16 C O N S U M E R R E P O R T S B U Y I N G G U I D E 2 0 1 2

QujckGuide COMPUTERS, DESKTOPS

Desktop computers are setting a new performancestandard, especially in models that use Intel's newestCore processors, the Core Í7-2600 series.

Shopping tipSave money onyour computerpurchase byusing coupon andforum sites suchas Techbargains,FatWallet.com,and Ebates.

Scan this or see how. page 11

What to looi( for• For browsing the Web andchecking e-mail, a low-end,dual-core processor such asthe Intel Pentium Dual-Coreor AMD Athlon/Turion X2• A faster processor such asthe Intel second-generationCore i3, i5, and i7, or AMD'sA4, A6, or A8 for watchingvideos or playing games• 4GB of memory, enough foranything other than heavymultitasking or video editing

For more buying advice, go toConsumerReports.org/computers

What to sitip• 3D capability, because thetechnology isn't perfect yet

What you'll paySome full-sized desktopsthat are excellent performerscould cost as little as $650 to$700. Once you add features,of course, prices rise.

Brand & model Price Overall score Test results Features

E -o

A ALL-iN-ONE

100

F I G I V G l E

[ 2 ] 1 Apple iMac 27-inch

Lîd 2

0 '0 *0 5

MC813LL/A

MSI AE2420 3D-046U5

Apple iMac 27-inchMC510LL/AApple iMac 21.5-inciiMC509LL/AApple iMac 21.5-inchMC309LL/AApple iMac 21.5-inchMC508LL/A

© O a © © 2.7GHzCorei5

© a © © © Corei7-860S

© O a © © 3.2GHzCorei3

© O a a a 3.2GHzCorei3

© O O © © 2.56HzCorei5

© O O ©3.06GHZCoreo

4 1000

4 1000

4 1000

4 1000

4 500

4 500

C O M P U T E R S , D E S K T O P S 17

Brand & model Pnce Overall score Test results Features

•^ S I I i I Ig § S H S.!? S, s s

100

F I G IVGI E

A ALL-IN-ONE continued

0 70 8Q 9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

B

SonyVAIOVPCL212FX/B $1,200

Sony Vaio VPCL137FX/B 1.500

Gateway ZX49Sl-33e 730

HPTouchSmartólOz 900

HP All-in-One 200-5250

HP TouchSmart 300-1223

HP All-ln-One Computer100-5155Acer All-in-One AZ-1OO-U3O72Dell InspironIO23O5-3114MSL

650

800

540

600

750

Compaq Presario CQl-2025 400

680

330

MSI Wind Touch

AE205O-008

Lenovo PC C200

e eo ©© ©

o ©o ©

Ö ©

Ö ©

• ©

• ©

• a• ©

• ©

© ©

© ©

© o

© ©

© ©

© o

o oo ©

© ©

o o© oo o

© Corei5-2410M^ Core 2 Quad® 08400© Core Í3-550^ Athlon 11X4" 615e_ Pentium Duai-^ Core E5500^ Athlon IIX2" 240e^ Athlon IIX2^ 260u

O Athlon II170U

OAthlon IIX2

25OuDual-Core

E-350Dual-Core

E-3S0

Atom D525

4 1000

8 1000

4 1000

4 750

4 750

4 750

4 500

3 500

4 750

2 320

4 1000

1 250

COMPACT

1 Gateway SX2803-25e

2 HP Pavilion Slimline55-1014

3 HP Pavilion s5610y

eMachines EL1352-23e

Acer VeritonX275-UD5700W

eMachines EL185O-Ole

O © © NA NA

O © O NA NA

O © O NA NA

O © O NA NA

6 1000

4 750

3 640

4 500,-- a /-^ MA lüA Pentium Dual- , „ „© © O NANA coreE5700 ^ ^^°

• © O NA NA Celeron 450 2 500

Ratings Key ©Excellent ©Very good OGood ©Fair ©Poor

D CR Best Buy These models offer the best combination of performance and price. All are recommended.

bd Recommended These are high-performing models that stand out.

