If you get a new PC for a holiday gift this year, it's almost guaranteed it'll come filled to the brim with trialware. Knowing this, Support.com says it's got another present for you: free removal of the unwanted pre-loaded software.
The online tech support service has just begun offering the service for free. It works like this: Go to Support.com, or call them at 1-800-PC-Support. A customer service representative (from North America, they promise!) will remotely access your PC and blast away at the bloatware.
You can watch as they do it, Support.com says.
While crapware is still prevalent, many PC makers have begun allowing consumers to pay more to exclude it on a newly shipped PC.
If you're going to be serious about electronics retail in the U.S., it looks like you have to be serious about employing professional geeks.
Beginning Saturday, 20 Sam's Club stores in Virginia and Maryland will offer tech support from PC repair services company Geeks on Call as part of a pilot program set to last three months. Sam's Club has 394 stores in the U.S. with several similar pilots running right now, according to a company spokesperson, who declined to elaborate.
Just last week, parent company Wal-Mart announced it would offer Dell-branded PC repair kiosks in 15 Dallas-area stores, also as part of a trial run. It's similar to the Geek Squad services offered by Best Buy, and the FireDog service offered by Circuit City.
Unlike those three repair outfits, Geeks on Call won't have its own kiosk because they don't do in-store support. Instead, a sticker on every computer sold at those Sam's Club stores will direct the purchaser to call Geeks on Call, who will send a technician to the person's home or business.
(Credit:
Sam's Club)
Geeks on Call gives a discount to Sam's Club members; PC set-up service will run $98, instead of the normal $160, for example.
Geeks on Call CEO Richard Cole put it this way, "Today's technology causes a lot of angst. If you're going to be in the business of selling technologies...you have to have a solutions provider."
You don't have to, but it's certainly convenient. Quality of service is a different story. Last year a Canadian news outlet did an undercover investigation of PC repair services at major electronics chains and found a high incidence of incompetence, and frequent overcharging of customers.
But both customers and electronics retailers need these kinds of services. The average PC buyer doesn't have the knowledge to repair their own computer, or even set up a wireless home network, and many understandably don't want the hassle of learning. And services like repair and in-home set-up are one of the best ways to actually make money in the electronics retail business, where profit margins are notoriously thin.
I'm not a big fan of surveys, so I don't quote them often. But a recent Consumer Reports survey about PC manufacturers listed Apple as No. 1 in tech support, with Lenovo second, Dell third, and HP dead last. I should also say that Dell came in second in desktops.
I thought the headline should be "Survey says leading PC maker HP dead last in tech support." But that's not what happened. The media hailed Apple, trashed Dell, and gave HP a pass.
Horror stories about Dell's support are all over the blogosphere. Why is that? I mean, why does the media give Dell such a hard time?
Because perception is reality. But aside from being a pithy statement, what does that really mean? ... Read more
One question we get pretty frequently is some variation on "Which laptop brand is most reliable?" It's an important question, as laptops can be tough to fix, with pretty much no user-serviceable parts inside (yes, I'm sure you're all clever enough to pop open your laptop chassis and tinker around; I'm talking about all the other laptop owners out there). That means if something goes wrong with your laptop, it's a pretty much guaranteed trip to a repair center.
Most people rely on anecdotal evidence to pick a laptop they think won't break down--relying on horror stories from friends or the Internet. Of course, every manufacturer has a mile-long list of angry customers who have not gotten satisfaction from indifferent tech support telephone drones, fine-print-filled warranties, or shady third-party repair services.
(Credit:
Consumer Reports)
The detail-minded folks at Consumer Reports have just put out their annual look at the computer industry, and while our colleague Tom Krazit has already pointed out that Apple ranks at the top of the list for laptop tech support, (with HP in last place), we're more interested in the brand repair history chart from the same issue.
The chart shows data from about 75,000 laptops purchased between 2003 and 2007, recording how many have had a serious problem requiring repair. The companies listed are Lenovo, Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, Dell, HP, Gateway, and Apple, and all scored between 20 percent and 23 percent. Consumer Reports says a difference of less than three points is statistically "not meaningful."
So, there you have it--no major laptop brand is really much more likely to break down than any other. Why? Because most laptops are essentially commodity products, made from the exact same components, and differentiated only by their outer shells and extra features. So, next time someone says not to buy a laptop from a certain vendor because they "break down all the time," you can assure them that there's about a 1-in-5 chance their laptop will develop a major problem, no matter where it came from.
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