XPS 1530 & 1330 fared poorly in April Consumer Reports!

Not good news for the XPS m1530 & m1330!
They fared poorly in April Consumer Reports!
For the 15.4 workhorse:
Apple: 79
HP: 68
Sony: 66
Dell XPS M1530: 64
Toshiba: 60

Slim & light
Sony: 75
Apple: 73
Apple: 71
Dell XPS m1330: 65

Support
Apple: Perfect (all red dots)
Lenovo: below average
Dell: below average
Toshiba: bad mostly black
Gateway: bad mostly black
Sony: bad mostly black
HP: Very bad... all black

 

Looks like nobody but overpriced Apple did good for support. Not surprising.

 

I never saw a perfect score before... but Apple got it for support. I saw that somewhere else too.

 

Considering all those bad mostly black ones, Dell looks like it's above the average.

 

Apple had 4 full red circles, Dell & Lenovo had one red circle, the rest black. None of the others had any red at all. HP had four full black circles.

For scores, they had full red, half red, red circle, black circle, half black circle and full black circles.

 

Where did you get the data from?

 

Go back and read the first post...

 

Lol at HP!

 

That is from Consumer report.org or? I was expecting a link, after all April consumer report can mean anything to google. I just want to see how the poll was done...

 

Agreed. We're not saying that the OP is some Apple schill, obviously, but it's a little funny when Apple gets a PERFECT score and everyone else gets a score that basically is like "when you call them up they come over to your home and beat up your dog, which will teach you to call them." Let's see how the report was put together.

 

what is the first score set? reliability?

 

LOL, how can everyone except Apple be "below average"? That's impossible by definition.

 

A terribly biased consumer reports? (although I do think they got it right for the fact that apple's customer support is good, but you do pay a big premium for it)

 

Exactly what I thought. They misuse a word that has real meaning. When someone does that I must question all that they say.

Actually they appear to be average, but in this case average means "sucks".

 

It was the actual magazine that I read at the Borders bookstore... so it is a FACT.

 

Well yea, I mean if Consumer report says it, it is Fact.

 

Sheesh... what a negative response! What I meant, some of you were questioning "where" I got what I posted. So I was saying that I read it in the actual magazine, in an actual bookstore and that was a FACT.

 

Of course it can. You don't set a standard by current events.

 

Reports, polls, reviews etc.., those are things that can affect one's potential purchase.

But in the end it's what you, the potential/owner of your lappy feels

And, I know that I am really happy with my 1530, no matter what the reports, polls, and reviews say.

 

So what benchmarks did Consumer Reports use to prove that Apple beat out everyone else?

 

That's right! I'm very happy with mine and that is the bottom line!

You will have to get the magazine to find out. All I did was read it at the bookstore.

 

What's the point of posting this information if you have no information of what the criteria was?

 

Post more bears, lol.

 

Go buy the dang magazine or read it at the bookstore and quit your griping!

 

I'm poor and lazy, cut me a break.

 

hahaha

at least you're honest

 

This isn't very surprising.. seeing as how it took Dell 6 tries to get it right with me.

 

Criteria for Consumer Reports is based on surveys. Each year they send a big-arse survey to all their subscribers and the use that data and combine it with their own thoughts for the grades.

CR is a good magazine for overall ratings on products, but when it comes to complex electronics, there are better review sites.

 

subscribers are too small of a sample to base such conclusions on, imho. It's a biased survey alright.

 

Makes sense.

Any chance there is money involved too? I find it hard to believe that Apple got such a perfect score!

 

The irony of this is that if you look at their latest Consumer Electronics rating book (a big compliation that came out about two months ago giving their ratings on all sorts of consumer electronics (computers, tvs, dvd players, etc...)) the 1330 was the top in it's category (slim and light) and the top recommendation therefore for it's category. Makes you wonder.

