数码渔城

ABS

No, this isn't a typo: Nearly half of our readers' ABS desktops have required repair in the past year. That repair rate is almost twice as high as that of any other PC maker in this year's survey. Yet, despite this, readers seem not to hold it against the company too much, giving ABS an overall score of 8.2, which falls within the average range. Obviously, customers must be fairly pleased with the company's tech support—and how it handled its many necessary repairs—in order to forgive machines needing so much work.

ABS manufacturers all its own desktops in full at facilities in City of Industry, California, and there's little doubt that the operation has had a quality control problem this past year.

Readers who responded to our survey complain about the early failure of everything from DVD-ROM drives and hard disks to power supplies, cooling fans, and monitors. "Had to send it the back to the factory twice during first year," says Gary Stark, of his ABS Awesome desktop.

Of course, some of our readers report nary a problem with their ABS desktops. "I have had a very good experience with reliability and performance from my ABS PC," says Mark Whitley. "I purchased a second, identical ABS PC for a coworker, and he has had the same reliability and service from his system also." Indeed, the company's score for the reliability of its desktops is 8.1—again, within the average range, and slightly above the numerical average of 8.0.

This high reliability score seems to contradict the high repair rate, but that's the opinion readers give. We can only speculate that once the machines are finally fixed, they're pretty much bulletproof.

ABS outsources its technical support and repair duties to another company based nearby in southern California. This facility has a call center that offers both phone and e-mail support; it's also the location of a repair depot where users can mail in notebooks and, in some cases, desktops.

On-site service is available from ABS as well. In the end, when asked how likely they are to purchase another ABS desktop, our readers give ABS an average rating, 7.9. So it seems the company must be doing something right.

ABS

No, this isn't a typo: Nearly half of our readers' ABS desktops have required repair in the past year. That repair rate is almost twice as high as that of any other PC maker in this year's survey. Yet, despite this, readers seem not to hold it against the company too much, giving ABS an overall score of 8.2, which falls within the average range. Obviously, customers must be fairly pleased with the company's tech support—and how it handled its many necessary repairs—in order to forgive machines needing so much work.

ABS manufacturers all its own desktops in full at facilities in City of Industry, California, and there's little doubt that the operation has had a quality control problem this past year.

Readers who responded to our survey complain about the early failure of everything from DVD-ROM drives and hard disks to power supplies, cooling fans, and monitors. "Had to send it the back to the factory twice during first year," says Gary Stark, of his ABS Awesome desktop.

Of course, some of our readers report nary a problem with their ABS desktops. "I have had a very good experience with reliability and performance from my ABS PC," says Mark Whitley. "I purchased a second, identical ABS PC for a coworker, and he has had the same reliability and service from his system also." Indeed, the company's score for the reliability of its desktops is 8.1—again, within the average range, and slightly above the numerical average of 8.0.

This high reliability score seems to contradict the high repair rate, but that's the opinion readers give. We can only speculate that once the machines are finally fixed, they're pretty much bulletproof.

ABS outsources its technical support and repair duties to another company based nearby in southern California. This facility has a call center that offers both phone and e-mail support; it's also the location of a repair depot where users can mail in notebooks and, in some cases, desktops.

On-site service is available from ABS as well. In the end, when asked how likely they are to purchase another ABS desktop, our readers give ABS an average rating, 7.9. So it seems the company must be doing something right.

Apple

Once again, Apple achieves scores that are far and away the highest for all vendors in our survey, earning Readers' Choices in both desktops and notebooks. For Apple, in both the desktop and notebook sections of the survey, every single score is significantly better than the industry average for Windows machines. No exceptions. Apple's overall score for desktops is 9.2, and the closest competing score, Alienware's, is 8.8. Apple's overall score for notebooks, 9.2, is just as high, and the rest are even further behind: IBM and Fujitsu are the closest, at 8.4.

The company's scores are so high there's some concern that they can't be completely trusted: that Apple users are so passionate—almost fanatic—about the company and its products, they're not quite as objective as other computer owners.

Still, there's solid evidence that Apple computers may actually be worthy of devotion. There's little doubt, for instance, that the company builds unusually reliable products.

On the desktop side, readers say that Apple systems needed repairs only 11 percent of the time, an astonishing number when you consider that the closest competing score is Sony's at 16 percent. Just 17 percent of Apple notebooks needed repair—second to Averatec's 14 percent—but this is still amazingly low considering that no one else is under 20 percent.

