And I don't sit in Starbucks with it. But it's just so easy to generalize, isn't it.

I have never heard of mac support doing this. Sooooo yaaaah...

That said, Dell's online tech support is awesome and amazing.

And most problems can be googled and solved quickly.

Had a similar issue with Dell regarding bad capacitors and Dell sent someone out to my office the next day. No hassle, no charge.

Sorry, not impressed with Apple. It's a shame too. When I had lugged the broken Mac into the Apple store, I was actually hoping to drop off the Mac, buy an $8k Mac Pro to hold me over and transition into. Nope, no sale. and there won't be a sale. Since Apple's the only provider of hardware on the OS X side of things, I'm stuck with Apple and their service department. In my case, the hardware failed and Apple failed to stand behind their product. Why would I give future business to a company which won't stand by their products?

I never knew that Apple let the store workers had ANY involvement. That's pretty cool.

You buy a better hardware with the same amount of money when buying a PC, but what importance does it have when you can't use the hardware for true.

One comment here says that Mac users only likes the shiny design/buttons. False. It's the apps that we love. They work, and results are always better than PC's. Also takes much less time.

Crappy API makes Windows worst OS throughout the world.

Oh, by he way I am a programmer and also an engineer in Computer Science. I know how these stuff works.

It's not hard to get good CS with Dell. Just make your purchase through their small business division, which entitles you to call that support line. Better yet, if you're a student and your school has discounts with Dell, buy through them. Then you'll get the dedicated Education and Government support line, which is in Kentucky and has excellent response times.

That study doesn't look at the actual support stipulations and warranties provided by different companies. Apple has no onsite service. They have no accidental damage warranty options. You either have to take your hardware to an Apple store (difficult in states like Indiana, where there is a single store in the entire state) or mail it off and be without your computer for days or weeks on end.

Sound like the opposite of good customer service to me.

@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected:

Haha nice. I agree completely. Everytime I go to the mall I pass the Apple store which is always packed with designer label-wearing 11 year olds accompanied by their Coach bag-carrying 'luded-up mothers. Then there are the college pukes who scrape & save every last penny for a year just to buy a $2500 MacBook so they can look important in Starbucks.

Apple just stinks of elitism, as if their products are specially made for gullible yuppies who would gladly pay a $1000 markup for a simple, basic computer just because it's streamlined & *pretty* with a little logo on it.

Clan of damn d-bags, all of them.

1 - Even though I ordered at the student discounted rate, I was billed at the retail price. Apple told me to eat the nearly $600 difference.

2- My computer arrived installed with OSX Jaguar even though it had shipped after Panther had been released. Apple told me to get stuffed.

3 - I ordered Applecare along with the computer, and the policy expired three months early because of a "filing error." By time they grudgingly agreed to reinstate the policy, it was "too late" to get a video card issue repaired.

The "Mac Tax" is just not worth it.

Training: OSX is vastly superior to Windows! Mostly because Vista sucks chortle chortle!
Me to customer: OSX is vastly superior to Windows! Mostly because Vista sucks chortle chortle!
Customer: Why? I have had no problems with Vista.
Me: Uh...

I've dipped into all 3 major OS flavors and found that they're mostly just wrappers around the same technology. Linux is the hackers playground but doesn't have good hardware support, Windows lets you do what you want and uses whatever hardware (although Vista only likes newer stuff), and OSX lets you do exactly whatever is allowed by OSX and nothing else and locks you into hardware.

The major OS's and how they operate reflect who should be using them.

I had a problem with my laptop - sound card and a malfunctioning key - they sent a courier to my office to pick it up, and a few days later sent one to bring it back. Phone support was excellent as well.

I could say the same thing for their PS3 support.

@AndrewKolkata: I got parts for a PC build sitting in my front room that would game the pants off any of Apple's systems short of the Mac Pro (the Mac Pro is actually EXTREMELY competitive in the workstation market and does have hardware capable of gaming). The total cost for the machine was $1445 with shipping and with a $300 flight control system.