Just as a side note, this following illustration is why I take CR with a grain of salt. In the TVs their top recommendation (in this big compilation) for 52 inch was the Sharp D64U (or it was near the top, can't remember). The rest of Sharp's D64U line was not even mentioned in the other sizes! So, what gives? Sharp only sent in one of their D54U line sizes? CR inexplicably looked at only one size in that line? At any rate, you would now have to consider the Sharp D64U as top or near the top of every TV size given what they rated the 52 inch but you would have to come to that conclusion by yourself as CR does not mention the other sizes.

 

If it's based solely on surveys, rather than benchmarking, then no wonder. Apple users are single-mindedly loyal and usually for no reason other than "I'm sure that Apples are better because I said so." In other words, fail.

 

Question is; which is better, surveys which actual users have input or benchmarking which is just tests. Maybe a combo of both would be good, and I think the LAPTOP magazine uses that combo and they rated the XPS series quite high.

 

I don't mind opinions. In fact, those are better, so long as they are based on something. For example, as you said, an opinion in combo with a test is best. But most opinion sites you go to are like "this product sucks because I used it wrong!" or something lame like that. If you go on Amazon, they (users) review things before they're even released, which makes TOTAL sense.

 

I have the magazine so I'll try to clear up the results a little. There are multiple ratings sections: laptops, desktops, all-in-ones, monitors, and tech support & repairs (which is broken down by laptops and desktops).

To address the tech support section first, these ratings are based on a survey of subscribers, as a previous poster said. For laptops, there were 4,506 responses. The scores are interpreted as: 100 = everyone was satisfied; 80 = respondents were very satisfied; 60 = fairly well satisfied.

They also state differences of 7 points are not meaningful.

Here are the scores for tech support, specifically for laptops:

Apple = 83
Lenovo = 66
Dell = 60
Toshiba = 55
Gateway = 54
Sony = 51
HP = 48

They are also scored in three specific categories: 1) Solved problem; 2) Waiting on phone; and 3) Support staff. These scores come as a range of red to black dots, which I'll change to +2, +1, 0, -1, -2.

Apple scored +2 in each category.
Lenovo scored +2, +1, +1 respectively.
Dell scored +1, 0, 0 respectively.

The others got zeroes or lower.

I actually thought this was a reasonably good showing for Dell, and makes me glad I don't have an HP.

I'll address the laptop ratings in a separate post.

 

Exactly as I stated in my post. Yours has more detail. I was going on memory alone as I didn't buy the magazine.

My last notebook was a HP and I totally aggree with what they rated them at.

 

That sounds about right to me.

It is worth noting that (for me, anyway) I've owned 5 Dell systems over the past decade and I've only had to call customer support a handful of times. Yeah, they aren't that helpful. But my Dell systems have all been fairly reliable which negates the need for the support.

 

I have no idea how Dell support is as I've never had to call them. I've also had 5 dells the past 8 years and have yet to call Dell. That is pretty reliable.

I can't say that about HP as I've had to send my last one in FOUR times. Tech support was terrible as I'm from USA and had to deal with the heavy accent of India tech everytime with HP. Didn't sound like they knew much. Kinda like some of the McDonald employees that don't know hardly any English.

 

Yeah, I wasn't trying to fault you for not having it perfectly memorized, but I was mostly trying to clarify that Dell didn't do all that horribly ("fairly satisfied" instead of below average) and to explain a little more about the methodology.

The laptop scores on the other hand, are based on the CR testing, not on the survey. Presumably the overall score combines the sub-categories: ergonomics, performance, features, display, speakers, batter life, and weight.

This is a little confusing to me since the machines aren't configured completely the same so I don't think the results are necessarily reliable.

