Hardware prices continue to plummet, yielding
unprecedented PC bargains. Michael Dell has every intention of using
an all-out price war to knock out a few more competitors. By most
accounts, Dell's done pretty well against Micron, and now Gateway.
Compaq is trying to reinvent itself by mimicking IBM's hugely
successful Global Services consulting arm. And Intel also wants to
use a price war to send AMD packing.
But don't let the low prices fool you. The product
purchase price is only one part of your tech support costs. What
good is the proverbial "bargain basement" $19 U.S. modem if it
takes you four hours to install and configure it? You have to
consider that your overall computer support costs and vendor selection
can be the determining factor in all of this.
One of the best ways to lower your small business
computer support costs is by picking the “right” vendors and
products the first time around. PC Magazine’s 14th Annual
Reader Survey, in their August issue, will help you do just that. They’ve
surveyed thousands of PC Magazine readers about desktop PCs,
notebooks, servers, printers, software, and ISPs. Some of the results
are “expected” – others may shock you.
While PC Magazine gears this survey and their
publication to businesses of all sizes and consumers, I'll focus on what
small businesses can take away from the PC Magazine survey results. Moreover, we'll
look at which PC vendors to stay away from --- unless you have a
bizarre affinity for early hair loss and stomach ulcers.
PC Hardware Highlights from the PC Magazine
Annual Survey
Compaq - faltering
Let's start by telling you who "flunked" this
year's PC Magazine survey. In both desktop PCs and notebooks, readers said they
would not purchase Compaq again. Yet in servers, Compaq was the
second highest-rated, despite garnering only "average" scores.
White-box - mixed bag
"Locally built" white-box PCs, those assembled
by local "mom and pop" computer stores (as opposed to
mass-manufactured by the giant PC vendors) showed some highly
contradictory survey results with PC Magazine. "Locally built", considered in
aggregate as a brand, got high marks on desktop PCs with PC Magazine, but failing
grades on servers. PC Magazine attributes this finding to more
brand loyalty on servers than desktop PCs and an unusually high
number of "Locally built" servers needing repair during the
past year.
Gateway - have the cows come home?
While Gateway managed to eke out "average"
scores with PC Magazine on both desktop PCs and laptops, Ted Waitt's comeback hasn't
helped their financial statements or server results. Gateway
pulled in the second-worst showing on servers with a "D"
score, primarily because PC Magazine readers surveyed would not buy Gateway
servers again.
Dell - the big winner
Dell was out on top in all three PC hardware categories
with PC Magazine.
While sharing the "A" rated desktop PC category with
"Locally built", no vendor could hold a candle to Dell's high
ratings in servers. In PC Magazine's look at business notebooks, Dell came in roughly neck in
neck with IBM. As a result, Dell should be at the top of your list for
reducing overall small business computer support costs.
IBM - not what it used to be
While on the subject of "Big Blue", notebooks
were their only shining star this year. In PC Magazine's look at both business desktop PCs and
servers, IBM had only a mediocre "C" showing, a far cry from
their stellar performance in past year's PC Magazine surveys.
Printer Highlights from the PC Magazine Annual
Survey
Avoid Apple, Panasonic, and Tektronix
Aside from Macintosh loyalists, I never knew too many
people who were big fans of Apple printers. These days, even those Mac
groupies seem to be heading somewhere else for their printers. Apple
ended up with an overall "D" from PC Magazine, and a "would not buy from
again" rating.
Panasonic, once a high-flyer in the dot matrix printer
market of the late '80's and early '90's, coasted in with a
"C" ranking from PC Magazine and a "would not buy from again" red
flag.
Tektronix, recently folded into the financially troubled
Xerox, looks like another vendor to steer clear of. Despite aggressive
marketing and promotions, Tektronix showed a "D" ranking from PC Magazine, as
well as red flags on units needing repair and buyer's remorse.
Epson - runner up
Although I'm not as up to speed on Epson's printer
product line as I once was, I still do continue to hear good things
anecdotally about their products. And apparently so does PC Magazine.
Epson got the second highest printer service and
reliability scores from PC Magazine. With an "A" rating
overall and positive marks on buyer loyalty, Epson's a worthy contender
as a small business-friendly printer vendor.
