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Budget PCs

OK, not really because Apple still leads all makers by a country mile. That being said,  budget PC makers have made the biggest gains in the new 2009 computer rankings. It seems that this economy will make anyone think twice before plunking down a nice chunk of change for a high end PC.  Both Gateway/Acer and Compaq made a 2.8% and 5.7% respectively in the new ratings. These were the biggest gains made by any PC maker this year.

So does this mean that that these makers have made great strides in quality? Not really, these gains are more than likely due to price since both these makers are typically priced lower than the competition. It’s interesting to note that all other makers, including Apple, remained relatively flat in the ratings which are conducted by the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan.  What’s interesting is that both these matched HP and were a hair shy of catching Dell.  So if you are in the market for a new PC or laptop in this economy, check out Acer/Gateway and Compaq before you look into anything else. Below is a summary of the ratings and the makers’ scores:

Apple - 84/100
Dell-75/100
HP-74/100
Gateway/Acer - 74/100
Compaq - 74/100