18 C O N S U M E R R E P O R T S B U Y I N G G U I D E 2 0 1 2

Brand & modei Price Overall score Test results Features

<-' -^ ro t;-

1 1 1 I

0 100P I F I G I V G l E

C FULL-SIZED

0 S0 6

1 HP Pavilion Elite h8-1020

2 Asus Essentio CM6850-07

3 HP Pavilion Elite h8-10104 Deil Studio XPS

X83OO-1225NBK

HP Pavilion HPE h8xt

HP Pavilion Elite HPE-410V

0 7 HP Pavilion HPE h8z

0 8 HP Pavilion Elite HPE-235f

0 9 Gateway DX485O-27EU

Q 10 Dell Inspiron Í62O-228NBK

0 11 HP Pavilion p673Of

12 HP Pavilion P7-1054

13 HP Pavilion p6774y

14 HP Pavilion p6754y

15 HP Pavilion p6654y

16 lenovo IdeaCentreK3OO-53162HU

17 Deii InspironI560-2133NBK

18 Deil InspironI570-9402NBK

19 HP Pavilion p7z

20 ASUS Essentio CM1630-06

21 Lenovo IdeaCentre H405(7723-lFU)

22 Deii Inspiron 570

Corei7-2600S

Core ¡7-2600

Corei5-2390T

Core ¡5-2300

Core ¡7-2600Phenom IIX6

1O45TPhenom IIX6

1065TPhenom IIX6

1035TCorei5-2300

Core Í3-2100

Core Í3-55O

Athlon IIX4645

Phenom IIX4840T

Athlon II X4640

Athlon IIX4630

Pentium DualCore E5800

Pentium Dual-Core E5700Athlon liX2

245Athlon IIX2

260Athlon IIX2

220Athlon II X2

255Athlon IIX2

245

8 1000

8 1000

8 1000

6 1000

8 1500

8 1000

8 1000

8 1000

6 1500

4 1000

6 1500

6 1000

6 1000

4 1000

4 750

4 1000

4 500

4 500

3 500

4 1000

3 500

4 500

C O M P U T E R S , D E S K T O P S 19

Brand & model Price Overall score Test results Features

o TO

CO

i

CO

.1

0 100

P I F I G I V G l E

C FULL-SIZED continued

23 AsusE5sentioCM1630-0S $455

24 Compaq Presario CQ5720F 350

25 HP Pavilion p7m 350

26 Compaq Presario cq5814 290

o © © NA NA *"^'°;j"<^

O © O NA NA «^'«^"j '" '^

^ a ^ MA wA Pentium Dual•O © O NA NA ^g^gj5gQQ

» © O N A N A ""¿^-^

2 320

3 500

D MINI[71 1 Apple Mac Mini

MC270LL/A2 Acer AspireRevo Desi(top

AR37OO-U3OO2

2.4GHZ Core

2 Duo

350

O NA O NA

• © e NA NA AtomD525

2 320

2 250

Ratings Key ©Excellent ©Very good OGood ©Fair •Poor

Q CR Best Buy These models offer the best combination of performance and price. Ail are recommended.

hd Recominended These are h'igh-performing models that stand out.

Guide to the RatingsOverall score reflects all the Ratings factors. Displayed scores are rounded; models are listedin order of precise score. Scores are comparable between the full-sized and compact categories.Scores for the mini and all-in-one categories are not comparable with any other category. Per-formance reflects speed while running productivity applications, multimedia applications, and3D games. Ergonomics represents quality of the keyboard and pointing device, and accessibilityof features. Versatility includes hardware, such as memory-card slots and A/V connections;software, such as security programs and productivity applications; and tech support and war-ranty provisions. For all-in-ones, display is our judgment of clarity, color, brightness, and view-ing angle. Speakers covers fidelity, bass response, and loudness. Price is approximate retail.

20 C O N S U M E R R E P O R T S B U Y I N G G U I D E 2 0 1 2

OUR READERS RATE TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Apple stood out among manu-facturers for technical sup-port. Ovetall, tech supportremains among the lowest-rated consumer services we

measure, though clear differences existamong manufacturers. The ConsumerReports National Research Center sur-veyed CONSUMER REPORTS subscribersabout their most recent experiences withtech support, including support providedby manufacturers' extended plans. Respon-dents might not reflect the general U.S.population. Desktop and laptop responses

Tech supportIn order of reader score

Manufacturer

were combined into orie Rating, becausewe've found little difference between thetwo in recent surveys. In the chart below,the reader score would be 100 if every-one were completely satisfied; 80 wouldmean respondents were very satisfied, onaverage; 60, fairly well satisfied; 40, some-what dissatisfied. Differences of fewer than7 points are not meaningful. Phone sup-port and online support were rated ona scale from very poor to excellent. Prob-lem solved indicates the percentage ofpeople who said the manufacturer solvedtheir problem.

