Survey says...

[christopher_wolf]

Lenovo/IBM makes the most reliable computers

Fairly interesting poll, don't you think?

[K. Eng]

The article does question the accuracy of the study:

Of course, Rescuecom focuses on providing IT support to businesses, so it's customer base doesn't necessarily match the demographics of the broader computer technology user base. Apple has a lower Rescuecom support-call likelihood than its market share would suggest, but is that a sign of greater reliability, or a relative paucity of Apple users among Rescuecom's customers? And how will the big battery recalls of Q3 2006 change the scores?

Sadly, I can't say that I think ThinkPads are that much more reliable than other brands of computers. I am still bitter that my T40 ($1950 including all upgrades) broke a total of 3 times. My old Dell Latitude CPi took just as much of a beating and had not one system board failure.

Time will tell if the 60 series ThinkPads will improve the record. I suspect that the roll cage will reduce a lot of component failures as compared to the T4x.

[christopher_wolf]

I still say they should have given you a new Thinkpad, you know.

It would be awesome if the would include a "debrief" sheet that shows exactly what was malfunctioning where and how they fixed it with the tech team notes on it when they ship such Thinkpads back; it would really help with identifying problems..

Yeah, the accuracy is suspect, that I know and so is their rather messed up system of evaluating the companies; Gateway solid, Hp/Compaq a little more so solid perhaps.

I like how they ended on...

Which is a bit like saying: Lenovo machines are more reliable than Dell's. Only they might not be...

That sure highlights what could be, perhaps, possibly more solider than most, we think, a hole in the survey.

[underclocker]

As an aside, the Apple reliablity number is high, but that's mostly because their owners are brainwashed by some Bluetooth subliminal messages, no doubt.

Even when their machines die, they claim that they are great.

Mac's are delicate and still only have one mouse button, yikes!

[hobbes]

This survey seems to based on the number of trouble calls corrected for manufacturer market share.

I'm sure the fact that Dell and other companies produce many entry-level models that are marketed and sold to the inexperienced home user affects the survey numbers greatly. Many or most of Lenovo/IBM's laptops are in the hands of more experienced users or in a corporate environment which often has it's own IT support system. They handle their own problems.

I don't think you can draw many conclusions from their data.