What happens when you ask thousands of people what they think of the reliability of their PC makers, peripheral manufacturers, and service providers—and the support they provide? In our case, we get reams of data. We then distill it down into easy to follow scores so everyone will know exactly which vendors are doing their absolute best. This also reveals which companies could be doing a whole lot better.

This is the 22nd time PCMag has gathered this data from you and for you. Compared to previous years, there was plenty of consistency (just guess what company with a fruity name is on top of every category it enters) and a few surprises (such as welcoming Asus to the notebooks section).

We also give you even more to consider by adding your ratings on game consoles and GPS devices for the first time. You might be shocked to see just what game system PCMag readers prefer. Then again, you may not, if you know what a Red Ring of Death is.

So dive in to the data. If you're preparing to make a purchase, our Readers' Choice awards in each category may help you make a decision. If nothing else, see if your favorite router, HDTV, cellular phone, or what-have-you is the same as that favored by the majority of PCMag.com's tech savvy readers.

Don't forget to let us know what you think, of course. That's why we do this, after all: So other readers and the technology vendors will know what you like... and what you think of them. Disagree with what our readers said or thought about your favorite company? Or did a vendor receive high marks in spite of the poor treatment you received? Let everyone know, in our forums.

With help from Ben Gottesman .

September 17, 2009 03:29:50 GMT

Could you explain why companies that have the same rating be judged differently in terms of performance to the average? E.g., Toshiba and Dell both received an overall score of 7.8 for laptops, yet Toshiba is judged as average and Dell is judged below average. I'm guessing that the distinction is due to the much larger number of Dell responses, but I don't see how.

Source: PC Magazine