Late last week, PC Magazine published the results of their 20th annual Reader Satisfaction Survey for desktop and notebook computers. You know that I’m reporting this to you because Apple did very well. How well? Let’s go “inside the numbers”.

PC Magazine readers were asked to rate their desktop and notebook computers, on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being best), in the areas of Reliability, Tech Support, Repairs, Percentage Needing Repair, and Likelihood of Recommending. The survey was also broken down into Home, Business, and Desktops Less Than a Year Old categories.

Let’s look at desktops first. Unsurprisingly, Apple scored highest in all areas and categories, significantly better than average. Their overall score was 9.1 out of 10. The nearest PC manufacturer was Velocity Micro with a score of 8.6. Self-built PCs were close behind at 8.3. Other notables: Sony at 7.9, Gateway at 7.8, Dell at 7.7, Acer and HP at 7.5, eMachines at 7.4, and bringing up the rear, IBM/Lenovo at 7.1 The average score of all Windows-based desktop PCs was 7.8.

Apple users also reported an 85% rating for the reliability of software installed on the computer and a 93% score for new desktops working right out of the box. Apple’s 9.4 out of 10 score on Likelihood of Recommending is the highest ever seen in any of the PC Magazine surveys.

What about notebooks? Apple again led in all areas and categories, with an overall score of 9.1. Fujitsu “showed” at 8.4, and IBM/Lenovo “placed” at 8.2. The average score of all Windows-based notebooks was 7.9. Gateway, Dell, Sony, and Toshiba were all grouped right around the average.

Apple’s biggest margins of satisfaction came in Tech Support. They scored 8.4 out of 10 overall. The average among Windows-based PC makers was 6.6. Apple also scored significantly better than the average in Percentage Needing Repair – 10% versus the Windows-based PC average of 21%.

The most common complaint I hear about Tech Support in general is the difficulty folks have in communicating with over-the-phone technicians, due to the outsourcing of tech support to foreign lands. While Apple certainly maintains a diverse workforce, their decision a few years back to eschew overseas call centers seems to be paying dividends. They easily rated highest in the survey’s “Support provider’s ability to understand my problem” and “Support provider’s ability to speak in a clear manner” categories.