If you’re a parent like me who works from home, then you know how crippling it can be when your computer breaks down.
I nearly went insane the last two weeks waiting for Sony to fix my laptop. This is the second time I’ve had a big issue with my machine and couldn’t write my stories.
I’m hoping my next purchase proves more reliable.
What will I buy next? I don’t know much about computers, so I decided to call Dean Gallea, Senior Program Leader at Consumer Reports, to see which brands the publication recommends. It turns out that every year the magazine runs an Annual Product Reliability Survey that asks 43,000 laptop owners about their experience. Here’s what Gallea and his team discovered:
PC Users
If you like using a PC, Toshiba and Acer are tied as the most reliable brands for laptops, says Gallea. Owners reported needing a repair or having serious problems with their models just 15% of the time.
So which models should you buy? In the 13-inch laptop category, Consumer Reports recommends two Toshiba models as “Best Buys”. For $700 you can get a Toshiba Portege, which has an “Excellent” performance rating. For just $400, you could pick up a Toshiba Satellite, which gets a “Very Good” mark for performance.
If you want a 14-inch laptop, Consumer Reports again recommends the Toshiba Satellite. The larger size costs a bit more at $750. But it also scores an “Excellent” on performance.
In the 15 and 16-inch category, the Acer Aspire isn’t a Consumer Reports top pick but it costs just $620 and also gets an “Excellent” for performance.
How important is computer reliability to you?
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