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Apple Tops PC World's Reliability and Satisfaction
Survey Yet Again in 2011
The headlines for PC World's 2011 reliability and satisfaction
survey report articles, pretty much tell the tale:
- "Desktop PC Reliability and Satisfaction: Dell and HP Home PCs Get
Poor Grades . . . Readers gave better marks to Apple and
Asus"
- "Laptop Reliability and Satisfaction: MacBooks Rule"
- "Tablet Reliability and Satisfaction: iPad Comes Out on Top"
- "Smartphone Reliability and Satisfaction: iPhone Tops the
List"
In short, Apple products once again mopped the floor with the PC
competition in the estimation of this PC-oriented magazine's readers,
as they have so many times before.
In the survey category report articles, PC World's Mark Sullivan
fleshes out the headlines, observing with regard to desktop machines
that "Apple ruled the desktop PCs category, with top marks in
reliability, service, and features (from product design to ports and
connectivity)." Runner-up was Asus, praised for the reliability, value,
and low operating noise of its machines.
However, on reliability, Apple was "the runaway winner" with four
above-average scores and an average score on the fifth, and in service
and support for desktops, "Apple hogged all of the better-than-average
ratings, sweeping the field and leaving the other four vendors to
scrabble for what was left."
Turning to notebooks, survey the predominance of survey respondents
agreed that there's nothing quite like a MacBook, giving these machines
better-than-average scores on eight of PC World's ten measures for
durability, support, and most features aside from "performance for the
price," while Asus, got high marks for selling a lot of laptop for the
money. Apple also led in laptop reliability, scoring a category-leading
five for five, with Samsung and Toshiba tied for second, and Asus
getting honorable mention here for a low proportion of significant
problems and better-than-average overall owner satisfaction with
reliability. Bringing up the reliability rear were Dell's business
laptops and HP's home laptops
Apple's MacBooks also shone with better-than-average scores on all
four of our service and support measures.
In the tablet column, Sullivan reports that no Android slate could
beat out the iPad in reliability or satisfaction with features, and the
iPad remains miles ahead of the pack in durability, ease of use, and
features such as battery life, screen quality, and overall speed, in
fact, raking in almost all of the high scores in those areas, leaving
the rest of the field saddled with average or below-average scores on
PC World's survey measures.
The only weak areas recorded for the iPad and iPad 2 were in
Internet browsing (one suspects the lack of Flash support might have
something to do with that), and one worse-than-average (and roundly
deserved) rating for "available ports." A perennial complaint by iPad
owners (including this one) is the absence of a real USB port, and a SD
Card slot would be nice too.
As for smartphones, PC World readers like their iPhones as well, an
unusually high proportion of owners praising its durability,
ease-of-use, design, and camera quality. Sullivan reports that HTC
phones scored well too in those criteria, but readers had little good
to say about LG and Samsung phones.
Apple collected plus marks on all four reliability criteria, and LG
on two of the four. On ease of use, Apple was also the class of the
field, the iPhone family earning five better-than-average ratings, and
finished at the upper end on 10 of the 11 criteria for smartphone
features. the iPhone family would have grabbed better-than-average
scores across the board on our smartphone features, while Samsung and
LG scraped bottom with seven negatives and no positives and with eight
and none respectively, with Sullivan observing that the combination of
an extra-large slice of the market and radiant customer reviews for
Apple probably makes its rivals... look worse than they really are.
Another impressive showing for Apple again. Are we surprised?
Link:
Laptop Reliability and Satisfaction: MacBooks Rule
Link:
Desktop PC Reliability and Satisfaction: Dell and HP Home PCs Get Poor
Grades
Link:
Tablet Reliability and Satisfaction: iPad Comes Out on Top
Link:
Smartphone Reliability and Satisfaction: iPhone Tops the List
'Fortuitous Timing' for MacBook Air's SSD Storage
in Face of Hard Drive Shortage
It's an ill wind that blows no good, the saying goes.
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes notes that a global shortage of
traditional hard drives has coincidentally come at a time when Apple's
flash-based solid-state MacBook Air is one of the
company's most popular products, citing Evercore analyst Rob Cihra
observing in a note issued to investors that success of the redesigned
MacBook Air has been "fortuitous timing" for Apple in the face of the
hard drive shortage caused by catastrophic flooding in Thailand. The
MacBook Air features only solid-state NAND flash storage drives, and
NAND memory has been unaffected by the floods that have put more than
600,000 people out of work.