I have no doubt your Macbook played Bioshock, but did it play it at native res of your panel with all the graphical niceties cranked to max?

@rsfrid: I'm a Dell on-site tech, and I don't have to pay up front for parts (just ones that don't get returned), just for gas, which I even get a reimbursement on every week.

Oh, and to poke further holes in your argument, the company I work for also provides on-site service for Apple.

I don't know which of the four companies you worked for, but the two that I know very well, do not treat their field techs as poorly as you claim. I've been at this 4 years and the other techs in the area have been at this for 10+. Now some of the sub-contractors do treat their help very poorly and I think that's hurt Dell more than anything. The companies they farm out their on-site service to farm it out again and that's where the problems crop up. The fourth party contractors can be fly-by-night operations that are poorly run and have very lax hiring standards.

So uninformed! There are dozens of ways to get around copy protection and still own the game. 90% of the time the game's copy protection will not harm your computer and if you really like to game then you know where to look to find out which games to avoid.
Console games don't have the same feel as a mouse and keyboard plus you can update them.
Why spend 2 to 3 times as much for a computer just to spend another 200 to 300 on a new operating system? I have an Asus laptop that will tear up an apple equivalent that costs 1k more than it. Is it worth it to be able to say that you're a trendy SOB? I thought this website was about educating consumers.

2. Not sure where this trend is fading quickly to. At the end of 2007, EA agreed to license the Cider porting engine to port their PC titles to the Mac. This is not native Mac support, however; Cider technology is just a Windows-operating wrapper that allows Windows code to run at a performance hit. If the game errors out, you'll see Windows error information.

3. Using OSX, whether on a genuine Mac or a Hackintosh, locks you into certain hardware, eliminating the freedom of choice that PC users have. You're literally locked into certain performance demographics because you can only use certain equipment.

Gaming on the Mac is inferior. This is not an opinion.

@Gokuhouse: Difference between you and your workplace. You personally may have 2 possibly 3 PCs under warranty. Your workplace could possibly have dozens if not hundreds of machines all under warranty. Law of probability says you're going to see more failures at work where there's more computers.

Though I would understand your complaint if the work machines were Optiplex GX270's and GX280's I am STILL replacing motherboards for some school districts that have bad capacitors after 4 years.

@IHaveAFreezeRay: Most of the small timers have been pushed out by the Reek Squad and Firedog in urban areas. Not surprising considering Geek Squad will often have dozens of agents dedicated to doing on-site repair calls that never even set foot inside a Best Buy unless its to pick up customer equipment or turn in cash (as is the case with a friend of mine that works for GeekSquad in Houston). Then you have to factor in rent for retail locations suitable for PC repair probably are much much higher.

You don't start seeing the smaller family run PC repair places until you get in to more remote areas where the big players won't go without charging a king's ransom.

@mattshu:

Please post a link to these speed tests. I have the feeling you are full of shit.

@LeilaniBuzzard: Vista Ultimate ran fine on my Dell Latitude. Bluetooth worked better than it did under Windows XP and so did my Sprint aircard. Battery life was better under Vista with its improved CPU power control. Only reason I put that laptop back on XP was because my scanner didn't work with Vista natively and HP was NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER going to release a Vista driver for it. I upgraded my desktop to Vista and haven't had a breath of trouble from it.

@kcrusher:Resale value? This isn't a used car we're talking about. It's a computer, by the time most people are done using the thing it's well beyond the point of being worthless in terms of resale.

@U-235:
Absolutely. There is no excuse for not building your own computer. It is easy, fun, and a whole lot cheaper than paying for any of these guys.

I've been using PC's for 15 years and have spent less than 10 minutes with customer service on the phone. I've never had a computer "die" on me, and have always been able to salvage some old parts for use in new machines. Hell, I've been using the same desktop case for 10 years, and I replace the parts on an as-needed basis which is significantly less costly than upgrading the whole system every year.

