If you need to get Dell or Acer on the line to answer a basic tech support question, be prepared to wait.
That was the conclusion reached by Laptop Magazine, which stealthy conducted consumer reports on all the major notebook manufacturers. The report consisted of two calls to each company, one during peak hours and one off-peak, asking one fairly basic question each time. The first question was on how to make changes to the notebook's power settings, and the second asked how to run the notebook with an external monitor.
On wait time, Dell was the worst. During the first call, Laptop waited 10 minutes to get a person on the line in the Philippines who did not understand the term "power scheme," and who put the caller on hold for 19 minutes before coming up with an answer. On the second call, there was a 13-minute wait while the person on the other end came back with a solution, and the connecton was filled with static and hissing. On the bright side, Dell's Web site answers many technical support questions, Laptop notes.
Acer fared slightly better. While the company's tech support didn't require much waiting, the support itself was lacking. The technician failed to mention Acer laptops' built-in power management utility, and offered a convoluted solution instead. During the second call, the support line insisted that the laptop in question's warranty had expired (it hadn't) and disconnected the line. In both instances, an automated voice offered extended warranties before connecting to tech suport.
Like Dell, HP's Web site has lots of information, albeit poorly organized. One call to tech support included an 11-minute check-in, after which the technician said the computer was out of warranty (it wasn't). A later call went quickly, but in all cases the connection quality was subpar.
On top of the list? Apple, whose support staff in Texas and Canada were able to answer questions in one minute and five minutes, respectively. Laptop also praised Apple for it's organized Web support and the ability to visit a Genius Bar at the Apple Store for basic help, even if the product is out of warranty.
Overall, Laptop noted that tech support was markedly worse this year than previous years. That could just be luck of the draw, given the report's low sample size, but it's also possible that the explosion of netbooks has inundated support lines, especially when people don't quite understand the limitations and inner workings of a netbook.
Laptop called Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Sony and Toshiba for its report. Check out the full story to see how your machine's maker stacked up.