Tempting as it may be to suspect that Apple owners are prone to exaggerate when asked subjective questions, they are much less likely to exaggerate the number of times a system needs repairs. "I have never had a problem with this unit," says Michael Wright, of his Apple PowerBook. "My only reason for contacting tech support was to set up my wireless network, and they even helped me set up my Windows desktop."

Nonetheless, we've heard from readers about problems related to the all-in-one design of the iMac G5. Looking at Apple desktop systems less than a year old, the iMacs (18 percent) were twice as likely to need repairs as PowerMacs (9 percent).

Apple does walk a thin line with its support, though, offering perhaps the stingiest terms of any of the vendors in our survey. If customers do call Apple for technical support, they're more likely to pay an extra fee. While some vendors offer a lifetime of toll-free telephone support, Apple's standard warranty affords only 90 days. The warranty protects against breakdown for only a year, and Apple fails to offer on-site service.

That's right: The company will not send someone to your home or office to repair your system. Your best option is to carry your system to one of the more than 100 Apple stores spread across the country.

Still, while we appreciate generous support and repair policies, it's even better to offer top quality products and services, as Apple has done.

Averatec

Like Alienware, Averatec is making its first appearance in our Reader Satisfaction Survey. Though its results aren't quite as impressive as those for Alienware's high-end desktop gaming systems, this southern California notebook manufacturer more than holds its own.

Its overall score, 8.2, is merely average, but only 14 percent of its systems required repairs—the lowest rate of any vendor in the notebook portion of our survey, including Apple. Readers were so impressed with Averatec notebooks that, when asked how likely they were to purchase or recommend another, their ratings garnered Averatec a score of 8.3.

Averatec outsources all notebook manufacturing to third parties. Given the company's excellent score for units needing repair and its high (though statistically average) score for reliability, it has obviously chosen its partners well. "My Averatec is the single best laptop I've ever had," says E. V. Di Massa, Jr. "I've had NEC, Sony, Toshiba, and Compaq, and none compare to the Averatec. It's easy to handle and works great." Readers are also fairly pleased with the basic out-of-box experience, giving the company average ratings for initial setup.

Currently, Averatec farms out all its technical support and repair duties to a third party based in Bryant, Texas. Though Averatec indicates that it could switch to another partner in the near future, the company has no intention of routing telephone calls and e-mails to call centers overseas. In fact, the company plans to broaden its service by offering online chat support. At the moment, help is limited to phone and e-mail.

When repairs are needed, Averatec's customers are instructed to ship systems to this same third party, and, in most cases, machines are sent back within three business days. Not all customers like having this as their only option—wary perhaps of shipping and handling expenses (which customers must pay, even if the machine is still under warranty) and of going computer-less for that many days. "Technical support told me twice that I had to send it in for repair, so I solved the problem myself," says one anonymous reader. Luckily, repairs aren't needed often.

Dell

When you look at the overall numbers for desktop PCs, Dell looks like it's slipped out of the top tier. But this has more to do with the fact that Dell sells a much higher percentage of work systems than the other top-tier vendors. In general, people are less satisfied with business PCs than home computers. Thus Dell's overall numbers are affected more than other companies'. However, when we drill into both the Work and Home categories for desktops, Dell scores significantly better than average in nearly every measure, especially in the very important gauge of brand recognition, likelihood to recommend. Therefore Dell receives a Readers' Choice award for its desktop computers.

The bigger issue is with notebooks, where Dell's overall score is worse than average—for the second year running. Still, the company's notebooks score for likelihood of recommending is the highest of any manufacturer other than Apple, even beating Readers' Choice winner Lenovo/IBM's score on this measure.

Dell system reliability is as strong as ever. Its desktops' score for reliability, 8.2, is significantly better than average, as is its repair rate. Readers say only 17 percent of Dell desktops required repair—a score that only Sony and Apple can better.

Dell's tech support scores are less inspiring. Though its score for tech support, 6.4, is within the average range, the company scored worse than average or significantly worse than average on several drill-down questions on that measure. Readers also complain about the time it takes to reach technicians and of difficulties communicating with them.