Apples, Dell, HP, are all rotten.

@SavarnaPittheus: The only Mac that's well suited to serious gaming is the Mac Pro. And it's much more expensive than a home built PC. The rest of Apple's lineup consists of systems with soldered-in graphics and/or soldered in CPUs.

Even then, last I remember (apologies if I am wrong) but you can't just go to newegg.com and order just any video card either. You have to get one that's for a Mac.

I just built one of my relatives a new gaming PC That ran $1400 with a quad core CPU. The $1400 included a $300 Flight control system with yoke and pedals.

Don't get me wrong, Macs are EXCELLENT desktop computers. The Mac Pro is also very competitive in the high-end workstation market. However, great gaming computers they are not...at least not what I consider a gaming computer.

If you're strictly evaluating Dell and Apple computers on the basis of hardware alone, even factoring in customer service, it's not hard to imagine concluding that Dell is a better value. However, that doesn't consider the whole picture. iLife is an incredible package.

@Trai_Dep:

Except they don't. For every company except Gateway, the gap between them and Apple is smaller for Call Satisfaction than Agent Satisfaction, by 4 points.

Agent Satisfaction Minus Call Satisfaction
Apple : 4
Dell: 0
Gateway: 8
HP: 0
Toshiba: 0

I've had the mother board replaced twice, the screen replaced once, little black feet be missing on the bottom, broken power adapters... all of them have been fixed easily the day after I text chatted them. The biggest problem I've ever had is having moved recently I once had to call them up after getting an e-mail with my old address listed, and change the address they have on record.

The only reason I'd consider buying a Mac is because of the magnetic power connector, since that's twice gotten screwed up (hence the mother board replacements).

Anyway I'd buy dell again.

I've had one problem with a display dying on a latitude, called support, the next day they came to the office and replaced the display. All of this couldn't have been easier. (And this was a personal laptop, registered on my home address, they just came to our office because that was where I would be at that time.) -> This happened in Bangalore

My ibook's hard drive and battery died, which I got replaced at my own cost, as this was outside of the 1 year standard warranty period. (Also while in Bangalore.) (I'd also like to mention latitudes come with a standard 3 year warranty.)

My wife her macbook has had its motherboard replaced twice, hard drive once, and charger once.
One count in Belgium, two in India, and one in California.
Each time we had to go to an apple store or repair center (in California we had to go twice, once to make an appointment, and a second time, to a different store, to explain the problem; this to get the charger replaced.)
Both in Belgium and in India (where the motherboard and hard drive work was done), each time my wife had to wait 1-2 weeks before getting her laptop back.

My siter-in-law (in Belgium) her macbook has now also passed away, and apple is being a bitch about repairing it since it is older than a year, and she didn't take the extended warranty. (Although Belgian law explicitly states all electronics require a full two year warranty.) (And Apple charges enough of a markup in Belgium to be able to hold itself to that law...) She'll be lodging a complaint with a small matters judge to get this resolved. (As it's a clear violation of Belgian law.)

So which are my conclusions in all this:
* macbooks die, a lot (at least the early-ish models my wife and sister-in-law got)
* instead of acknowledging this problem and providing a solution (assuming the newer models don't have these problems), they're forcing them to have them die and get repaired every few months
* apple warranty means locating a store, and waiting 1-2 weeks to get your laptop back (and finding a store is not always all that easy)
* dell warranty rocks!!! (at least the service they provide in India; but seeing as it's worldwide next-business-day-on-site I don't see why it shouldn't be the same elsewhere, especially since you'll probably be talking to the same people in Bangalore when you call up *grin*)
* because of my experiences in laptop breakage and ease of resolution, I now recommend everyone I know to buy Dell laptops

Dell: 90%
Apple: 15%

They tried to sell me a $99 service contract for a $49 iPod shuffle that had given up the ghost. Worse, I could not drop it off to be looked at - HAD to make an appointment.

You can drop your car off at the shop for repair after filling out paperwork, but not an iPod....

