The complaints were taken from Complaints.com and Consumeraffairs.com..

The share of the PC market in percentage is in brackets. They come from various articles on the internet. Complaints are mostly from Americans as they have about 15 times the number of Canadian computers. Many complaints are regarding warrantees, rebates, waiting for service, long waits on telephone, media ads that do not reflect what is for sale in the store.

Company   #   Market share
• Dell 650 (15%)
• Gateway 249 6%)
• HP 234 (17%)
• Compaq 161 (5%)
• Tosbiba 66 (5%)
• eMachines 28 (3%)
• Lenovo/IBM 30 (6%)
• Acer 14 (5%)
• MDG 12 (NA) - sold in Canada only

• Best Buy 290
• Future Shop 33
• Office Depot 27
• Staples 27
• Tiger Direct 20

Hardware Makers of computer components:
• CPU chips - About 90% made by… Intel, AMD
• Motherboards - About 80% made by… Intel, MSI, Asus, VIA
• Hard Drives - About 75% made by…Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor, Quantum
• Optical Drives - About 70% made by…LG, HP, Sony, NEC
• Video Cards - About 70% made by…ATI, Diamond, PNY, BFG/EVGA

Some Observations:
• There are only a few makers of computer components.
• Computer makers use the same hardware and assemble the parts in their factories.
• Dell has lots of complaints but have a large market share and a small percentage of dissatisfied customers.
• MDG has few complaints but sell in Canada only.

Learn from complaints:
• Rebate problems: 448 complaints on consumeraffairs.com on a number of companies. Coupons are lost, expired and may have fine print that changes the offer.
• Don’t expect help desk to give a computer course.
• The computer ads & the offer you get may not be the same.
• Do not assume there is a 100% money back guarantee. Some charge 15% restocking fee and some offer no refunds.
• Is service done on premises? If not, maybe difficult to speak to the technician.
• Some prices are 3% cash discounted so if you pay by credit card, 3% is added on.
• The service tech is reading from a book in a language you do not understand.
• When a hard drive fails you could get a used one.
• Software that comes with computer is a trial version only, or updates last for only three months.
• Some companies expect the customer to install motherboards.

Some Three Year Warranties:
• 1st year parts/labor
• 2nd year parts
• 3rd shipping

Computer warranties:
• Usually for one year.
• Can buy three year extended but studies say not worth the money.
• Hard drives last 5-10 years
• Displays last 5-10 years
• Optical drives approx. 2-3 years
• Fans: Power supply/CPU 3-5 years
• CPU/Motherboard? Usually last until you over heat them.

Conclusion:
• Since the computer makers use the same components from a small number of manufacturers, the complaints are mostly from the assembly of components or the service.

Fewer complaints & best price:
• If you want fewer complaints, buy from a local shop
• Are the best prices at the big box stores? Perhaps, if the ad is the actual offer in the store.
• Try taking a sale ad to a local computer store and see if they can match it, or make a deal.