"Dell's technical support has been pathetic since they farmed most of it out overseas," says Dell Dimension owner Jamie Kraft. "Their people do not speak adequate English to understand the problem. They go through a scripted set of questions, and if you are lucky, they bump you up to an American." Dell confirms that it does outsource some of its technical support but says this is done mostly to handle call overflow during peak buying seasons, such as the winter holidays and back-to-school shopping.

In a change of policy, Dell now charges extra to remove viruses and spyware from customer machines—a service that's technically outside the bounds of its standard warranty. Most other manufacturers will support users under warranty trying to recover from spyware and viruses. Generally, customers pay between $60 and $80 per incident, but monthly and year-long contracts are available for $49 and $149, respectively. It's hard to judge what readers think of this policy, but what's worth noting is that among those with desktops less than a year old, nearly 8 percent of those who experienced virus and spyware problems say they were charged too much for tech support. The average on our survey among Windows desktops is 5 percent.

Dell assembles each machine at whichever of its six facilities is closest to the customer. This includes factories in Texas and Tennessee; a new plant is opening in North Carolina in December. Notebooks are built in Malaysia and are routed through US fulfilment centers.

The company handles both desktop and notebook support out of the same call centers, but what's interesting is that our readers aren't as critical of notebook support. Readers give low ratings to Dell technicians for their ability to speak in a clear manner, but most other technical support scores for notebooks are better than average or significantly better than average.

With notebooks, the bigger problem seems to be reliability. According to readers, 23 percent of Dell notebooks required repair within the past year, a score that's worse than average. Still, it's worth noting that apart from this, Dell's notebook numbers aren't bad; they simply aren't comparable to those of Lenovo/IBM.

Fujitsu

Talk about impressive progress. After a merely respectable showing in last year's survey, Fujitsu has managed to climb into the top tier of notebook vendors, giving portable powerhouse Lenovo/IBM a run for its money and surpassing every other manufacturer save Apple.

Where notebooks are concerned, the company's overall score, 8.4, is better than average. Although Fujitsu's overall score matches Lenovo/IBM's numerically, Lenovo's far greater number of responses weights its score to significantly better than average; hence Lenovo/IBM edges out Fujitsu for the Readers' Choice award.

This statistical weighting also affects the assessment of Fujitsu's and Lenovo/ IBM's similar scores on the "likelihood of recommending" measure for all notebooks, as well as of their scores for likelihood of recommending and overall satisfaction in the business notebooks category. While Lenovo/IBM is the undisputed winner, this second-place showing is well worth noting. Any maker that can challenge Lenovo/IBM in its specialty, business notebooks (both Fujitsu and Lenovo market mainly to business users), bears watching.

Fujitsu doesn't sell desktop PCs in the U.S. It focuses strictly on laptop and tablet PCs, handling a majority of the manufacturing at Fujitsu-owned and -operated facilities in Japan. According to our readers, these are high-quality machines.

Like its overall score, the company's score for reliability, 8.6, is better than average. "Very stable product," says Anthony Lin, of his two-year-old Fujistu LifeBook. "I've had no issues whatsoever."

When it comes to business notebooks, the company does even better: Just 14 percent of such machines required repair in the past year. No other maker performed so well. Only Apple, at 18 percent, comes close; by comparison, 24 percent of Lenovo/IBM's business machines required repair in the past year.

Despite the fact that Fujitsu's overall and reliability ratings are better than average, users rate their inclination to recommend a Fujitsu machine as only average.

Fujitsu outsources some of its "level one" tech support but uses only companies based in North America. Repairs are generally handled at a Fujitsu depot in Memphis, Tennessee, and though customers must pay to ship machines to Memphis, the company pays to send them back. In some cases, on-site service is also available.

Gateway/ eMachines

A year ago, we had high hopes for Gateway's service and reliability. The company had just acquired the low-cost retail vendor eMachines, which had made great strides on last year's survey with its newer systems. As part of the process, Gateway applied many of eMachines' best practices for service and reliability for both brands.

A year later, however, the combined organization seems to be struggling a bit. On both the desktop and notebook portions of our survey, Gateway's overall score is significantly worse than average, and after last year's improvement, eMachines actually moves backwards, receiving a similarly low score for desktops.

