Consumer Reports [hearts] Apple's MacBooks

Apple's notebooks sweep every category in the latest report, despite middling reliability scores

Source: Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports doesn't always love Apple's (AAPL) products. It still doesn't recommend the iPhone 4 because of problems its testing lab had with the external antenna. But in its survey of the current crop of notebook computers released Tuesday, the magazine gave the MacBook line its highest ratings in every category in which Apple competes, from the 11-inch MacBook Air to the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

The review team's one complaint: reliability. Apple scored a 17, better than Toshiba and Acer (15 each), below Sony (18), HP (19) and Dell (20). But Consumer Reports wasn't particularly impressed in this category with any of the manufacturers:

"Laptop reliability has been mostly undistinguished. Apple had the best technical support, while Acer/Gateway/eMachines had the worst. We didn't recommend the Acer Aspire AS5745-5425 because of its technical support. Consider it if tech support is not a concern for you."

The report is available to subscribers (minimum cost: $5.95 for one month).

Via The Loop