Hewlett Packard - the big winner
No one could hold a candle to HP's showing in this
year's PC Magazine printer vendor survey. With significantly better than average
scores in three out of four categories, and strong buyer loyalty,
Hewlett Packard should continue to be at the top of your list of printer
vendors to consider for reducing your small business computer support
costs.
Software Highlights from the PC Magazine Annual
Survey
Microsoft has products in nearly
every category of PC Magazine's software survey. (The only exception was in
Utilities and Antivirus.) But that certainly didn't mean "best of
breed".
In operating systems, as you might expect, no one else
was even in the PC Magazine rankings with Microsoft. And as you probably could have
guessed, Microsoft Windows 2000 got the highest marks for service and
reliability. Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows 98 "earned" what
they "deserve" - the "take them out back and...."
rating. Microsoft Windows NT 4 came in somewhere in the middle.
In e-mail, Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express faired
a little better than Eudora and Eudora Pro. But in terms of free,
web-mail services, Yahoo! Mail came out way ahead of Microsoft's
Hotmail. Hotmail received negative ratings from PC Magazine both on overall satisfaction
and likelihood to recommend.
PC Magazine's look at graphics software and web authoring tools survey results
included mainly products with lackluster support. In graphics software,
support on Fireworks and Paint Shop Pro came out on top with PC Magazine. In web
authoring tools, Flash was the highest-rated from PC Magazine among a handful of software
vendors with mediocre service and reliability ratings. In both
categories, neither of Microsoft's stakes in the sand, Publisher or
FrontPage, got anything but average scores from PC Magazine for support and reliability.
In the utilities and antivirus software category,
Symantec's Norton products had more positive ratings than Network
Associates' McAfee products. But neither Symantec, nor Network
Associates, seems to claim a support victory in the PC Magazine survey, as both
vendors received undistinguished scores for their support and
reliability efforts.
ISP Highlights from the PC Magazine Annual
Survey
AOL and MSN - bigger isn't better
Even though AOL Time Warner spends a small fortune on
television commercials claiming to be America's "most popular"
with 30 million subscribers, PC Magazine readers surveyed have a
very different opinion of AOL.
AOL ended up with failing grades from PC Magazine in every support
and reliability category. Yet, the "addiction" to Instant
Messaging, chat, and buddy lists, as well as an aversion to changing
e-mail addresses, seems to keep a stronghold over customers.
MSN Internet Access also bombed with negative ratings
from PC Magazine in
eight out of ten categories.
Again, the message to both AOL and Microsoft, from a
small business computer support standpoint, is quite simple. SPEND
MORE ON SUPPORT AND RELIABILITY, AND LESS ON FLASHY TELEVISION
COMMERCIALS!
Earthlink and AT&T
Earthlink, though not a stellar performer in the PC Magazine
survey, did get substantially better grades than AOL and MSN. AT&T's
WorldNet dial-up service, though not exactly utopian, did score
positive ratings in five of the ten PC Magazine categories.
Broadband - better, but are they stable?
Both Excite@Home and Road Runner got higher ISP support
and reliability ratings than anyone else in the PC Magazine survey.
But, underlying financial crises in cable broadband, as
well as xDSL, calls into question whether these cable modem ISPs can
survive and thrive in the future. Obviously, a chapter 11 bankruptcy
filing and ultimate ISP shutdown could throw a huge monkey wrench
into your small business computer support budget.
Impact on Small Business Computer Support Costs
PC Magazine feels, and rightly so, that the Holy
Grail of their survey is whether the readers would buy from the same
vendor again. After all, what's more potent than "voting" with
your wallet? I couldn't agree with them more.
Based on these PC Magazine survey results, it's clear there are a
few big "no brainers" for you to consider folding into your
small business technology plan. Ask anyone on Wall Street though, and
you're likely to find that many of these dominant players are falling on
very difficult financial times.
-
For PC desktops, laptops, and servers, look at Dell.
-
For printers, Hewlett Packard seems to be as strong
as ever - at least in terms of support and reliability ratings.
-
On software, do you really have a choice?!?
-
And for ISPs, AOL and MSN seem to be spending so
much time and energy filming TV commercials and courting Capitol
Hill lobbyists, they've forgotten what it means to give good support
and reliability value. Given that, look toward Earthlink and
AT&T WorldNet if you want to lower your small business computer
support costs.
