AfterDawn: Tech news

Apple scores, Dell bombs in consumer satisfaction survery

Written by James Delahunty @ 17 Apr 2009 8:29 User comments (20)

Apple scores, Dell bombs in consumer satisfaction survery According to a report issued by Forrester on Friday, Apple's customer satisfaction is remarkably high in several categories, while Dell's is notably low. A market research report was compiled from 4,500 surveys to measure consumers' overall satisfaction with computer manufacturers in different areas. The results clearly put Apple on top, with an 80 percent consumer satisfaction rating.
Gateway came in second place with 66 percent, showing the considerable lead Apple somehow has attained over its rivals. Hewlett-Packard and Compaq weren't two far behind in third and fourth place, achieving a 64 percent and 63 percent consumer satisfaction rating, respectively. Coming in dead last, with 58 percent consumer satisfaction rating, is none-other than Dell.



The ratings were made up from three categories; Useful, Easy to Use, and Enjoyable. While Apple scored well in all three - with 82 percent approving in the Useful category, 86 percent approving in the Ease of Use and 72 percent approving in the Enjoyable category - Dell set the low mark as being the only manufacturer to receive below 50 percent, when it got 47 percent in the Enjoyable category.

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20 user comments

117.4.2009 20:42

Everytime I had to call Dell for something, I always got a grumpy representative and they ended up leaving me waiting on the phone for more than 30+ minutes....Luckily now I have a Toshiba which I break and fix myself, and I don't need no stinking customer support.

217.4.2009 20:52

We purchased four Dells in eight years. The last two (a notebook and a desktop) died soon after warranty. We're finished with Dell. In addition, the desktop we had was built with the absolute intention of keeping the owner from easily fixing it (or pay Dell an Arm & a leg to fix it). You've lost us, Dell. See you later. Have fun dying a slow, corporate death. The computer we just bought is a home brew. It's got top-notch parts inside, and is actually cheaper than Dell's online offerings. Go figure.

317.4.2009 21:44

There is no reason in the world why you can't build a computer in this day in age, its like Lego's only easier.

i can build a computer from the Case up in 7 minutes, i could do it faster but i like my stuff bolted in right.

a decent future proof computer can be had at Around $300 dollars.

the only good thing that come's from an OEM is the Case. got a 1986 Compaq and the case is steel 2inch thick the case weighs 90 pound's and stands 4 feet tall and a pilot switch to boot(literally).

417.4.2009 22:19

My Inspiron has served me well, its currently only 3 years old though. My Dell from a long time ago (7+ years) had the mobo go out a year after the warranty was up though.

I personally would rather just build my own PC and am looking forward (possibly way forward) to being able to build my own laptop.

In regards to Apple's customer satisfaction, you are a lot more likely to get strong ratings with a smaller user base. If Apples become the dominate force in the market I would like to see the scores then, if the amount of Apple's gets near or equal to PCs in the amount of users.


Peace

517.4.2009 22:53

Quote:
In regards to Apple's customer satisfaction, you are a lot more likely to get strong ratings with a smaller user base. If Apples become the dominate force in the market I would like to see the scores then, if the amount of Apple's gets near or equal to PCs in the amount of users.
Indeed.

617.4.2009 23:37

i know 6 people with dell computers, and all of them had some kind of hardware failure within 4 months of buying their system

718.4.2009 00:29
varnull
Inactive

Dell have really gone down hill in the last few years. The rot set in with the E-Machines and has got progressively worse. Made down to a price is the phrase that comes to mind.

I have a stack of old dell p2's and p3's.. solid reliable machines.. but I can't recommend them any more to people after buying off the shelf new systems..

Oddly the same goes for acer.. wouldn't touch one with a bargepole XD

818.4.2009 00:48

Apple Customer Service is awesome. Before Leopard I was having a lot of problems with crashing and stuff and they walked me through it nice and simple to make things work even if it took like 2 hours. Real nice people :)

Leopard came out and all my problems disappeared lol

918.4.2009 08:04

I have an IMAC, I love it, and I think part of the high customer satisfaction for apple isn't from a smaller pool of people, but paying for a product that stays fast and at a high quality for more than a month. It seems like certain PC's are made for pop-ups and the halting of any speed your computer may have had. I used to love PC's and now that I have had experience on leopard, I find that windows layout is archaic, and so full of system errors that I could never go back. With my PC, which was a compaq I must have had to restart it at least once a day, with my Imac, I have never had to restart due to a crash or OS error.

1018.4.2009 08:19

Originally posted by varnull:
Dell have really gone down hill in the last few years. The rot set in with the E-Machines and has got progressively worse. Made down to a price is the phrase that comes to mind.

I have a stack of old dell p2's and p3's.. solid reliable machines.. but I can't recommend them any more to people after buying off the shelf new systems..

Oddly the same goes for acer.. wouldn't touch one with a bargepole XD
True, the old Slot 1 Dells, are the best. They still had Proprietary power supplies, but almost all OEMs had at least one Proprietary part in there setup.

1118.4.2009 08:21

Originally posted by asilay328:
I have an IMAC, I love it, and I think part of the high customer satisfaction for apple isn't from a smaller pool of people, but paying for a product that stays fast and at a high quality for more than a month. It seems like certain PC's are made for pop-ups and the halting of any speed your computer may have had. I used to love PC's and now that I have had experience on leopard, I find that windows layout is archaic, and so full of system errors that I could never go back. With my PC, which was a compaq I must have had to restart it at least once a day, with my Imac, I have never had to restart due to a crash or OS error.
well why i could say that for the G5 series IMac the moment they switched to Intel they shot themself's in the foot.

