Desktop PC Reliability

Several weeks ago my niece purchase a Sony All in One Desktop PC. I do not know the model number. It now will not boot. An authorized Sony technician has come out and worked on it a couple of times, but it crapped out again shortly after it was last worked on. She plans to try to get a authorized Sony technician to come out and look at it again soon.

I did a little research into Reliability of the Major PC Manufacturer's. It appears to me that getting a good PC is hit or miss with any of them. Also, the Tech Support is typically very poor.

My niece is desperate and is considering buying a 2nd PC since she needs a PC for college which starts in about a week from now.

I do not want to recommend a brand to her since it is hit or miss with any of them. I mentioned a Dell Small Business Intel Core i5 Desktop PC, but she says that everyone she knows says that Dell is poor quality.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in Advance.

The last time that I purchased a branded PC was in the year 2000. I build my own PC's now and plan to never again buy a branded PC for myself.

 

My recommendation is to return the defective Sony for a full refund and use your skills and knowledge to build a PC for her.

And, just wondering;
Wouldn't a laptop be more useful for a college student than a PC ?

 

AS far as build quality Lenovo seems well made as far as laptops go and my local pc shop swears by them over other brands.As far as desktops I am not sure of, but with them all it comes down to quality control,quality of parts used and support when needed.I know Quality control has declined in mass produced prodcuts over the years.Sony quality is not the same as it once was or is dell.That said every manufactor have good and not so good..

 

I found a Lenovo on NewEgg which seems to be plenty fast for her. There are only two user reviews, both very good. The only problem is that it would be nice to have at least 4 GB of memory. It only has 2 GB of memory. I do not think that she can handle installing the extra memory herself. She lives too far away for me to install it for her. She could probably get by with 2 GB since she only does web surfing and Office applications such as Word or Excel.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883108567

 

My niece said that Sony told her to box up the PC and ship it back to them for repair. The empty shipping box is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I told my niece that I would not expect them to repair the PC quick enough for when she needs it. She said that she needs a PC by no later than January 10.

I was shocked at what they paid for the Sony PC: ~$1,000.

I was also shocked at her reasoning for spending that much on the Sony PC: A Sony PC that she purchased about 10 years ago lasted for about 6 years. After that each HP PC that she purchased lasted for a little over one year each. So she concluded that if she purchased another Sony that it would last about 6 years since her last Sony PC lasted about 6 years. She was in Staples looking for a new PC and the only Sony PC that Staples had at the time was the ~$1,000 one.

 

Yikes,I paid $ 900.00 for a 40 LED Samsung HDTV 120 HZ Auto motion on sale but worth every penny.I spent over a 1000 once on a PC Laptop,but never will I again on a PC.

 

Desktop PC Reliability and Satisfaction

Readers' Choice Awards 2011: Desktops and Laptops

 

I haven't had anything but Dells. The first one I had for 11 years and was just not upgradeable enough at the end to keep up with todays demands. Got my second one in May 10 2010 and it's been great.

 

All my computers (Even my first one) have been custom built, as you would expect initially my cousin used to build them for me but in the last 9+ years i built them myself

The only laptops i've ever purchased is my bros "Asus" and my dads "Acer". The Asus has a little over 1 year and it's running like champ and the Acer gas like half a year and it's running great.

 

i do repairs all day long for clients and honestly there is no one brand i feel is really better, yes some offer better support (sadly imo sony is NOT one of them) but 90% of all components used come from manufactures OTHER than the brand of pc you actually buy. open it up and see which hard drive you have in there? what dvd drive and mobo etc...

 

There's a lot of Samsung and LG in my Dell.

 

I agree with custom building one.

 

It is hit or miss as far as which brand is a reliable choice.
It is universally known that tech support is pretty bad across the board.
Companies honestly do not care about customers any more than what is written on the paper.

The reason for tech support being bad is the companies hire for the cheapest possible wage. And that often attracts folks that are just kinda there to do a job and go home. Not only that, the companies place high demands on volume throughput from the agents that are forced to follow scripts. This doesn't afford the call center drones any time think something through. Not that they would in the first place being paid so minimally.

My lady had the tedious task of calling Gateway tech support to find out why a new system's cd-rom drive would not function. Support did everything they could think of including scare tactics in order for her to call out a technician at added expense. They didn't want to troubleshoot or anything. Just call tech and be done with it.

I got to looking at it and found a sata cable detached. A 10-minute fix and everything's fine.

 

I agree.

All of mine (except the laptop) are custom builds.

 

Mine too! Thank god I don't have to rely on a manufacturer. What evers wrong I fix i myself.

 

+1

 

Not sure about anywhere else, but the worst place you can buy a branded computer in Australia is Harvey Norman. these people are a class act on ********! they tell you that their pc/desktop which is priced at $2999 (for example HP or Toshiba) and the same model and specs priced elsewhere for $2140 has their price ticket because quote: "They offer better service" what they mean by this is that they offer return to store tech support Err yeh ok whatever! Not only that they also pressgang you into believing that you most definately need an Antivirus, and 3 years extra warrenty (all included elsewhere anyway) So your $2999 machine has now become over $3200 PLUS!! get this!! check out the model online, and you'll find it's been discontinued!!! These people need to be dealt with, with an Axe! I forgot to say, that IF! your looking to buy one of these disasters through finance, the only way you can get it is though some Jerkoffs called Flexirent, who charge an arm and a leg, Plus if you contract for 3 yrs finance, the damn thing isnt yours untill the 3 years is up, as its only rented, then the damn $2999 asking price becomes over $5000 though their terms. My advice, never rent, never finance, save the cash and buy it outright!

 

lol sounds like most big box stores!!

 

best is custom made box with as you already have screen....etc

save money of what ever is good and change other things...............

best/good hardware ....intel/asus motherboard intel chip seaget/hitachi hardisk with good cabinate lot of fans...........etc ......a nvidia card even not very expensive like 9600gt (system which have graphic card always have low cpu usage even you not gamer)...........

+ Ubuntu LTS(linux of your choice).......etc or dual boot so if one goes down she can work on another OS

a decent security suite like KIS or something less security(decent) less crap software make a healthy PC

Or

Apple

or

check business series they made for durability rather than eyecandy

but at end best is custom made

 

Per Consumer Reports
Reliability Desktops:
Apple 7% repairs / serious problems
Compaq 11
Dell 12
Acer 12
HP 13
Gateway 17

Laptops:
Apple 9
Acer 10
Toshiba 10
Lenovo 11
Gateway 11
HP 11
Sony 12
Compaq 12
Dell 12

 

WOW

i guess by that money you can buy new server or make a i5/i7 atleast