Reader score Survey results

ms s

ol(p

erce

100

Apple

Lenovo/IBM

Dell

Sony

Toshiba

ASUS

HP/Compaq

Acer/Gateway/eMachJnes

Based on responses from owners of 12.583 desktop, laptop, and netbook computers who contacted tech support betweenJanuary 2010 and January 2011.

e0oooo©

©oooo©

o©

80%57574544414740

Ratings Key - > - Worse

© e O ©

C O M P U T E R S , L A P T O P S 21

QuickGuide COMPUTERS, LAPTOPS

Some laptops offer features and capabilities that rivalthose of traditional desktops. Prices for 13-inch laptopscontinue to drop, and 500GB and larger hard drives arebecoming more common in laptops of all sizes.

What to looii for• An II- to 13-inch model ifyou plan to carry the laptoparound with you frequently• A 14- to 16-inch screen forthe ideal balance of perfor-mance, portability, and price• A 17- to 18-inch model for anentertainment-oriented desk-top replacement

What to skip• Unless it's a netbook, com-puters that use the AMD

Athlon Neo, Turion Neo, orSempron processor, the IntelAtom or Celeron processor,or the Via Nano processor

What you'll payA well-equipped, 15-inchlaptop in the middle pricerange might cost about $600and include one ofthe newerprocessors.

For more buying advice, go toConsumerReports.org/computers

Shopping tipIf you havespecial needs,order à lacarte from themanufacturer'swebsite.

Scan this or see how, page II

Brand & model

•I

Price Overall score Test results

A UiNCH MODELS

o 100p I F I G I V G l E

1 Apple MacBaoi< Airl l- inch MC5O5LL/A

2 Acer TravelMateTimeline TM8172-6932

3 HP Pavilion dmlz

B 13-INCH MODELS

O © e © ©

© © O O O

• © © O O

5.25 2.3

9 3.1

6.25 3.4

1.4GHzCore2 0uoCore

Í5-470UDual-Core

E-350

1 Samsung 900X3A-A03

2 Apple UacBook Air13-inch MC503LL/A

3 Apple MacBook Pro13-inch MC700LL/A

© © © O a

© © © © ©

© © © O ©

7.5 2.9

7.5 2.9

8.5 4.5

CoreÍ5-2537M1.86GHZ

Core 2 Duo2.3GHZCore Í5

22 C O N S U M E R R E P O R T S B U Y I N G G U I D E 2 0 1 2

Brand & model Price Overall score Test results

0

p 1F 1 G

100IVGl E

cmUIJ

Per

fo

}ilit\

•tal

S

mie

0U(

Erg

c

tilit

\rs

a

S

Dii (h

r.tt

ery

ra

.con

Wei

l i

B 13-INCH MODELS continued

[ ^ 4 ASUSU36JC-B1

[71 5 Apple MacBookMC5I6LL/A

0 6 Sony VAIO VPCS134GX/B

0 7 ASUSU33JC-A1

8 Lenofo IdeaPadU260-08763AU

9 Toshiba SateliiteL635-53O3O

10 HPENVY13-1O3ONR

11

12

MSI X37O-OO1US

HP Paviliondni3-3010us

C 14-INCH MODELS

© © © o o 8.5 3.8 ¡ .'- "¿ j 4

2.4GHZ Core© © © O © 6.75 4.8

O © © © O 5.5 4.3

O © © O O 8.5 4.6

© © © O © 5.25 3

© © © O O 5.5 4.4

O © O © O 4 3.8

• © © O O 7.75 3.8

• © © O O 5.75 4.1

2 Duo• Core

CoreÍ3-37OM

CoreÍ3-U380CeleronP4600

Dual CoreE-350

PentiumU5400

0 20 3

0 *0 5

0 '0 ^0 *

9

10

Lenovo ThinkPad EdgeE420

HP Paviiion dv4t

Dell Inspiron 14R-2nd Gen Í5HP Paviliondm4-2050usHP Paviiiondm4-1265dxSamsungNP-Q430-J503U5

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge0578N6UDell Inspiran 14R-2nd Gen Í3Dell InspironI14r-1296LPKHP Paviliondv4-4030us