This is all the more frustrating considering that eMachines users report the best initial setup experience outside of Apple (that is, they report the fewest instances of needing tech support or receiving a defective system). Somewhere after the initial setup, however, eMachines' reliability breaks down. At 8 percent, eMachines desktops less than a year old have the lowest figure for percent needing repair, but they also have the lowest numerical score for reliability (8.0, although it falls within the average range). Clearly something isn't working right on these machines, even though they may not need many repairs. Gateway desktops garner a respectably average score for repairs, but their overall desktop reliability score drops to worse than average.

Gateway should be commended for using a single organization to handle both quality assurance and support services. In theory, the people who oversee support calls and repairs should have the greatest insight when it comes to improving system reliability. But for now at least, the setup hasn't had the effect it was meant to. Reports from customers tend to bear this out: "I had to replace three hard disk drives until I got one that worked," says John Dyer, of his Gateway desktop.

Portables are no longer sold under the eMachines name. For Gateway notebooks quality control seems once again to be a problem. The company's scores for reliability and percent needing repair are numerically the notebook survey's lowest, each worse than average. At least in this case, the problem seems to lie with hardware. Readers rate the systems' software reliability as average but rate its hardware reliability as worse than average.

That said, our responders with Gateway and eMachines systems are reasonably pleased when they call the company for support. Gateway and eMachines receive scores within the average range for tech support on the desktop side of our survey, and Gateway's tech support score is just as high on the notebook side. The company handles calls for both brands out of the same calls centers. Although some of the desktop call centers are located overseas, in the Philippines, technicians' ability to speak in a clear manner was never rated less than average. Still, readers seem unwilling to forgive either brand for its comparatively mediocre reliability.

Hewlett-Packard/ Compaq

When you look at the survey results for HP systems purchased within the year leading up to the survey, the company's desktops and notebooks perform respectably, ending up in the average range for most major scores. But when you take a look at all their systems, the outlook is somewhat grayer. As was the case last year, readers gave HP significantly worse than average ratings on both the desktop and notebook portions of our survey, coming down particularly hard on system reliability. And this year, both desktop and notebook ratings are similarly low.

The best we can say about the company's performance is that, in the home market, scores for HP-branded machines—as opposed to Compaq-branded—have improved by a slight amount in the past year, although the overall scores for HP home machines (desktops and notebooks) are still worse than average.

Even now, three years after its merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard continues to use both names. In the home market, consumers can choose between HP Pavilions and Media Centers and Compaq Presarios, but the company's business machines carry the HP/Compaq name. Thus, whereas our survey treats HP and Compaq as a single entity when tabulating overall ratings, it treats them separately where home machines are concerned.

Although the company has completely consolidated the HP and Compaq tech support and repair operations, Compaq-branded home machines generally receive lower ratings on our survey than HP home machines. Compaq's overall scores for home desktops and notebooks, 7.4 and 7.6 respectively, are significantly worse than average, whereas HP's scores, 7.7 and 7.9, are only worse than average. The difference seems to lie with quality control. Compaq home machines receive lower reliability ratings and required more repairs over the past year.

If you look at the company as a whole, repairs aren't required all that often. On the notebook side, the company's repair rate is close to the survey average, and on the desktop side, its 19 percent rate of repairs in the past year is actually better than the 22 percent average. That said, reliability scores are significantly worse than average for both desktops and notebooks. "This machine from day one has been awful, and I will never purchase another HP," says Marc Alan Reichbart of his HP Pavilion.

HP/Compaq's tech support score is average for desktops but worse than average for notebooks. On both portions of the survey, readers give worse-than- average ratings when asked about technicians' ability to speak in a clear manner. HP confirms that some of its call centers are located in India, and some readers object to the linguistic abilities of those manning the phones. Says one anonymous Compaq business desktop owner, "Much of the time, it's very hard to understand them and get your technical support question answered within the first three calls."

Hewlett-Packard/ Compaq

When you look at the survey results for HP systems purchased within the year leading up to the survey, the company's desktops and notebooks perform respectably, ending up in the average range for most major scores. But when you take a look at all their systems, the outlook is somewhat grayer. As was the case last year, readers gave HP significantly worse than average ratings on both the desktop and notebook portions of our survey, coming down particularly hard on system reliability. And this year, both desktop and notebook ratings are similarly low.

The best we can say about the company's performance is that, in the home market, scores for HP-branded machines—as opposed to Compaq-branded—have improved by a slight amount in the past year, although the overall scores for HP home machines (desktops and notebooks) are still worse than average.

