Technical support is like the weather: everybody complains about it but nobody seems to do anything about it. Even the sunniest days can feel downright gloomy when your laptop goes south and you try to get help from the PC manufacturer's tech support, be it by phone or the Web.
 
Whether it is those insufferable long hold times listening to insipid smooth jazz loops, dealing with by-the-script technicians, or trying to comprehend the accents of some offshore associates, the inability to find a quick fix can add to your frustration.
 
To assess just how good or bad the tech support of the major laptop vendors is, we went undercover to see how well and swiftly each was able to solve two problems.
 
The first challenge was easy. We shut off each notebook's Wi-Fi connection using either the system's Wi-Fi power switch, if there was one, or the Function-F2 key combo. Then we would call and complain that we lost Wi-Fi service and ask for help getting back online.
 
The second challenge was a tad harder: We added some memory-resident applets whose icons appear in the Windows System Tray and then complained that our laptop booted up abnormally slowly.
 
We first tried to solve the pair of problems by using the non-phone support methods each company offered-FAQ pages, knowledge bases, instant chat services, and manual and software download pages. Then we called tech support twice, once for each question. All calls were placed between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. PST for the first question and between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. for the second.
 
Read on to see how each notebook manufacturer fared.

 

Editors' Note Web grades were based upon the availability of information and the ease with which it was located. Phone grades were based upon wait times, the quality of service, and a positive resolution of the problem.