Posted on 02/21/2012 11:44:25 AM PST by Swordmaker
The Results Are in for RESCUECOM's Annual 2012 Computer Reliability Report; Lenovo/IBM Returns to Dominance While Samsung Grows Significantly
SYRACUSE, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- "Entering 2012, Lenovo/IBM's rise in reliability will be an important boost for the company. Although Apple's market share has risen over the last 12 months, its reliability has declined. The comparatively smaller Toshiba and Samsung are illustrating interesting reliability trends worth watching over the coming year," stated David Milman, CEO of RESCUECOM. For 2012, RESCUECOM now includes all manufacturers with a market share of at least above one percent in this report.
The Computer Reliability Report scores for 2012 are:
Lenovo/IBM (281)
Toshiba (190)
Samsung (156)
Apple (151)
Asus (126)
HP/Compaq (100)
Dell (68)
Sony (64)
Acer (40)
The RESCUECOM Computer Reliability Report is a factual, unbiased review of today's personal computer manufacturers. RESCUECOM defines reliability as the physical reliability of the computers plus the after the sale computer support of the manufacturers.
The RESCUECOM Computer Repair Share Score is calculated by taking the U.S. Computer Market Share of the manufacturer, dividing it by the percentage of calls RESCUECOM receives for service of the manufacturers and multiplying by 100. By considering the number of service calls as a function of each manufacturer's market strength, RESCUECOM is able to determine and score the reliability of computer manufacturers.
In analyzing the computer reliability scores for 2012, RESCUECOM sees the market making important shifts. It will be worth watching Samsung to see if they can maintain reliability as their market share continues its ascent. Over the years Lenovo/IBM has performed well on the RESCUECOM Reliability Report, while Dell, HP and Acer have suffered declines.
(Excerpt) Read more at prnewswire.com ...
I, however, question their statistical methodology, especially considering how this statistic flies in the face of every other study done on reliability.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
You are correct - RescueMe.com is the website for the TV series.
Haven’t really looked, but as computers get better, do people tend to upgrade anyway despite the fact their old computers aren’t broke?
My point being, cause I don’t really know, are Apple’s so upgradeable they won’t be replaced well before their death date?
At RESCUECOM we are aware of the problems you’ve experienced when connected with Apple’s distant computer support reps, whose jobs were gained after outsourcing. Apple’s new first level of support is unfamiliar with common software and hardware problems, and so these problems can no longer be solved after speaking to one person. When you call RESCUECOM at 1-800-RESCUE-PC, you’ll talk to a live representative who knows how to meet your specific Apple computer support need.
No bias here, none whatsoever ... < sarc>
I felt Win 7 was so big my old machine couldn't swallow it, even though the computer ran fine.
I must admit a Core i5 with 6GB RAM runs anything smoothly.
Very good question. Let me try to explain, so perhaps this will help.
Most people replace their Windows machines, not because they cease to boot windows anymore, but because they are 'slow'. They seem to do everything slower, boot, shutdown, open applications - surf the internet ... what was once 'spunky' and 'snappy' now seems to be running in slow motion. So, the user decides to upgrade the system - because, well, frankly because we've been conditioned to do this.
Remember when the Pentium first came out? Then the 33/66 "Turbo" button? Then the PII and everything seemed to run 2x faster. Every 3-4 years meant almost a 100% improvement in processing power. Frankly, from the processing point of view, there really hasn't been an overwhelming reason for the average (non-gamer) user to upgrade their PC in the past 4-5 years. A Core2Duo chipset is more than adequate for most of what your average consumer will need - but, we've become to conditioned to change that it's our knee-jerk reaction to everything. "It's 4 yrs old, it's time to junk it".
And, to be fair, some of the newer OS on the market (I'm talking about Vista and Win7) have higher hardware demands, yet the overall performance in most benchmarks actually went DOWN over the same hardware running WinXP. So, there is literally a 'gun at your head' forcing the upgrade.
If you bought a Mac that runs the x86 (Intel chipsets) you can still run the older Mac OSX, as well as upgrade to the newer OSX Lion or even Mountain Lion. It's still running a Darwin Unix kernal; and this is perhaps the most stable and reliable OS known to man (Speaking of UNIX). I mean, let's compare your typical Intel laptop chipset; how can HP/Dell/Levino offer a motherboard that runs for 45 minutes to 2 hours on a charge, running Win7 Pro; yet the same chipset in a smaller and lighter laptop runs OSX Lion for 10+ hours? How is that even possible? I would argue that it's an efficiency in the OS that isn't simply not there in Win7, Vista, XP and likley not even in Win8 (although time will tell).
It was a really strange problem, one I had never seen, but it would at random times take forever to load a program. Formatting and reinstalling did not solve the problem, neither would the Vaunted DiskWarrior or Techtool Pro. I in desperation deeded to zero out the drive, but that operation would never complete returning many errors.
Once XP hit SP3, the RAM requirements went up - you could get by with 500MB when XP came out - but SP3 was maddening to use until you got above 1GB - 2 preferably. I saw a lot of this complaint - adding RAM became a routine fix for a while - until new machines started coming with enough RAM.
Seems like the processing power war topped out in the P4 days. Instead of one core running blazing 3-4ghz range, they seem to have settled on multiple cores running in the 1-2ghz range. Remember, memory speeds were always the bottle neck - now we have 1+ghz RAM.
Yeah! I read that load of bunk about “Apple’s distant computer support” and “outsourcing” which is totally false. You call Apple support you are talking to US and Canadian citizens. Apple’s customer support iranked highest in all other surveys I’ve seen. Usually 10 to 20 percentage points above the nearest competitor!
Perhaps the data only suggest that the Apple
help desk is more user-friendly than the others.or it is the only one who speaks English.