O ©

O ©

© ©

O ©

O ©

© ©

O ©

o ©

o ©

o ©

© O O

© O O

© © O

© © O

© © O

© © O

© © O

© © o

© © o

© o o

7 4.7

6.75 4.8

5.25 5.2

8.25 4.3

5 4.4

3.75 5

4.5 4.9

5.75 5.2

4.75 4.9

5.75 4.8

CoreÍ3-231OM

CoreÍ3-231OM

CoreÍ5-2410M

CoreÍ3-231OM

CoreÍ5-460M

CoreÍ5-480M

Core¡3-390M

Core¡3-2310M

CoreÍ3-38OMPentium

B950

C O M P U T E R S , L A P T O P S 23

Brand & modei Pnce Overail score Test results

o

100

F I G IVGI E

C 14-INCH MODELS continued

n12

13

14

HPG42-3O3DX

Lenovo ThinkPad SL4102842-K3U

HPG42-24OUS

Acer lconia-6120Touchhook

$ 400

D 15-TO 16-INCH MODELS

Turion II© e © O O 4 4.8 Dual-Core 3

P540

Q e © O O 4.5 5

© © © O O 3.75 4.9

O O © O O 3 6

P I 1 Apple UacBook Pro15-inch MC372LL/A

[ 7 ] 2 Apple MacBook Pro15-inch MC721LL/A

[71 3 Appie MacBook Pro15-inch ZOLZ

[71 4 SamsungNP-RF511-SO2US

0 5 Deii XPS B

0 6 Deil XPS 15z

0 7 Deii XPS 15z HD Display

[ 7 ] 8 Toshiba Satellite

A655-3DV11X

0 9 ASUSN53SV-B1

[ 7 ] 10 Dell Inspiron 15R-

2nd Gen Í5[ 7 ] 11 HP Pavilion

dv6-325OusB 12 Gateway NV59C70U

1,700

1,800

1,900

850

© © © O © 8,5 5.5

© © © O © 9 5.6

© © © O © 9.25 5.5

© © © © O 6.25 5.7

© © e O O 6.25 6,1

© © © © O 7,25 5,5

© © © © © 7 5.5

© O © © O 3.5 5,9

© © © © © 5 6.4

O © © © O 6,75 6

O © © © O 5.25 5.5

O © © © O 5.5 5.2

2.53GHZCorei52GHZ

Corei72GHZ

Corei7Core

Í7-263O0MCore

Í7-262OMCore

. Í5-2410MCore

IS-2410MCore

Í5-241OMCore

Í5-2410MCore

Í5-241OMCore

Í5-480MCore

Ratings Key ©Excellent ©Very good OGood ©Fair •Poor

D CR Best Buy These models offer the best combination of performance and price. All are recommended,

ÜÜ Recommended These are high-performing models that stand out.

24 C O N S U M E R R E P O R T S B U Y I N G G U I D E 2 0 1 2

Brands model Price Overall score Test results

•s ™m Q:

ë S -^ S .2 .É Si S I 2 5 i 1,•S £ § S ï 'l

roce

ss

P 1 F

100G I V G l E

D ÎS- TO 16-INCH MODELS continued

ë

Core ,Í3-231OM ^

Core ,Í3-38OM ^

Core ,Í3-38OM

Core ,Í3-38CM ^

Core ,Í3-370M ^

Core ,Í7-7400

Core ,Í5-480M *

Core ,Í3-350M

Core .Í3-35OM *

Core 4Í3-380M

Core ,Í7-7200M °

Core ,Í3-370M ^

Core ,Í3-370M ^Pentium .P6200 ^

Pentium .P6200 ^

Pentium ,P6100 ''

Phenom II

N830Turion II .

P560 ^Athlon II ,

P-360 ^Turion II

Dual-Core 4P540^

Q 13

B 14

0 15Q 16

0 1718

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

Dell Inspiron 15R-2nd Gen Í3

Acer Aspire AS5742-6814

ASUSU52JC-BBG6

HPG6-1A69US

HP Pavilion dv6-3257sh

Sony VAIO VPCF13UFX/B

Acer Aspire AS5742-6638

HP Pavilion dv6-3225dx

Acer Aspire A55745-5425

Lenovo IdeaPad Z560(09I4-4DU)