For the 15.4 workhorse category, here are the configs:

Apple MBP: 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo, 250 GB HD, 256MB 8600M GT ($2050)
HP dv6700t: T9300, 250 GB HD, 256MB 8400M GS ($1200)
Sony VGN-FZ4000: T9300, 250 GB HD, 256MB 8400M GT ($1470)
Dell M1530: T7250, 160 GB HD, 256MB 8600M GT ($1200)
Toshiba A200-ST2043: T7100, 160 GB HD, 128MB ATI HD 2400 ($1165)

The ratings, listed as overall (ergonomics, performance, features, display, speakers, battery life, weight):

Apple: 79 (+1, +2, +1, +1, 0, 4.5 hrs, 5.3 lbs)
HP: 68 (+1, +2, +1, 0, 0, 3 hrs, 6.1 lbs)
Sony: 66 (+1, +1, +1, 0, -1, 2.25 hrs, 5.7 lbs)
Dell: 64 (+1, +2, +1, 0, -2, 3 hrs, 5.9 lbs)
Toshiba: 60 (+2, +1, +1, 0, -1, 1.75 hrs, 6.5 lbs)

I have trouble seeing how they came up with the overall numbers based on the specific breakdown. It seems like the Apple benefits from the noticeably better battery life and smaller weight, rather than performance and features. I'm sure they are leaving out some of the details in their testing.

I don't have time now to list out the "Slim and Light" category, but the XPS 1330 was chosen as one of the "Quick Picks", which factors in performance, value, and tech support.

 

The problem with the display category is that each manufacturer buys parts from different suppliers for a given model laptop. CU could have reviewed an M1530 with a panel from one of the manufacturers that have been the subject of complaints on this forum. The MBP forums have a fair amount of complaints about display quality. I returned two MBPs due to poor display quality and the M1530 I have now has a much better display.

Regarding the speakers, I don't buy a laptop with the expectation that I'll be relying on the speakers for good sound reproduction. So I could care less about this category.

 

i read the article and i didnt get the impression that the m1530 did bad...? the score may look not as good because of the inflated apple scores, but I say inflated because MOST magazines are totally biased when it comes to apples. I mean even in this article, it compares features, and the MBP looks totally silly with its lack of features. To top it off, the MBP costs $800 more! theres no way a reliable reviewer could give the MBP that high of a score...

the only catagory that the m1530 did bad in were customer support and the speakers, and i agree on those two. Having to spend hours and hours on the phone to try and get a decent m1530 screen isnt good service in my books, and the speakers are below average for a laptop. But overall, i LOVE my m1530 (but I managed to get an AUO screen =))

 

Whogizzachitt, it's Consumer Reports. They cater to the lowest common denominator, and when it comes to consumer electronics (I deal heavily in Home Theater equipment), they are about the LAST place I would ever go for accurate reviews.

Since their "reviews" and "surveys" are essentially popularity contests, it's not surprising that the Appelites are at the top of the heap.

Meh.

 

Ok... I don't feel so bad now. Besides, the magazine that counts, LAPTOP, rated the 1530 & especially the 1330 at the top more than once.

I sure do like mine!

 

Basically, my long-time impression of Consumer Reports is they should stick to rating appliances and cars; they seem to clearly have no actual experience dealing with computer and related technology.

While Dell Inc., may not be your favorite Uncle, they do provide a great product, often with some or numerous innovative features, at very fair prices, and they offer a 3 or 4 year on-site service plan.

That's pretty good, in my book (and the reason I own Dell machines).

Apple, while I do not have experience with their service, charges much more for a prettier face and fewer features (ex. M133O geForce vs. MB integrated X3100).

 

Actually, their car reviews are pretty worthless as well, and based too highly on past perceptions. You bet they are using the same "most favored" status when ranking Apple #1 as they used to use with Toyotas - perception is everything, even if actual data proves otherwise. Biases like that make CR worthless. :twitcy:

 

You made it sounded like I was the one doing the question, but in fact I just want to know how they did the poll. I was hoping to see something like Volunteering survey vs. Mandatory responses, because that makes a difference in the result. I.E. Apple Fan boys tends to vote high for Apple vs. Dell which generally gets low ratings. Yadiyada.

Edit: looks like the question has already been answer by someone else, it is from surveys.... I was right and that is a FACT.

 

Like I said... I only read the magazine and posted what I read and that is a FACT!