Mac also doesnt care about giving you product that function and keep functioning...they release a product too fast and then the users are stuck with something that doesnt work....on my new laptop the internet had issues with a software update and all mac did to fix it was tell me to not update my computer ever! That is not a solution!

@changed my name:

Macs are for internet n00bs. Hence the easy use factor. PCs are those wh oknow what they're doing. If your husband didn't look up porn so much, he mat have no problems at all.

Macs work good, because they're not able to do anything else other than help sheep surf the web.

@Raiders757:

I meant to say...

I hate the Apple adds to the point that I could care less "even if" they have a better product.

Note the word "if", as they don't have a better product. Apple sucks giant nads.

I hate the Apple adds to the point that I could care less if they have a better product. My only wish is that PC guy kicks that smug Apple punk right in the nuts.

I will never buy an Apple as long as that trendy looking putz shows his smug face on my TV. iPods suck, so I can only imagine how bad their computers suck. I like freedom. That's something Applecan't offer.

Apple is for n00bs, be it PCs, phones, or MP3 players.

Apple = Sheeple

If you've worked inside a Mac, you'll know that they are built very, very differently from Dells et al., and it does actually take a skilled technician to not screw things up.

Your best option, honestly, is to take the machine to a local Apple Authorized Service Provider, which Apple can refer you to.

GENERALLY, AASPs are staffed with competent, friendly techs and turn computers around faster than Apple stores. Parts are ALWAYS overnighted, so if you have a simple problem (and the tech can reproduce the steps you took to diagnose it) there's a chance you'll have your computer back the next day.

Desktops with AppleCare are also eligible for free onsite service, just call Apple. It can be frustrating to be in your position, but companies need to protect their warranties.

You'd think this article came from Gizmodo.

Anyways, I guess I am smug for buying coffee from a local place that doesn't burn their coffee and actually has baristas who know how to pull a good shot. But I guess that makes me smug.

(Nevermind that the local place is actually cheaper then McDonald's.)

[www.appleinsider.com]

But then, yeah, there's this story too. ;-)

"Better than Dell" is faint praise indeed.

It didn't ask them about computer satisfaction.

If you look at the far right of the chart, customer loyalty is the same.

They asked the wrong questions.

First, there are more responses from Apple than Dell or HP, despite being a smaller vendor. And even for them that's only 159 responses.

Second, there's something I like to call the "fanboy effect" where people who buy higher-priced gadgets are more likely to go onto the message boards/survey sites and loudly justify their decisions. These people are more likely to give higher satisfaction ratings as well. This is probably less pronounced among OEMs besides Apple, since they usually compete in lower-margin market segments, so you're bound to see more complaints.

I'm not saying that the satisfaction ratings aren't in the order they actually are (which they very well might be), just that this survey is deeply flawed as it is.

Compare the specs, not the prices.

Every service company must be kicking Dell Ass! It's not that hard, folks. Dell service is shipped off overseas. The on-site folks must fund their own expenses up front (including costs of repair parts) and then wait for reimbursement. Sounds like dark ages to me. From what I heard from a local on-site technician, Dell can't keep techs for more than a few weeks till they go broke. I used to do on-site service for Dell equipment, and, trust me, you don't want to buy a Dell, dude!

I can say it's the best customer service I've received, before Zappos.

My Dell is an absolute beast of a machine with bleeding edge technology combined with enough RAM to need a firehose to supply the electricity.

It is also a year old which means something newer at half the price will most likely kick its butt.

Oh well, that be computers.

Overbuying any computer is a waste of money UNLESS you are going to be using the computer for 3-5 years or more. The people that buy a new computer (Mac or PC) every year would be best served learning to build their own OR buy only the $500 computers.

@Trai_Dep: It says she hasn't had problems with Dell machines.

with my apple powerbook, it's always been an extremely easy fix. we have walked into the apple store several times, getting our problems fixed without spending a dime. the people i have dealt with at apple have bent over backwards to help us and not even charge anything. i've never been happier with a computer than i am with my mac.

