« Return to: PC Reliability & Service: Things Fall Apart
Home PCs in slight decline, say readers. Gateway, Micron, and Quantex fall a tier.
| Reliability | Service | |||||||||||||
| Percent of PCs with problems | Problems per year | Problems on arrival | Dead on arrival | Component failure | High satisfaction with reliability | Overall reliability score | Short hold time | Quick resolution | No resolution | Knowledgeable tech support | Sincere effort by tech support | High satisfaction with service | Overall service score | |
| ***** OUTSTANDING | ||||||||||||||
| DELL Top of the heap (again). | ***** | **** | **** | ***** | ***** | ***** | ***** | **** | ***** | **** | **** | ***** | **** | **** |
| **** GOOD | ||||||||||||||
| IBM Very few components go south, but owners not happy with service. | **** | *** | **** | **** | ***** | *** | **** | **** | **** | **** | *** | *** | ** | *** |
| *** FAIR | ||||||||||||||
| ACER Worrisome number of PC problems on arrival. | ** | *** | * | *** | ** | ** | ** | ***** | *** | *** | *** | *** | ** | *** |
| COMPAQ Lousy reliability in spots, service not much better. | ** | ** | ** | **** | **** | ** | ** | **** | *** | *** | ** | *** | ** | *** |
| GATEWAY Middling reliability, service in decline. | *** | *** | *** | **** | *** | *** | *** | ** | *** | *** | *** | **** | *** | *** |
| HEWLETT-PACKARD Components unlikely to die, but owners are unhappy. | *** | ** | *** | **** | ***** | ** | *** | *** | *** | *** | ** | *** | ** | *** |
| MICRON Spotty reliability, so-so service and support. | *** | **** | ** | **** | *** | **** | **** | ** | *** | **** | *** | *** | *** | *** |
| QUANTEX Tons of hassles from the very start. | *** | *** | * | **** | *** | *** | *** | ** | *** | ***** | *** | **** | *** | *** |
Company listings within each rating tier (Outstanding, Good, and Fair) are alphabetical. Five stars is the best possible rating; one star, the worst.