Even now, three years after its merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard continues to use both names. In the home market, consumers can choose between HP Pavilions and Media Centers and Compaq Presarios, but the company's business machines carry the HP/Compaq name. Thus, whereas our survey treats HP and Compaq as a single entity when tabulating overall ratings, it treats them separately where home machines are concerned.

Although the company has completely consolidated the HP and Compaq tech support and repair operations, Compaq-branded home machines generally receive lower ratings on our survey than HP home machines. Compaq's overall scores for home desktops and notebooks, 7.4 and 7.6 respectively, are significantly worse than average, whereas HP's scores, 7.7 and 7.9, are only worse than average. The difference seems to lie with quality control. Compaq home machines receive lower reliability ratings and required more repairs over the past year.

If you look at the company as a whole, repairs aren't required all that often. On the notebook side, the company's repair rate is close to the survey average, and on the desktop side, its 19 percent rate of repairs in the past year is actually better than the 22 percent average. That said, reliability scores are significantly worse than average for both desktops and notebooks. "This machine from day one has been awful, and I will never purchase another HP," says Marc Alan Reichbart of his HP Pavilion.

HP/Compaq's tech support score is average for desktops but worse than average for notebooks. On both portions of the survey, readers give worse-than- average ratings when asked about technicians' ability to speak in a clear manner. HP confirms that some of its call centers are located in India, and some readers object to the linguistic abilities of those manning the phones. Says one anonymous Compaq business desktop owner, "Much of the time, it's very hard to understand them and get your technical support question answered within the first three calls."

Hewlett-Packard/ Compaq

When you look at the survey results for HP systems purchased within the year leading up to the survey, the company's desktops and notebooks perform respectably, ending up in the average range for most major scores. But when you take a look at all their systems, the outlook is somewhat grayer. As was the case last year, readers gave HP significantly worse than average ratings on both the desktop and notebook portions of our survey, coming down particularly hard on system reliability. And this year, both desktop and notebook ratings are similarly low.

The best we can say about the company's performance is that, in the home market, scores for HP-branded machines—as opposed to Compaq-branded—have improved by a slight amount in the past year, although the overall scores for HP home machines (desktops and notebooks) are still worse than average.

Even now, three years after its merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard continues to use both names. In the home market, consumers can choose between HP Pavilions and Media Centers and Compaq Presarios, but the company's business machines carry the HP/Compaq name. Thus, whereas our survey treats HP and Compaq as a single entity when tabulating overall ratings, it treats them separately where home machines are concerned.

Although the company has completely consolidated the HP and Compaq tech support and repair operations, Compaq-branded home machines generally receive lower ratings on our survey than HP home machines. Compaq's overall scores for home desktops and notebooks, 7.4 and 7.6 respectively, are significantly worse than average, whereas HP's scores, 7.7 and 7.9, are only worse than average. The difference seems to lie with quality control. Compaq home machines receive lower reliability ratings and required more repairs over the past year.

If you look at the company as a whole, repairs aren't required all that often. On the notebook side, the company's repair rate is close to the survey average, and on the desktop side, its 19 percent rate of repairs in the past year is actually better than the 22 percent average. That said, reliability scores are significantly worse than average for both desktops and notebooks. "This machine from day one has been awful, and I will never purchase another HP," says Marc Alan Reichbart of his HP Pavilion.

HP/Compaq's tech support score is average for desktops but worse than average for notebooks. On both portions of the survey, readers give worse-than- average ratings when asked about technicians' ability to speak in a clear manner. HP confirms that some of its call centers are located in India, and some readers object to the linguistic abilities of those manning the phones. Says one anonymous Compaq business desktop owner, "Much of the time, it's very hard to understand them and get your technical support question answered within the first three calls."

Hewlett-Packard/ Compaq

When you look at the survey results for HP systems purchased within the year leading up to the survey, the company's desktops and notebooks perform respectably, ending up in the average range for most major scores. But when you take a look at all their systems, the outlook is somewhat grayer. As was the case last year, readers gave HP significantly worse than average ratings on both the desktop and notebook portions of our survey, coming down particularly hard on system reliability. And this year, both desktop and notebook ratings are similarly low.

The best we can say about the company's performance is that, in the home market, scores for HP-branded machines—as opposed to Compaq-branded—have improved by a slight amount in the past year, although the overall scores for HP home machines (desktops and notebooks) are still worse than average.

