Reliability and Service Report Card

Ratings Guide: What's Behind the Ratings and the Survey Methodology

Word scores awarded correspond to the companies' relative rankings. Each measure relates to a particular question (or set of questions) we asked PC World subscribers in our survey. We tabulated averages for four product types in the peripherals category: printers, digital cameras, wireless gateways, and PDAs. These averages are based on the manufacturers ranked in our charts. Each measure may have anywhere from one to five different word scores (Outstanding, Good, Fair, Poor, and Unacceptable). In some measures, based on our analysis, no manufacturer scored high enough to earn an Outstanding rating or low enough to receive an Unacceptable rating.

• Desktop and Notebook PCs (chart)
• Printers, Digital Cameras, Wireless Gateways, and PDAs (chart)