Which Computers Break More?

August 18, 1999 -- Anyone who uses a computer knows how finicky it can be. But Consumer Reports has found some brands are more likely to break than others.

Computer repair shops see it all: crashed systems, busted CD ROM drives, modems that won't connect to the outside world. You hear plenty of horror stories from computer owners.

To see if some of the nice, leading brands have been more likely to need repairs than others, CR surveyed 18,000 of its readers who bought a desktop computer between 1995-98.

Donato Vaccaro analyzed the results, which cover brand -- not individual models.

Acer was the bottom of the chart with more repairs than any others and Dell was at the top of the chart.

Before you send your computer to the shop, you usually try to get help for the manufacturer's support line.

In another survey of computer users, CR found some help lines have been less helpful than others.

Packard Bell was not as good as others at solving computer owners' problems and there was a longer waiting time to get through by phone, according to CR.

By contrast, Dell had the shortest waiting time. And, overall, Dell and Gateway offered much more than any other brand.

Besides help lines, most manufacturers also have Web sites that are supposed to help you solve your computer problems. However, more than half the people in CR's survey who tried the Web sites said that they couldn't solve their problems that way.

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