HPENVY15-1O5ONR

HPG62-373DX

Dell InspironI15R-1O09MRB

Gateway NV55C38U

ASUSK52F-F1

ASUS K52F-BBR5

HP Pavilion dv6-3040us

Sony VAIO VPCEE43FX/BJ

Dell InspironIM5O3O-192OOBK

HPG62-4350X

$ 550

550

750

500

750

870

550

600

550

550

1.900

480

500

500

530

425

720

650

430

500

O © a

o © a

© © ©

o © ©

o a ©

a o a, o © ©

o © ©

o © ©

o a a

a © o

o © ©

o o a

o e e

& e e

© o a

o e e

o e e

9 e e

a o 6.5 6

o o 5.75 5

© o 4.75 5.9

O O 5 5.3

a O 4.75 5.5

a O 3 6.6

O O 4.75 5

© O 4.75 5.5

© O 5.25 5.3

O O 4.75 5.6

© © 2 6.3

O O 4.5 5.6

© O 3 5.7

O O 3.5 5.1

a O 3.75 5.7

O O 3.5 5.9

a O 3.5 5.4

a O 3.5 5.4

O O 4 5.6

© © © O O 3.5 5.5

C O M P U T E R S , L A P T O P S 25

Brand & modei Price Overaii score Testresuits

i ^ I S I i ëIa,

o 100p I F I G I VGl £

D 15-TO 16-iNCH MODELS continued33

34

3S

E

Acer Aspire ,A55253-BZ6O2 *Toshiba SatelliteC655-55I32

Compaq PresarioC057-210U5

17-TO 18-INCH MODELS

350 E^

350 f!^M

400 f!^M

• © a

• e e• © a

ooo

ooo

5.75

4.75

5.75

5

5.2

5.4

Dual-Coree-350

Celeron 925

Dual CoreC-50

2

3

2

Appie MacBook Pro17-inch MC7251L/A

2 HP ENVY 17-2O7Onr

3 Appie MacBook Pro17-inch MC024LL/A

0 Sp] 60 7

HPdv7-4295uS

DeilXP5173D

SamsungNP-RF711-501U5

0 Toshiba QosmioX505-08104

0 8 DeiiXPS17

0 9 HP Paviliondv7-6l75us

0 10 Delllnspironl7R-2nd Gen Í5

0 U Gateway NV79C54U

0 12 Deii Inspiron 17R-2nd Gen Í3

13 HP Pavilion G7-1Í50US

a O © 9.5 6.4 ^^^

© O © © © 3.75 75 .^^,¡^^^

© © a O © 9.25 6.5 ^¿^^l

m e ^ e e 3.75 72 ¡J^^^wCore

Í5-2410MCore

Í5-2410MCore

Í7-26300M

a a a O © 5.25 74 .^^^l^

CoreÍ5-2410M

CoreÍ5-2410M

CoreÍ3-38OM

CoreÍ3-231OM

CoreÍ3-370ÍK

O a a a 3 7.7

e e e e e 4.75 6.5

© © © © a 3.5 10.8

e ^ e e e 9 71

o a a a © 4.75 72

o © © © © 5 6.6

o a a a © 4.75 7.1

o a a o o 4 6

Ratings Key ©Excellent avery good OGood ©Fair ©Poor

D CR Best Buy These models offer the best combination of performance and price. Ail are recommended.

\Ei Recommended These are high-performing models that stand out.

26 C O N S U M E R R E P O R T S B U Y I N G G U I D E 2 0 1 2

Guide to the RatingsOverall score reflects all the Ratings factors. Displayed scores are rounded; models are listedin order of precise score, out of a total of 100. Portability score is based on battery life andweight. Ergonomics represents the quality of the keyboard and pointing device, and accessibil-ity of features. Perfornnance is based on performance while running productivity applications,multimedia applications, and 3D games. Versatility includes hardware such as memory-cardslots and A/V connections, software such as security programs and productivity applications,and tech support and warranty provisions. Display covers display size, clarity, color, contrast,brightness, and glare. Battery life (hr.) is estimated in hours while running productivity applica-tions. Weight (Ib.) is the weight of the laptop as you would carry it around, including the batterybut without the power adapter. Price is approximate retail.

iviost & Least Reliable

Desktops

Fewer ^repairs

Apple M ^ t a lCompaq ^ ^ ^ H t ]

Gateway • ^ ^ • ^ ^ ^ H

Morerepairs

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Gateway has been among the more repair-prone brands of desktop computers and Applehas been among the least. That's what wefound when we asked almost 20,000 read-ers who bought a desktop computer between2008 and 2011 about their experiences. Thegraph shows the percentage of models foreach brand that were repaired or had a seri-ous problem. Differences of fewer than 5points aren't meaningful, and we've adjustedthe data to eliminate differences linked solelyto the age of the desktop computer. Modelswithin a brand can vary, and design or manu-facture changes might affect future reliability.Still, choosing a brand with a good repair his-tory can improve your odds of getting a reli-able model.

Laptops

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

No one brand stood out as the most or leastreliable. That's what we found when we askedmore than 26,000 readers who bought a lap-top computer between 2008 and 2011 abouttheir experiences. The graph shows the per-centage of brands that have ever been repairedor had a serious problem. Differences of fewerthan 3 percentage points are not meaningful,and we've adjusted the data to eliminate differ-ences linked solely to the age of the laptopcomputer. Models within a brand can vary, anddesign or manufacture changes might affectfuture reliability. Still, choosing a brand with agood repair history can improve your odds ofgetting a reliable model.

Source: Annual Product Reiiabiiity Survey. ConsumerReports National Research Center.

Copyright of Consumer Reports is the property of Consumers Union and its content may not be copied or

emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.

However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.