BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : NOVEMBER 13, 2000 ISSUE
TECH BUYING GUIDE PCs: What If It Breaks? When buying a PC these days, look closely at tech support and warranties It has happened to you. You've spent the past hour entering all your latest investments in a spreadsheet, or composing that delicate e-mail to your boss about the big customer who defected to the competition. Suddenly, your computer freezes. You get mad, look your PC right in the monitor, and scream those two little words you think every time the machine gets the best of you: Heal thyself! Those were the words, right? Well, if your current PC doesn't listen, your next one just might. IBM ( IBM), Hewlett-Packard ( HWP), and other computer makers promise that they'll ship new desktop PCs sometime next year with technology that can detect problems before they happen. Not only that, they'll venture out onto the Web to retrieve a ''digital cure'' that will fix glitches even before you notice that anything's awry. Sounds nice, but that won't help you if you're in the market for a new computer today. In case you haven't noticed, the rules of the game have changed since you bought your last PC. Now, you're shopping for a commodity, meaning you'll find a huge selection of models to choose from, all of which offer roughly the same bells and whistles. That means two things are most important: price, and how you're going to fix your PC when it breaks. And when it breaks the time after that. Bottom line? If you're shopping for a new computer, warranties and tech support should be at the top of the checklist. Sure, you need to compare the processor and hard-disk drives of the different systems. But where you'll see the real differences is in the price and coverage of customer service. Fact is, vendors are much stingier than they used to be when it comes to warranties and tech support. Gone are the days of 1990, when intense retail competition forced PC makers to offer full warranties for three years or more. Most hardware coverage for repairs and technical-hotline support has shrunk to one year. Software support has all but vanished unless you are willing to pay through the nose. So assuming you plan to own your computer for more than a year, you're going to have to pay a live techie to help you out of a bind. Choosing the right customer-support plan could save you a pile of money. Among the top computer vendors, Dell ( DELL), Gateway ( GTW), and Apple ( AAPL) offer some of the best deals. Dell Computer Corp. provides one year of on-site hardware repair and 30 days' software phone support for free, but you can get a two-year extension for $99. Hardware support is free for the life of the system. Apple Computer Inc. charges $149 for the three-year AppleCare plan, which covers repairs and tech support by phone and e-mail beyond the 90 days that you get free of charge. Gateway Inc., which offers lifetime hardware tech support, will extend its 90 days of software support: Two years run $79, three years $99. NO FAVORS. Extending your warranty for software support is well worth the expense. Believe it or not, most crashes are not caused by the computer itself. ''Ninety percent of our calls have to do with things other than hardware,'' says David W. Allen, vice-president for worldwide operations at Dell. Under the terms of their warranties, most makers will resolve major software problems for only the first month, after which they'll charge a fee or redirect you to a software publisher. Don't expect the publisher to offer you any favors for free: Even Microsoft Corp. ( MSFT), the last holdout among top software makers, is charging $35 a call after two free calls for some of its products. Beyond cost, you'll need to consider the quality of customer service. According to a September survey by Consumer Reports, only about half of tech-support users were highly satisfied with the results. One in four reported that they weren't able to resolve their problem, and one in three complained about being on hold too long. Among major manufacturers, Dell and Gateway rated highest in satisfaction--and both obtained the highest ranking on their ability to resolve problems. Still, the overall quality of customer care has been improving, even among the smaller manufacturers. Take Micron Electronics Inc. ( MUEI) If you called the clonemaker's support line five years ago, you would have found yourself listening to a full hour of Muzak. Now all you're subjected to is an annoying few minutes of classical piano. The technicians are knowledgeable and lenient when it comes to solving software problems after the 30-day warranty period has expired. DON'T CALL. Still, PC manufacturers would much prefer to answer your questions on the Web than over the phone. Why? Answering a question by phone costs manufacturers 20 times as much as doing it by e-mail, estimates Jim Hobby, vice-president for consumer client care at Gateway. ''The cheapest tech support call is no call at all,'' he quips. At Gateway, 90% of customer questions are answered over the phone, but judging from the experience of other PC makers, much of that support will shift to the Web soon. IBM predicts that its tech support phone calls will drop from 4.8 million to 4.7 million this year, while e-mail questions will soar from 85 million to 155 million. As for the next big trend in customer support--Web self-healing technology that automatically fixes your computer's glitches--a few companies are making headway. The Micron Millennia PC, for example, includes software from PC-Doctor Inc. that diagnoses technical problems. Once the problem is found, Millennia users can log on to Support.com Inc.'s ( SPRT) Web site and connect with a service that restores damaged software. Gateway, which also will begin offering diagnostic software from PC-Doctor this year, already has a phenomenal tool called GoBack. This private-labeled version of Adaptec's software (BW--Oct. 9) lets you restore your hard-disk drive to a previous state. Say, for example, at 4:08 p.m. you accidentally delete a file or import a virus. All you do is set the clock on Gateway GoBack for 4:07, and it's as though nothing ever happened. Sadly, the self-healing tools that are available today can't do much beyond fixing minor glitches like incompatible software files. More advanced tools are on the horizon. Soon to come are remote-maintenance services that allow technicians--with your permission--to reach through the Web into your system and search out the problem. If you can't wait for your PC maker to offer remote maintenance, consider checking out an independent tech-support company such as Expertcity.com Inc. that offers this technology. And don't worry: Although its technicians can take control of your cursor and see open files on your screen, they can't rifle through your hard drive. A number of other independent support sites have cropped up in the past 18 months, including PCSupport.com ( PCSP) and All.com. They offer tools, such as telephone hotlines, live e-mail chats with technicians, and electronic bulletin boards for swapping advice. Some of them are well worth the money if you expect to use them more than once or twice a year (page 110). Expect to pay anywhere from $14.99 for a single call to $169.99 for a year of phone support from an independent site. Feeling overwhelmed with options? It's understandable. When you bought your last PC, you probably only had two avenues--the maker and the store--and neither was all that attractive. If nothing else, the boom in support options should tell you one thing: Home computers aren't yet ready to heal themselves. By Kevin Ferguson in Boston _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS The New Wireless Wonders Desktops What If It Breaks? TABLE: Desktops: Best of Breed TABLE: How the Warranties Stack Up Cool Tools: iFeel MouseMan Help Is Just an E-Mail Away TABLE: How to Hook Up with a Nerd If Web Surfing Is All You're Into... 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