Even now, three years after its merger with Compaq, Hewlett-Packard continues to use both names. In the home market, consumers can choose between HP Pavilions and Media Centers and Compaq Presarios, but the company's business machines carry the HP/Compaq name. Thus, whereas our survey treats HP and Compaq as a single entity when tabulating overall ratings, it treats them separately where home machines are concerned.

Although the company has completely consolidated the HP and Compaq tech support and repair operations, Compaq-branded home machines generally receive lower ratings on our survey than HP home machines. Compaq's overall scores for home desktops and notebooks, 7.4 and 7.6 respectively, are significantly worse than average, whereas HP's scores, 7.7 and 7.9, are only worse than average. The difference seems to lie with quality control. Compaq home machines receive lower reliability ratings and required more repairs over the past year.

If you look at the company as a whole, repairs aren't required all that often. On the notebook side, the company's repair rate is close to the survey average, and on the desktop side, its 19 percent rate of repairs in the past year is actually better than the 22 percent average. That said, reliability scores are significantly worse than average for both desktops and notebooks. "This machine from day one has been awful, and I will never purchase another HP," says Marc Alan Reichbart of his HP Pavilion.

HP/Compaq's tech support score is average for desktops but worse than average for notebooks. On both portions of the survey, readers give worse-than- average ratings when asked about technicians' ability to speak in a clear manner. HP confirms that some of its call centers are located in India, and some readers object to the linguistic abilities of those manning the phones. Says one anonymous Compaq business desktop owner, "Much of the time, it's very hard to understand them and get your technical support question answered within the first three calls."

Shuttle

The American arm of Taiwan-based Shuttle Computer Group is one of three debutantes in this year's survey, and like the others—Alienware and Averatec—it's quite presentable. Shuttle makes small, luggable, boxy desktops that have become popular among gamers and media center enthusiasts. Its systems' overall score is near the survey average, as are all its other ratings.

The company manufactures its own desktops in full, and readers rate the reliability of these famously compact systems at 8.1, also near the average of 7.9 for Windows PCs. "When I first saw this small box, I was skeptical," says Carleton Scully, in rating his Shuttle desktop. "But it has turned out to be a real workhorse—completely reliable." According to readers, only 17 percent needed repair—an average score among desktops.

Shuttle handles all tech support calls and e-mails from its own call center in City of Industry, California. It offers chat-based support and occasionally uses Windows XP's remote assistance service to diagnose and solve problems via remote control (other companies, including Systemax and Toshiba, also offer this service). Repairs are handled through the company's repair depot, also located in City of Industry. If customers don't get support from a reseller, they have no choice but to mail malfunctioning systems back to the company. Shuttle does not offer on-site service.

Some are pleased with the company's support and repair practices. "Very good product and support," says Craig Telsa. Other are not. "The machine is great, Shuttle customer service is not," says Jordan Taylor. "They need to pay attention to what the buyers want, because if they don't, they will go under soon."

On the whole, however, readers are pleased enough to rate the likelihood of buying another Shuttle at 8.1, again within the average range.

Sony

Sony's got a lot to crow about—and some things to worry about, too. The company's desktop systems did well this year, garnering an overall score of 8.2. This score is significantly better than average, trailing only Alienware among Windows desktop manufacturers. It alone is enough to earn Sony a Readers' Choice award for desktops, which it shares with Alienware, Apple, and Dell. On the notebook side, scores aren't quite as impressive, remaining on a par with last year's. The one area where Sony falls down is on support and repair scores, especially for notebooks.

In large part, Sony's improved desktop score seems attributable to system reliability. Some of the company's VAIO desktops are assembled here in the States and some overseas; this doesn't seem to affect quality control, as our readers are generally pleased with how well the machines hold up. "This is my second Sony VAIO desktop," says Mark Hatcher. "I've been completely pleased with the performance, reliability, and engineering forethought."

On the desktop side, the company's score for reliability, 8.2, is better than average, and only 16 percent of systems needed repair, which is also better than average. Readers aren't quite as pleased with VAIO notebook reliability. The reliability score for Sony notebooks, 8.1, is close to the desktop score, but when compared with the competition, it's only average, as is Sony's 21 percent repair rate.