Link: Apple's MacBook
Air's Has 'Fortuitous Timing' in Face of Hard Drive Shortage
Intel's Mobile Ivy Bridge CPU Line to Include 2.9
GHz 4-core i7
VR-Zone's LG Nilsson says:
"We've already seen what Intel has for us as far as desktop systems
are concerned for most of 2012, Ivy Bridge-E not being part of that
roadmap, but what about the mobile market space? Well, we have plenty
of details for you with regards to what Intel has in store, ranging
from high-end Extreme Edition models to new Ultrabook processors."
Nilsson reports that as with Intel's current Sandy Bridge CPUs,
Intel will offer both standard Voltage CPUs and low power models,
although he notes that it appears that a rumored line of Low Voltage
(LV) processors rated at 25W will be a no-show (possibly due to the
programmable TDP feature on Intel's mobile CPUs making them redundant),
and instead we'll only see Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) processors rated at
17W, currently known as Ultra or U-series processors. Standard Voltage
processors will be dubbed M-series, and come with 35, 45 and 55W
TDP.
Nilsson also says that with the forthcoming Chief River platform,
Intel will be moving from three to four consumer chipsets with some new
peculiarities, including the the UM77 for low power notebooks. He notes
that Intel is planning a range new CPU models topped by a 2.9 GHz quad
core Core i7-3920XM, which will be 200 MHz faster than the current Core
i7-2960XM, and new Intel HD Graphics 4000 IGPU architecture.
There will also be 2.7 GHz and 2.6 GHz Core i7 quad cores - a 400
MHz increase compared to Sandy offerings, and a 2.9 GHz dual core Core
i7, plus a pair of Core i5s clocked at 2.8 and 2.6 GHz respectively,
with all dual cores now supporting DDR3 memory speeds of 1600 MHz,
which Sandy Bridge based mobile CPUs don't.
It's looking like there will be two U-series CPUs at launch - a 2
GHz Core i7 and a 1.8 GHz Core i5. Nillson also reports that a with
Intel's desktop Ivy Bridge processors, the new mobile processors also
support up to three independent displays, albeit one of them being the
notebook's built in display.
Nothing new for Core i3, Pentium, and Celeron, which reports
sticking with Sandy Bridge for now.
Nilsson says April-May is looking good for a release date.
Link: Intel's Mobile Ivy
Bridge CPU Line-Up Revealed
'Ivy Bridge' MacBook Airs and Pros Could Support 3
Displays at Once
Cult of Mac's Alex Heath says the next MacBook Air should be able to
drive a total of three displays at once via one Thunderbolt connection,
according to a leaked roadmap of Intel's plans for its Ivy Bridge
processors in 2012, noting that with Apple's next-generation laptops
primed to sport Intel's Ivy Bridge silicon, it's very likely that
future MacBook Airs and Pros will be able to support two external
displays plus the MacBook's built-in screen.
Link: Next-Generation
MacBook Air Rumored to Allow Use of Three Displays at Once
Tablets to Outship Regular Notebooks by 2016
The Register's Tony Smith reports that forecasts from market watcher
iSuppli made public by Samsung, puts 2012's Ultrabook sales tally at
just 12% of notebook shipments, but the new category's market share is
expected to grow through 2015, hitting 42% of total laptop sales during
that year, with shipments totaling 136m units.
However, Smith also notes that in August, iSuppli predicted that
tablet shipments alone will exceed 250m units in 2015.
Link: Tablets to Outship
Regular Notebooks by 2016
How to Upgrade Your MacBook Pro's RAM
MacInstruct's Matthew Cone has posted a handy tutorial on
do-it-yourself MacBook Pro memory upgrades. As Cone notes, adding more
RAM is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to boost your
computer's overall performance, since it's where the machine
dynamically stores the code and instructions for OS X and any open
applications and data files on your Mac.
Consequently, installing higher capacity modules in your MacBook Pro
allows you keep more applications open at once and perform more tasks
simultaneously without the system having to dip into memory swap files
on your much slower hard drive. For example, you could open a bunch of
memory-hogging applications while ripping a CD, watching a DVD, and
uploading photos to the Internet - all at the same time (assuming you
have two optical drives) - without the computer bogging down.
Installing more RAM in an older MacBook Pro should yield a big
difference in the way your computer performs everyday tasks, like
loading websites, and by historical standards, RAM is amazingly cheap
these days.
Your editor notices a substantial performance boost from upgrading
his workhorse Core 2 Duo
MacBook from 2 GB to 4 GB a couple of years ago and is
finding the prospect of doubling it again to 8 GB, currently
possible for less than $50, enticing. Note that if you have a
middle-aged Mac like mine, a firmware upgrade may be necessary (free
download from Apple Support) to support a higher RAM limit.
Also note well that Cone's tutorial is for the MacBook Pro only. The
MacBook Air's RAM modules that are hard-soldered to the logic board and
thus non-upgradable, so you're stuck with whatever the machine shipped
with originally.
