PC Authority Reliability & Service Awards 2008

Staff Writers | 3 Dec 2008

More than 20,000 people voted for the best and worst technology in this year's Awards, including the best ISP, laptop brand, wireless router, and best online retailer. See who won and who lost.

[Click here to see the photo gallery of the Awards event]

Vendors from Apple to Gigabyte attended the ceremony this week, where the results of the survey were announced including which brands scored the highest in each product category.

More than 20,000 people filled out the survey, covering 130 brands and over 16 categories, to determine the best & worst technology of 2008.

Vendors gather at last nights Award ceremony: the Awards cover 130 brands and over 16 categories, to determine the best & worst technology of 2008.

The survey gives the tech buying public the opportunity to have their say about which brands they love, and which they don't. Voters rated the brands they own according to customer support, reliability, value for money, and importantly, whether they would buy the same brand again.

As with previous years, voters weren't shy about praising their favourite brands, and punishing those that failed to live up to hype. Nikon, Apple, Canon, Dynalink, ASUS and Samsung were among the Award winners this year. Notably, Telstra and Dodo Internet again received the wooden spoon in the ISP category.

Apple voted Best Laptop, Best PC
One of the big surprises of the night was Apple's win in the Laptop and PC categories. In the Laptop category, Apple scored the highest brand loyalty rating of all, with 96% of laptop owners say they would buy an Apple again. Despite not having the best value for money rating, Apple blitzed the field when it came to customer support and reliability.

Westnet's Eric Cain accepts the Award for Best ISP from PC Authority editor Zara Baxter. Westnet recived more than 6,500 votes, praising the ISP's customer support, reliability and value for money.

Westnet best ISP
There was a massive 18,000 votes in the ISP category this year. Westnet customers sent in more than 6,500 votes, praising the ISP's customer service in particular. Readers weren’t shy about punishing ISPs again this year for poor form – with Dodo and Telstra ranking in the bottom of the survey results.

Apple iPhone misses PDA/Smartphone
The iPhone was only available for a few months before voting began for our survey, yet Apple still managed to get 528 votes. Not a bad effort, though a less than stellar rating for battery life meant Apple didn't quite manage to win this category. According to our readers, ASUS PDA/Smartphones are the most reliable, and have great battery life, and while the value for money rating was low, it was better than most of the competition.

Other winners include:

Best Wireless Router: Dynalink, Billion

Best Motherboard: Gigabyte

Best Online Retailer: IT Estate

Best Graphics Card: EVGA

Best Camera: Nikon

You can see the full list of winners in the PC Authority Reliability & Service Awards here.