1218.4.2009 09:29

I've bought two Dell desktops (yeah I know, dumb, should have built them myself) and I didn't have any problems. Their customer support was pretty good too. Except I have trouble understanding their Indian accents. :(

I'll be getting a laptop to replace my old box. The laptop will be able to do everything I need besides playing the latest graphically-intensive games that I could mostly play on an Xbox 360 anyway. So I'd have to buy the parts for a whole rig just for gaming and I just see that as a waste of money (for myself). Not to mention upgrading frequently. For the laptop, might go with Dell or whomever else allows you to customize your laptop build.

A lot of people hate on Dell but I really haven't had any major problems.

1318.4.2009 09:47

Quote:
Originally posted by asilay328:
I have an IMAC, I love it, and I think part of the high customer satisfaction for apple isn't from a smaller pool of people, but paying for a product that stays fast and at a high quality for more than a month. It seems like certain PC's are made for pop-ups and the halting of any speed your computer may have had. I used to love PC's and now that I have had experience on leopard, I find that windows layout is archaic, and so full of system errors that I could never go back. With my PC, which was a compaq I must have had to restart it at least once a day, with my Imac, I have never had to restart due to a crash or OS error.
well why i could say that for the G5 series IMac the moment they switched to Intel they shot themself's in the foot.
Why would you say that? I have the White Core 2 Duo iMac and well like I said at first I was having problems but now it's awesome. I think the new ones suck though... Now I think they're goin downhill...

1418.4.2009 12:29

I have to say, I have a Dell Inspiron 1501 and its great, does everything I need/want it to, the charger went on it but I emailed Dell and even though I was out of warranty they replaced it totally free in just 2 days, now I call that Good Service

1518.4.2009 15:41

Quote:
Quote:
Originally posted by asilay328:
I have an IMAC, I love it, and I think part of the high customer satisfaction for apple isn't from a smaller pool of people, but paying for a product that stays fast and at a high quality for more than a month. It seems like certain PC's are made for pop-ups and the halting of any speed your computer may have had. I used to love PC's and now that I have had experience on leopard, I find that windows layout is archaic, and so full of system errors that I could never go back. With my PC, which was a compaq I must have had to restart it at least once a day, with my Imac, I have never had to restart due to a crash or OS error.
well why i could say that for the G5 series IMac the moment they switched to Intel they shot themself's in the foot.
Why would you say that? I have the White Core 2 Duo iMac and well like I said at first I was having problems but now it's awesome. I think the new ones suck though... Now I think they're goin downhill...
G5's architecture was well designed and well made. and the way he said it makes it seem like the PC is a Big Security Hole.

whether apple lovers know it or not the Mac has Become a PC the only deference is the ID Chip placed on there hardware upgrades, that break compatibility with anything other than apples own OS.

i used to like apple's when they had there G series CPU's.

Many Viruses don't pay any head to your OS type. they pay attention to your Architecture X86 X64 SPARC So on so forth.

So when i said they shot themselves in the foot, i meant on the security level.

1618.4.2009 23:37

Originally posted by varnull:
Dell have really gone down hill in the last few years. The rot set in with the E-Machines and has got progressively worse. Made down to a price is the phrase that comes to mind.

I have a stack of old dell p2's and p3's.. solid reliable machines.. but I can't recommend them any more to people after buying off the shelf new systems..

Oddly the same goes for acer.. wouldn't touch one with a bargepole XD
I have a p3 and a p4 w/ht Dell. They've been reliable for me. Though my P4's power supply (fan going loud and fast) has acted up a bit a few months back. I've heard some nasty things about Dell's power supplies so that must be why. Or it could just be that the box is over 4 and a half years old and it's showing it's age.

Would you recommend their laptops? I like the ability to customize parts and Dell allows you to do that though I wish they had more customization options. And they offer extended warranty and accidental coverage. Considering I'm a bit clumsy (lol), I might get those to be safe. I've never really needed to worry about desktops much but a laptop is different.

1719.4.2009 01:03

Quote:
Would you recommend their laptops? I like the ability to customize parts and Dell allows you to do that though I wish they had more customization options. And they offer extended warranty and accidental coverage. Considering I'm a bit clumsy (lol), I might get those to be safe. I've never really needed to worry about desktops much but a laptop is different.


Gateway,Toshiba,And IBM Laptops are geat on customizable option. some of there laptops model' allow swappable Graphics cards along with the CPU. the draw back to this is that you must order the card from the manufacture and is generally 60+ more than the desktop models.

Dell does too but i've heard so many horror stories with the Dell laptops, compared to the other brands.

1819.4.2009 07:32

I'll look into those brands then. Swappable GPUs are nice. My guess is, if you switch your graphics card on a Dell laptop, it'll void the warranty? That's no good. Do these other brands offer extended warranty and accidental coverage options?

1919.4.2009 11:41

Originally posted by inagasake:
I'll look into those brands then. Swappable GPUs are nice. My guess is, if you switch your graphics card on a Dell laptop, it'll void the warranty? That's no good. Do these other brands offer extended warranty and accidental coverage options?
Don't know maybe, take a look at there respective websites. I'm sure they do.

2025.4.2009 00:53

My take, if you can be your own tech support, buy Dell. That's what I do.

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