For compatibility information and pricing, it's hard to beat
Other World Computing's website.
Publisher's note: Likewise, I was a huge performance boost when
taking my 2007 Mac mini,
which is essentially a notebook computer in a desktop case, from its
original 1 GB to 3 GB of system memory.
Link: How
to Upgrade Your MacBook Pro's RAM
Samsung Announces High-Performance mSATA SSDs for
Ultra-Slim Notebook PCs
PR: Samsung Electronics Co. has announced volume production
of SSDs (solid state drives) that support the Mini-Serial ATA (mSATA)
interface. The drives are designed for use in ultra-slim notebooks such
as Ultrabook PCs.
"Samsung's compact mSATA SSDs will provide performance of the
highest quality in helping to deliver the advanced ultra-slim PCs that
consumers have been wanting," says Myungho Kim, vice president of
memory marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung plans
to continue providing timely delivery of advanced SSD solutions, while
preserving its leadership position in the SSD market for notebook
PCs."
Combining Samsung's new high-performance mSATA SSDs with the latest
multicore processors will help PC manufacturers to substantially
improve performance of their Ultrabook-class portable PCs up to that of
notebook PCs, in meeting ever-increasing consumer needs.
The new Samsung mSATA SSDs will be available in 256, 128, and 64
gigabyte (GB) densities as main storage devices, and also at 32 GB for
caching. They measure 50.95 x 30 x 3.8 millimeters and weigh a mere
eight grams.
The new SSDs will be part of the Samsung PM830 product family that
was introduced earlier this year. They make use of Samsung's advanced
20 nanometer class NAND flash memory components which incorporate the
toggle DDR interface.
Utilizing high-performance SATA 6 Gb/s controllers based on
Samsung's own technology, the new mSATA SSDs can operate at the
industry's highest sequential read and write speeds of 500 megabytes
per second (MB/s) and of 260 MB/s respectively, under optimum
conditions. This is, more than six times the speed of hard disk drives
typically offering a data transfer rate of 80 MB/s. The Samsung SSDs
also enable faster system bootups (in the 10-second range) and will
transmit five DVD files in about a minute.
In addition, the Samsung mSATA SSDs feature an advanced
hardware-based security solution including 256-bit Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES) protection, which will prevent unauthorized access to
data on a lost or stolen notebook PC.
Beginning this year, the market for Ultrabook-class mobile PCs has
been growing rapidly and is expected to expand beyond that of tablet
PCs as early as next year due to outstanding performance
characteristics, more advanced processors and use of the Windows 8
operating system. According to market research firm IHS iSuppli, the
Ultrabook share of global notebook shipments will exceed 40% in
2015.
Link: Samsung Green SSDs
Tech Trends
Ruggedized 11.6" Lenovo ThinkPad Designed Laptop
for Students and Schools
PR: Lenovo has announced its new ThinkPad X130e laptop, a
specially ruggedized unit for education and with features needed to
help students in grades K-12 and their schools get the most out of PC
technology.
The
ThinkPad X130e comes with choices of the latest Intel or AMD processors
combined with integrated graphics, wireless connectivity, and
multimedia tools for digital learning. Designed to be handled by kids,
the ThinkPad X130e has a reinforced and extra-durable top cover,
keyboard and hinges. Lenovo says schools will also like its
performance, reliability and customizable options including asset tags,
BIOS modifications, custom imaging and broad selection of custom
colors.
"At Lenovo ThinkTank 2011 we brought hundreds of distinguished
educators together, and the resounding feature CIOs told us that ranks
highest on their list of features important for PC purchases is
'ruggedness'," says ThinkPad Business Unit vice president Dilip Bhatia.
"While we've built tough products for years that pass many
military-grade tests, we've made specific improvements required for a
laptop to be successful in an education environment with the ThinkPad
X130e."
This 11.6" ThinkPad X130e lightweight ultraportable has the
processing performance students need for assignments requiring
multitasking with choices of AMD Fusion E-300 and E-450 or Intel
second-generation Core i3-2367M ULV processors. For
multimedia-intensive lessons, the laptop kicks in its AMD Radeon or
Intel HD-powered graphics for a richer visual experience.
"Having a purpose-built device designed to improve learning for
students is a critical foundation for education transformation," says
Intel education strategist Paige Johnson. "Lenovo's ThinkPad X130e
laptop powered by Intel Core i3 processors provides the capability and
functions that students need for a 21st Century education."
With it weighing in under four pounds, students can easily carry the
laptop between classes without the need to recharge, since the battery
is claimed to last the whole school day, and even long enough to start
homework after school - up to 8.5 hours according to Lenovo.
