Sep 17, 2012 05:51 PM EDT by LAPTOP Editors
Specs matter. Design matters. And the comfort of that keyboard matters. But all too often notebook shoppers overlook a very important aspect of picking the right laptop: the support you receive after you’ve handed over your cash.
Our Tech Support Showdown is designed to separate the companies that provide the best help from the ones that will make you wish you went with another brand. And this year’s results were a bit of a surprise.
For instance, during our evaluation of these nine brands, one company’s phone support proved to be little more than an engine for the representatives to try and sell warranties. Another brand changed its warranty policy to be less than a previously standard one.
To evaluate each company we went undercover on the phone and online to see which notebook-makers shined. We were particularly impressed with how some vendors are now being more proactive about researching user issues and especially how they’re leveraging Facebook and Twitter for customer support.
Read on to find out which brands stand above the rest.
September 18th, 2012 at 2:35 am
Dell service stinks. They also don’t stand behind their equipment. I’ve had nothing but problems with Dell and will never purchase another.
October 4th, 2012 at 1:51 pm
then if the sony is the top 1 at tech support..
what is the brand that is best for gamings..
i mean which brand is best for gamings..
including the price the kind of specs the kind of products.
which is the best brand of laptop that is good for gaming..
mostly and surely about durability and performance through out the year.
October 29th, 2012 at 3:24 pm
“Acer Tech Report Results” is shown as the title on the Sony page.
January 7th, 2013 at 11:51 am
I have to agree with Not Phil – I’ve never in my life encountered such appalling “service” as I just did from Dell! Will never buy from them again (not that they care).
February 4th, 2013 at 7:06 am
ive got a couple of asus notebooks and also a netbook, over the yrs ive had a couple of minor warranty issues and asus support has been brilliant, the asus techs seem enthusiastic about there products and are more then happy to take the time to show u little things or answer questions,
March 4th, 2013 at 9:07 am
I’m with Karen and notphil…….. Dell is terrible. Half the time they give you the wrong information and if you have continuing problems… too bad.
I say this as a person who has purchased 4 computers from them in the past, and will not in future.
March 16th, 2013 at 4:42 pm
the thing about dell is their consumer products suck they have for a long time and they probably always will. That said buy the same computer relabled vostro, pay the extra for pro support and your phone wait time is 2 minutes max and they’ll have a US based technician solving any problem have and they’ll drop off the part you need within 4 hours. but if you expect to pay $400 for a laptop that costs $375 to build ship and market. you’ll get crap support.
April 13th, 2013 at 2:27 pm
I’ve had had Dell XPS’s since 2004. That came with a dedicated phone line only for the XPS line, it was India sometimes but not all. The support was decent.
Prior to that I had Dell Dimension’s 8400 and their tech support was as good as dealing with monkeys.
Recently I bought a Lenovo Desktop. Tech support is located in the U.S. for my model and I just read yesterday that all tech support is coming back to the states. I also bought a 5 yr. Priority Service upgrade so I am good till 2018 if I still even have this them?
Having U.S. support is one of the reasons I bought this system. I liked another one a bit more, same price.. more of a gaming system with support in India and no Priority Support like I do here in the states. I do get next day service with this one too and they will only warranty it for 3 yrs max, (what’s that tell you?)
I am still within the time frame of returning this system exchanging it for the other and dealing with India.
Also, Lenovo does not use refurbished parts when repairing your computer, completely new parts are always used.
May 11th, 2013 at 10:06 am
Let me just say that I will NEVER EVER buy a DELL product again! I just had the worst experience with tech support. I have had continuing problems and they said pretty much what I have already heard on here…too bad. I told them that you all just lost another Dell customer and it didn’t really phase them too much. I was supposed to get a new laptop from all the problems I had with this one and they told me “it won’t get approved from all the departments here and plus we need more information.” Really?? Like you don’t have a ton already with all the problems I’ve had??