Though Sony handles both desktop and notebook tech support from the same global network of call centers, notebook owners are far more critical of their support experiences. Sony may not be as proficient when it comes to notebook support, or perhaps readers are less pleased because the problems are harder to solve. Whatever the case, woe to the customer with a problem. Sony received the lowest numerical scores in our survey for satisfaction with tech support and repairs. Its notebook numbers, 5.5 and 5.6, border on abysmal, though amazingly, the support figure is quite an improvement over 2004's score of 4.8.

"Sony has the worst support policy around," says Jim McGann, who owns a VAIO notebook. "They just have no interest in helping to solve problems, and their Web site has little information." So while it looks like Sony is hitting the ball out of the park when it comes to building desktops—and doing reasonably well building notebooks—the company's support, though not as awful as it used to be, still has a long way to go.

The Fine Print

Make no mistake: Despite Canon's run at its crown, HP still gets its typically outstanding ratings, with a significantly better than average score overall and on reliability, with significantly fewer printers than average needing repair.

When something does go wrong, readers are impressed with the HP's Web-based support. HP relies on Instant Support technology, through which an embedded Web server gathers data about printers and submits it over the Internet to HP for diagnostics. In the color laser category, HP was the only manufacturer to get a better-than-average score for reliability, though Xerox got the highest overall score.

So what is HP's weakness? One possible answer: though HP gets significantly better than average ratings for the quality of its own ink, readers are less happy with the cost. Readers rate the cost of manufacturer-provided ink and toner as significantly worse than average. Even third-party inks receive scores significantly worse than average among HP users.

Canon's climb is powered by glowing service and reliability ratings for color ink jets, color ink jet all-in-ones, and photo printers. High ratings by owners of photo printers garner a towering score of 9.0 for likelihood of purchasing or recommending. No manufacturer does better in overall satisfaction or reliability in those fast-growing printer categories.

One possible component of this success is the cost of ink. While the majority of negative comments survey participants make about printers concern cartridge and toner costs, Canon users have great things to say in this regard. The company gets a significantly better than average score for costs of manufacturer-provided ink cartridges. In the color ink jet category, Canon gets the best scores on cost of third-party ink cartridges for photographs and everyday documents. And Canon's overall scores for the quality of its own ink and third-party ink are the highest of all.

Canon's newer models are faring well, as the company receives the highest scores of any manufacturer for overall satisfaction and for reliability among printer users who have had their printers for a year or less. Also, Canon's score for repairs needed is significantly better than average.

Among all printers, Epson's fare reasonably well, getting average scores overall and on reliability, with similar scores for business machines. Overall only 3 percent of Epson machines needed repair, an impressive acheivement. On the other hand, the company's home printers fare slightly worse than average on reliability.

Readers are enthusiastic about the ease of use and ease of setup of Epson printers, awarding significantly better than average ratings in both categories. Epson also aces our repairs needed category, posting a significantly better than average score. But readers rate the expertise of Epson's tech-support personnel as worse than average.

Users are less pleased with the cost of Epson's ink, and Epson's score on this measure was the second worst among all manufacturers, beating only Lexmark. Epson's scores for reliability are generally good, except for photo printers, where its score is worse than average.

Lexmark's scores for overall satisfaction and reliability are significantly worse than average. The company receives the lowest scores in all tech support categories—from expertise to providing prompt solutions—and the lowest score of all in terms of tech support's ability to solve problems. Even those readers who have attempted to bypass active support give worse-than- average ratings to the availability of support information and ease of finding it on the Web. The only bright spot: a significantly smaller than average percentage of Lexmark printers needed repair.

Lexmark also receives mostly significantly worse than average ratings in our categories related to ink cartridge costs. The company scores worst of all on the cost of manufacturer-provided cartridges, the cost of third-party cartridges for everyday documents, and the cost of third-party cartridges for photo printing.

Dell is breaking into the printer market with printers based on designs by other manufacturers, including Kodak, Lexmark, and Samsung. None of the 67 Dell color ink jet printers reported on needed a repair—impressive, though printer repair rates tend to be low in any case. If a printer less than a year old needs a repair, Dell ships a replacement unit the day the customer reports his or her problem.

On the flip side, users' overall satisfaction with Dell printers less than a year old rates as worse than average, and readers' ratings for the quality of Dell's manufacturer-provided ink and toner for documents and photographs are also worse than average. Dell users report a worse-than-average likelihood of purchasing or recommending this brand again.

18th Annual Reader Satisfaction Survey