@DogInYellowCoat:

From your statement I can infer that your Mac is newer than your laptop.

Duh, newer equipment, because electronics advance at such a rapid rate, is almost always better/faster/more powerful than older equipment.

The cost of the equipment is not a valid basis for comparision of old versus new.

@Trai_Dep: I don't think anybody makes beige boxes anymore. Plus who cares what the case looks like. That's what I don't get about Mac enthusiasts. You guys are all about the prettiness of the cases and matching accessories and shiny rendered buttons on OSX. So much so that you're willing to pay four times as much as an equivalent PC.

Could it maybe be that Apple users are psychotic fanboys* who will do anything to prove Macs are better than Windows PCs?

*please note evidence of sarcasm

I'd be interested to see the difference on the Apple Care/Dell comparable service plans. I have Apple care and have gotten pretty much everything replaced, for free, overnight. Mr. Friday has a similar plan (3 years for I think 150-200 bucks) and has had several hard drives replaced on his Inspiron for quite a hassle. We had to stay at home all weekend just for the repair guy to come over, take a quick look, and order some parts.

*ducks*

In any case, I wouldn't get a Mac for a few simple reasons. 1, they're overpriced. 2, my headphone drivers won't work with a Mac. Last but not least, I absolutely can't stand Mac advertisements.

A good example would be Apple's newest commercial, claiming that Microsoft's Advertising to Expense spending ratio is out of proportion, with the main amount of their money being spent on advertising.

Now, I live in Canada, so I can't speak for Americans, but I've seen ONE Microsoft commercial in my life, and I see Apple commercials on a daily basis. I simply wouldn't buy a Mac for the main reason that I don't like their advertising technique, and I find their points to be blown out of proportion.

I've always recieived great customer service from Dell. I've had to file 3 warranty claims, and each time it was very painless. Just had me run a few quick tests and confirmed my address so they could ship me a replacement part (they let you replace the part yourself if you ask so you don't have to waste time waiting for a technician). It comes in a prepaid DHL/UPS box to ship the defective part back and a number to call so a driver will swing by and pick it up for you. This was before I had XPS systems and supposedly that support is even better.

Oh, and I am familiar the the concept of upgrading that doesn't involve complete product replacement for a few g's.

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid apple fanboys..

2.8 quad core, 4 gigs of ram, 2 ATI's in crossfire, dvdrw, 500gb HD, nice steel case. $600. I dare you to get a mac that is half that machine for $600. I'll take my newegg over apple any day of the week.

That _never_ happens.

@johnmc:

Everyone except 1, right?

If I say that I'm a Sagittarius, I'm not saying that I'm a half-horse archer.

Same difference. It's a form of personification.

Bah, this is a bunch of silliness.

The products shouldn't need servicing or service calls, to start. If they DO, then sure you're better off with some companies than others. But they shouldn't to begin with--and that's what I find more important than whether or not the service I'll get will be better than others. I don't care if Apple is sunshine and roses if I have to make calls there every few months for a problem here and there.

I've had zero issues with the two Dell XPS machines in my apartment. Have talked with support a few times just to ask about some specifics that weren't clear, but it was good service. The XPS models are the premium brand within Dell, so I figure the service for that is better than the $400 sale Inspiron you buy at a Wal-Mart. the Dell XPS people have still been very great to me for the silly questions, and fast in responses.

I also used to work technical support for AT&T when the iPhone came out. We were required to call Apple for hardware issues, and my experiences with talking with them were less-than-friendly on the whole.

Beyond that, using a PC doesn't mean you're buying from a brand manufacturer name machine--there are quite a few people out there who have customer service experiences with a place like Newegg and Newegg alone for issues (who have been great to the majority of people that I know who use them; for me, 50% of the stuff I've bought has been DoA or defective).

I can't rate my experience with Apple's support because I haven't needed to call them, I have been using macs since 2002 and nothing has ever gone wrong where I needed to call support!

