more "parts" for the PC world, which is one of their problems. The tighter you control the essential parts the fewer problems you will have.
As for software, one site I go to (http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps) has 11,000+ apps for OS X - ranging from freeware to full commercial software. (Purchase the commercial stuff through TMO and it helps pay their bills.) There is actually a lot available. There will be some PC apps that are not available for the Mac and some Mac apps that are not available for PCs. Basically, most Mac users are pretty well covered.
It all gets down to choosing a computer environment that you want to work and play in. I think the macs are miles ahead of PCs, which is why I have moved everything at home and the office to Macs.
Quotekenaustus wrote:
spxyu02
No flame here - there are a lot more "parts" for the PC world, which is one of their problems. The tighter you control the essential parts the fewer problems you will have.
As for software, one site I go to (http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps) has 11,000+ apps for OS X - ranging from freeware to full commercial software. (Purchase the commercial stuff through TMO and it helps pay their bills.) There is actually a lot available. There will be some PC apps that are not available for the Mac and some Mac apps that are not available for PCs. Basically, most Mac users are pretty well covered.
It all gets down to choosing a computer environment that you want to work and play in. I think the macs are miles ahead of PCs, which is why I have moved everything at home and the office to Macs.
Yea, I totally agree, I just think popular opinion thinks otherwise, and consumer reports is mirroring this sentiment.
Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:07 pm Subject:
Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:21 pm Subject: Interesting tidbits …
The ratings for reliability and quality of service are provided by readers. The judgments and overall ratings for “convenience†and “expandability†are passed by CU’s “technical†staff, who are notoriously clueless about Apple in general and Mac OS X in particular … Like “the†Apple desktop: doesn’t the G5 let you add an internal HD ??? maybe the sample CU bought, I guess … only if their Desktop representative sample was an iMac/eMac … in which case, it seems to me that the convenience of an all-in-one should weigh in fairly heavily in favor of the Mac instead of against !
I never know how to interpret their computer reviews, but their readers seem to have more sense than the tech gurus who write the articles …
Regardless of RC's *yawn* predictable take on it, this is inarguably good news for Apple. Many non-geeks (i.e. the majority of computer buyers) rely on mags like Consumer Reports in their buying decisions, and reliability is obviously a big factor in said buying decision.
So sorry RC, looks like you lose again. 
Some big-shot CIO told me that this is just reliability through obscurity, and means nothing about the overall reliability of the system
You see, since so few people use macs, the major PC reliabilty problems don't even bother affecting macs, since their goal is to affect the largest number of laptops out there. It is obious that if more people used mac laptops, reliability problems will start to target Apple laptops as well.
So there. Apple laptops are not more reliable by design.
Like I said, a CIO of some small, PC-centric company (or was it one of those colleges that advertises on late-night TV?) told me this.
So it must be true.
Check out Harry Babad's December 2004 article on hist take and issues with, Consumer reports:
http://www.maccompanion.com/archives/december2004/Columns/Rants.html
QuoteWe're not feeding him. We're just picking on him. Bad attention is better than no attention, right? It's funny to see RC throw out overall product rating numbers as a way to dodge the actual topic of the article. RC didn't help me read it, but others did. I believe it was something along the lines of: APPLE PRODUCT QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE ARE NUMBER ONE IN THE INDUSTRY.LaurieF wrote:
Please don't feed the troll. He's massively overweight as it is...
Quotedavidneale wrote:
Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it? The more time the laptop is down, the more time it can be used for other things, like holding the door open, supporting a wonky table...
Windows PCs are extremely versatile beasts, you know.
I can vouch for that.
I saw a Windows laptop being used as a wheel-chock for a 10-ton truck once....
I am an MCSE, however I do have to do hardware repairs as well due to a failing company however with respect to laptops Apple vs PC I am sorry the worst in the bunch is Toshiba. I work on at least 5 a day every day of the working year and this is from a city of less than a million people. The number of MAC's is virtually non existent. Yes there are fewer but they have within the government and government agencies like EDC and CPC there has been less than 1% failure of hardware on MAC's and for some models of Toshiba there has been a 100% failure rate. Models include satellite pro 6000, 6100, TE2100. Of the newer systems I personally replace under warranty on average 3 system boards a week on satellite A70s,A30s, Tecra M1, M2, M3,Protege R200 all in a city that would purchase at most 10K units if they are lucky. We are repairing at least 25% if not more of what they sell every year..this is good???
I am sorry MACs are much better
Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:59 pm Subject:
Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:45 pm Subject:
Comments are currently closed. Please email the author instead.
Recent Headlines - Updated November 22nd
- Fri, 7:07 PM
- Games - Soccer Sim Championship Manager 2010 Released for Mac
- 6:47 PM
- Games - EA Publishes Original Monopoly for iPhone
- 6:15 PM
- News - Original Apple I on Ebay for $50K, w/Letter from Steve Jobs
- 6:11 PM
- Games - New iPhone Games: Secret of the Lost Cavern Ep 1, New DJ Nights, More
- 5:47 PM
- Games - Star Trek D-A-C Game Headed to the Mac Next Month
- 4:57 PM
- Product News - TidBITS Releases “Take Control of Syncing Data in Snow Leopard”
- 4:26 PM
- John Martellaro's Blog - Particle Debris (week ending 11/20) Stationery Pads Go Poof
- 2:59 PM
- Free on iTunes - Musée du Louvre, Art Lite, SketchBook Mobile X and More.
- 1:50 PM
- Deal Brothers - Acer P215H bmid 21.5” Widescreen LCD Monitor: $139.99
- 11:24 AM
- TMO Appearances - Jeff Gamet Shares More Holiday Gift Ideas on MacJury
- 10:43 AM
- Product News - Cocktail 4.5 for Leopard Adds QuickLook Cache Clearing
- 10:06 AM
- News - Hack Enables Mac OS X 10.6.2 on Netbooks
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
- TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com
OWC: Plug & Play Hardware RAID up to 8.0TB. High Performance, Data Redundant Solutions. FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB2, or eSATA. Hot Swappable Bays, Data Rates over 200MB/s. Click here
If you're using a Mac, then you've gotta check out Full Tilt Poker for Mac. This Full Tilt Poker bonus code does the unthinkable, it actually rewards!For the latest Apple products use Ciao, a price comparison website, to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate mobile phones like the Apple iPhone.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