Throughout the course of a typical school day, students' laptops are
often subject to extreme wear and tear. To help school-proof them, the
X130e has several heavy-duty features including:
- A top cover rubber bumper to absorb impacts to the side of the
laptop
- 33% stronger corner to reduce the chance of damage when dropped at
an angle
- Stronger hinges to outlast even the most frequent PC user at up to
30,000 cycles
- Reinforced and recessed ports to decrease the effects of student
"wear and tear"
- Stronger Bezel with 1.2mm thick plastic to protect the LED
panel
Students can use the ThinkPad X130e's low-light webcam to
communicate with peers in other schools across the world or just across
town, and also easily connect via WiFi and keep their connection while
moving from class to class using Lenovo's Instant Resume function. With
HDMI and VGA out, users can present reports to the class with a
projector or big screen TV.
Making Students & Schools More Efficient
The X130e laptop starts up in less than 20 seconds using Lenovo's
RapidBoot technology, and built-in self-help tools like Rescue and
Recovery and Access Connections help decrease calls to school IT
support, allowing students to recover damaged files and to store and
connect easily to different WiFi networks.
Additionally, Lenovo offers a broad range of optional services for
the ThinkPad X130e laptop, including custom colors, image services to
help keep IT teams focused on enhancing learning - not chasing device
drivers and tediously loading images onto each PC manually, asset
tagging services help keep track of PCs left on the school bus or
classroom, and Accidental Damage Protection services can help keep a
check on repair budgets. And if the PC needs to be fixed, Lenovo's Hard
Drive Retention service protects students' digital information.
The ThinkPad X130e laptop will be available starting Dec. 20.
Pricing starts at $469.
Link:
ThinkPad X130e (Intel)
Link:
ThinkPad X130e (AMD)
Acer Plans to Cut Ultrabook Prices to $799-899 in
2Q 12
DigiTimes' Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report that Acer expects its
ultrabook prices will be able to drop from $1,000 currently to $799-899
in the second quarter of 2012, a decline of 20%, and then drop further
to $499 in 2013 as other PC brand vendors ramp up production and mass
shipping of ultrabooks in 2012, according to company president Jim
Wong.
The report says that Acer currently ships 100,000 ultrabooks each
month and is expected to achieve its goal of shipping 250,000-300,000
units by the end of 2011.
Addressing the current issue of hard drive shortages caused by
flooding in Taiwan, Wong told Lee and Tsai that he expects Acer to only
suffer a supply gap of 10-15% in the fourth quarter, far less than the
overall supply gap of 30-35% estimated by hard drive players, which
market watchers believe is due to hard drive players providing supply
priority to brand vendors.
Although Acer's notebook sales share has dropped from second place
to fourth, Wong told DigiTimes he expects the company to still have a
chance to return to its prior position in 2012 based on performance in
the Chinese market.
Link: Acer to Cut
Ultrabook Prices to US$799-899 in 2Q12 - Company President
(subscription required)
Acer CEO Vows No More 'Cheap and Unprofitable
Products'
MarketWatch's Lorraine Luk reports that Acer intends to ship 10%
more notebook PCs and become profitable next year with its strategy to
expand market share focusing more on improving profit margins than low
prices after a management reshuffle and operational restructuring.
Ms. Luk notes that Acer Inc. has posted net losses for two straight
quarters and is pinning its hope for improved profit margins on sales
of higher-priced, ultrathin, "UltraBook" laptops and demand from
emerging markets to power a turnaround next year, Acer Chief Executive
J.T. Wang saying in an interview that his company intends to increase
notebook shipments by 10% next year and become profitable, commenting
that "Ultrabooks will become our key growth driver next year", adding,
"We will shift our strategy to improving profitability from pursuing
market share blindly with cheap and unprofitable products."
Publisher's note: Sounds like someone is finally paying attention to
Apple's playbook. Whether Acer can pull that off in the dog-eat-dog
Windows world remains to be seen. So far, only Sony seems to be
successful while following that path in the Windows world.
dk
Link: Acer CEO Targets
10% More Shipments, Profitability
DigiTimes: Ultrabooks to Get Touch Features
DigiTimes' Yenting Chen and Steve Shen report that PC notebook
makers plan to employ touch panels for their thin-and-light Ultrabooks
to accommodate new features in Windows 8 in hopes of regaining market
share being gobbled up by tablet PCs, according to industry
sources.
Chen and Shen say LCD panels and touch module OEMs have begun
delivering samples to notebook makers, according to insider sources,
who also say shipments of Acer's Aspire S3 and Asustek Computer's
Zenbook Ultrabooks have so far met with market expectations.
Link: Ultrabooks to Have
Touch Features, Sources (subscription required)
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