Asus and Lenovo laptop computers seem to be the most reliable laptop computers in 2009

Rescuecom, a New York-based reseller of computers and IT services published his Computer Reliability Report for the first quarter of 2009, based on 15,000 consumer service calls throughout this period. According to Rescuecom, the PCs reported to have the strongest reliability scores are:
1. Asus and IBM/Lenovo (tied)
3. Apple
4. Toshiba
5. Acer
6. HP/Compaq
7. Dell
8. Sony
Rescuecom’s rankings are based on a proprietary formula that takes into account market share based on IDC numbers and Rescuecom’s own consumer services calls for tech support. Although Lenovo separated from the IBM brand few years ago, analysts continue to list the two companies as a joint brand because of legacy systems in the install base. Other factors that can affect a vendor’s ranking include the vendor’s ongoing support of its own products. For example, Apple users may likely be going to Apple stores for tech support. Vendors that provide better product support and vendors that have more reliable products are more likely to rank high on the list. Rescuecom President Josh Kaplan notes that Asus’ high reliability score this quarter may be misleading because the company made big market share gains since September 2008 when it released a highly popular subcompact notebook. But that notebook’s long-term reliability has yet to be seen, says Kaplan.
This is the article found on channelinsider dot com. The story starts with the statement that the most reliable laptop computers are Asus and (former IBM) Lenovo laptop computers. they throw in another information that Apple secured the the top spot on the list of most reliable laptops at the end of 2008, (with the fewest number of service calls). It's old news that Asus with it's Eee PC series have topped the sales rankings in the last year. Launching and keep improving this new kind of laptop computer was a good move from Asus, harvesting the good impressions that OLPC had seeded in the market. All is fine till now. but my opinion is that the information is blurred and the author doesn't have a clear idea about desktop/laptop differences or is trying to to seed more seo terms into his article, since portable computers are hot today and desktop computers sale are going down compared to laptops. In the same article the ranking list is specified to be a PC (which is the acronym for personal computer). It says nothing to be laptop computers or desktop. We also know that notebook computers shipments exceeded for the first time in history the desktop computers shipments in the 3rd quarter of 2008. Adding to this the top five OEM ranking where first is HP with 18.8%, Dell following with 13.9%, Acer with 12.2%, Lenovo with 7.4% and and Toshiba fifth with 4.6% I find hard to believe for Asus to overcome in such a short time a market share to significantly influence this ranking. All in all my belief is that laptop computer focus of this article is false. The article itself states that the ranking is about PC's, and not about laptop computers. The history of Rescuecom rapports is about the PC's and not specifically about desktop or notebook computers.
But in the same time, when talking about a brand well known in the computing industry we cannot say that is a big quality difference between laptop computers and desktops.
Bottom line is this. Ranking is about PC's and not specifically about laptop computers. Asus indeed may have gained a big market share slice but far from really competing with the 3 top ranking manufacturers.
It is useful this reliability report for all future customers, even it is about PC's in general, because Rescuecom has no allegiance to any hardware manufacturer, it's top priority being customer satisfaction.

Dell is launching world's thinnest laptop computer

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 Dell launched the new Adamo laptop, which is world's thinnest laptop computer as they say. The laptop is only 0.65 inches (1.65 centimeters) thick. The laptop specifications are not mind blasting but can be considered impressive. It's powered by a 1.4/1.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 4Gb/2Gb 800 MHz DDR3 dual channel memory, Windows Vista Home Premium SP 1, 64bit operating system, wireless N, Bluetooth 2.1, one RJ 45 port and optional Mobile Broadband. Display is a 13.4 inch widescreen 16:9 display with edge-to-edge glass.
In a world dominated lately by netbook computer sales Dell is launchig this new series of premium Dell laptop products. The name they gave to this series is Adamo and will "serve as a flagship in a line of products created to disrupt the personal computing space with the combination of new design aesthetics, personalization choices and sought-after technologies," Dell said in a statement. The laptop is the first product under Dell's Adamo brand. Adamo is derived from the Latin word meaning "to fall in love."
This Dell laptop will have a $1,999 price tag and will be available in pearl and onyx colors. The Adamo laptop is available for preorder on-line with shipping starting today, March 26th. In the current economic environment there is a general doubt about how the public will receive this laptop. The market research company Gartner predicted a 11.9 percent drop in global personal computer shipments, the sharpest year-over-year decline.
The future will tell us if Dell will succeed capturing customers attention with this new fine design.