Now for powerhouse gaming machines, you have a point. But that is really more for the serious pc users.

I used to love my IIGS!

@mermaidshoes: The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Its also a joke, no need to take computers so seriously. Apple has worked hard at developing its brand and image. Too some, that image one of the insufferable douch-bag.

@Bladefist: But I like my coffee with extra smug.

I pay NOT to have to use Winbloze. I have friendly platform debates with friends often, but no one has ever bothered to defend the crappy OS that is Windows. Internally, hardware is very similar nowadays. What you get with a Mac is a great-looking exterior with everything you need built-in, superior customer support, and a vastly superior OS based on UNIX.

I do game on a Mac too. There may be *more* games for PC, so I have a smaller selection. But those that are ported are usually the good ones. And you can run Windows on a Mac if you really want to (I don't).

Finally, when you buy a Mac you gain access to a cult that is impossible to leave once you join. As a member, you have an obligation to convert PC users and troll blogs like this one - spreading your Apple doctrine, of course.

Give me a good laptop at a good price, hold the attitude. People flaunt their apples like it's something special. It's a laptop. Get over yourself.

Sprint on the other hand has some of the worst service I have ever had even on a business account.

You can't through Apple, but a 3rd party does one:

[www.axiotron.com]

And keep in mind that, while you pay a premium, Macs have a higher resale value and studies have shown that, if you figure in 'downtime' (due to viruses, other issues) Macs are overall a better deal. I've used both for 15+ years and can say, from my experience, that Macs are much, much less troublesome.

You can just install BootCamp and run windows to your heart's content (there are tests that show comparable macs run windows faster than windows machines do).

Numerous tests have also shown that comparable specs on dells and macs are priced very similarly, with the mac often being cheaper. If you want a $250 emachine, you're righ, there's nothing to compare to.

@Jonbo298: Unless you are buying a laptop you should put one together yourself. It is way cheaper than any other alternative. Everything you need to know about building a PC is on the internet!

@AngrySicilian: Ah, good catch...My amigo using his iphone snapped a photo of Barry at the rally. Either way, I'm not trendy enough for Apple products. Maybe if I frosted my tips...

I get the part next day (or for some systems within four hours), I install it and send the old one back.

I don't have to have a "genius" attempt to diagnose my problem, and then ship my system off to god-knows-where for an indeterminate amount of time to have it come back with a wiped hard drive and a decent chance that the problem was never solved.

Also, I'm fairly sure I can't get a tablet/touch combination through Apple.

Don't ignore the far RIGHT data column, where LOYALTY to Apple & Dell both register at 70%.

Raises an interesting question: If Dell consumers are AS LOYAL as Apple (true per above) & Dell has 3X larger market share of the PC/Laptop market than Apple and growing(true per CNET [news.cnet.com]) then must Dell change anything to win in the short AND long term?

Kidding. Kidding!

But seriously, Mac's are a bit elitist with their pricing for someone who probably would never need customer service (i.e. me)

@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: On a similar note, a friend of mine went to the local Obama rally, took a photo of Barry with his iphone and posted it to Facebook. Those two incidents pretty much sums up why I'm not an Apple user.

I went into an Apple store once. I saw an employee walk in with a popped collar and a tray of Starbucks drinks. Being absolutely d-bagged out, I left and haven't looked back.

I'll spare you my biased feelings an leave you with just the facts.

(^ former apple employee)
they actually modeled their customer service based off the Ritz Carlton, but close enough

Would it be nice? Yeah. But considering how much I paid for my current laptop and the performance I get out of it, much better then what a comparable Macbook may do.

*cues flames*

Then again, you can't really go to a Dell Store and demand someone fix your broken stuff. If you're near an Apple Store, their job is to make you happy regardless of whether or not it is really practical (within reason. A HDD crash on your iBook doesn't get you a free new Macbook Pro). At the Dell call center, it's pretty easy to just say "here is a box and tracking #, now go away".