WOW! Did you see RescueMe.com’s page on how they specialize in removing Apple viruses??? That REALLY shows me their vaunted expertise at Apple Mac computer expertise when they talk about Apple “viruses” taking over every aspect of your operating system and needing them to regain control of your computer again. Could they PLEASE name these Apple viruses that invade your computer “merely because you like music” and try to connect to iTunes and get infected by the “countless threats” facing Mac users. Yeah, RescueMe idiots, they are countless because there ARE NO OSX VIRUSES IN THE WILD, so how can you count what does not exist????
Starting with my 1979 Apple][+, (which survived a smoky house fire [although the monitor didn't]) I have at least 18 (that I recall offhand) Apple systems -- all of which still work.
My wife is still using the PowerBook I bought (used, sight unseen) from a fellow FReeper in 2003 or 2004. The front edge of the case is worn down a couple of mm from my use of the trackpad for graphics creation -- but the PB is still working fine...
Just as I reached the end of the three-year extended warranty on this MacBook Pro, the battery started to swell, and a check showed Apple had a bad vendor batch. I called Apple, the guy checked serial numbers, said, "You must have a 'late bloomer' from that batch; your new one is already on its way." Then he said he could find no record of my AppleCare warranty being registered and handed me off to a young lady.
She said, "I see the record of where you bought it, but have no record of it being registered" (probably my fault). Then she said, Since it is less than a month from expiration, you really never got the use of it" -- and she voluntarily sent me a $300 check -- refunding the full cost of the warranty!!!
My new battery arrived the next day. I removed the new one, stuck the old one in the same box, peeled off the top label, and handed it back to UPS. Could service be any easier?
~~~~~~~~
When RESCUECOM -- or whoever they are -- develops a service history like that, maybe their reports will be worth reading... Until then, I consider them to be lying sacks of %&&% -- trying to hype a service that is not needed...
Similar history here. Rarely have I had my Macs have a problem (have dozens), and when my Macbook did exhibit flakiness due to weird websites, removing and reinserting the battery resolved it. We have three Macbooks in the family that are between 5 and 6 years old, no problems. I took my son-in-law’s Macbook Pro, 4 years old, to Apple when the video had a problem. They swapped the video board for free, saying the manufacturer had some faulty ones show up. A $1000 board given free long after the warranty was up. Now that’s service.
I did just get a new HP desktop. Paid $600. My other one was 8 years old. I like to piddle around with little animations and the like. My old machine was getting a little quirky, and I couldn't see putting money into it.
Plus my editing program kept crashing. And it seemed to take forever to burn a dvd.
Here is one animation. Not really all that good. But they keep me entertained.
Maybe when I get rich I'll get a Mac.
Reads likes BS to me!
ConsumerAffairs.com is a joke — if not an outright hoax. For example, it mentions that “bug zappers” have paid big false advertising fines because their products don’t work. But — no problem — the ConsumerAffairs.com website advertises them for sale anyway...
I read through some of the complaints against Apple iPhones... one, for example that they left up and counted, was from a fellow that felt it was unfair of Apple and AT&T to insist that he had to return the phone after buying it for $199 and signing a two year contract with AT&T, when he canceled the contract the next day! He stated he really only wanted to use the iPhone for the wifi games, GPS, and internet connection and had no use for the phone portion and felt it was UNFAIR that they wanted it back... after all, he BOUGHT it, didn't he?
Another dolt complained when he bought an AT&T iPhone and contract while on vacation to the US and found it wouldn't work in his home country with AT&T US coverage. He was irate that AT&T US did not extend to some African nation and was upset that he now had a phone that did not work, and a $3400 contract that was useless to him and somehow this was Apple's fault.
Yet another claims that in the first week of availability he ordered 30 iPhone 4Gs (sic) from the online Apple store to be delivered to his house for resale, and paid Apple $12,899—ignoring that this comes to $429.96 per phone (which was not the price) and when Apple does not sell that many iPhones to ANY customer at any one time (the maximum number Apple would ever sell to any customer was two until they had fulfilled the back orders, then five), nor do they sell to unknown customers at a discount for resale!—and, he claims, that he took a vacation to Europe when they were supposed to be delivered by UPS, to someone else at his address who was not authorized to receive his merchandise! Since he did not get his 30 iPhones, he is demanding that Apple refund him his $12,899 because UPS delivered to the wrong person! He says that UPS says he has to talk to Apple. He claims he has NOT received his money back and it is Apple's fault. After FOUR MONTHS of trying to get it back, Apple has refused to refund his money and only hangs up when he calls! He wants his refund! Please help!
Another is from a guy who says he has FOUR, count them, FOUR, Apple iPhone 4Gs (sic) and 3 of them have had the volume and mute buttons just FALL OFF! All in just one family! He says he cannot understand how any company can get away with selling such poorly constructed junk phones. I have looked at my iPhone4s and I cannot for the life of me see how those parts could POSSIBLY just fall off... so obviously it is a contrived complaint. Yet ConsumerAffairs.com allows it to remain, un-investigated and counted against Apple.
Many of the other complaints are of the same level... litany complaints from obvious non-owners of Apple products repeating the talking points from the anti-Apple trolls. Complaints filed merely to run up the numbers... and they are allowed to stand, un-challenged.
For that same $600 you could have gotten a Mac Mini, which sports a 500 GB HDD, i5 Chipset with 2.24 GHz Dual core processor and 2 GB of RAM. Then I'd hop to Amazon and bump it to 8 GB of RAM for $40. This comes with OSX Lion, and plenty of included applications. The Mac Mini is quite a little powerhorse, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Thunderbolt, USB2, Firewire800 and all in the box the size of an old cigar box; practically silent.
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