X

Apple tops Consumer Reports' tech support survey

Apple hit a home run in Consumer Reports' recent tech support survey, taking the top spot in laptops and desktops.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
See full bio
Jim Dalrymple

Consumer Reports on Wednesday published results of its latest survey on the best and worst companies for computer tech support.

Apple

In January, the survey asked 7,000 subscribers who owned a laptop or desktop computer to rate their computer manufacturer in several categories: problem solved; phone waits; phone staff; and online support.

For laptop computers, Apple scored 86 out of a possible 100. That's 23 points above its nearest competitor, Lenovo, which scored a 63. In fact, Apple scored the highest in each of the Consumer Reports categories.

Rounding out the list after Apple and Lenovo are Toshiba (60), Dell (56), HP/Compaq (53), and Acer/Gateway/eMachines (39).

Apple actually did better for desktops than it did for laptops, according to the data. The company scored an 87 out of a possible 100 for its desktop tech support, once again leading its competitors in every category.

Apple's nearest competitor, Dell, was 32 points behind with a score of 55 for desktop tech support. HP/Compaq was third with 53 and Acer/Gateway/eMachines finished last with 39 points. The full results of the survey are only available to subscribers of Consumer Reports.