Gateway

A new report from Forrester Research demonstrates that Dell has a long way to go to regain the full approval of American computer users.

As part of a survey of nearly 4,600 consumers in the United States about their interactions with a variety of companies, Forrester Research examined the scores of the five largest computer manufacturers: Apple, Compaq, Dell, Gateway and Hewlett-Packard. When it comes to three key performance criteria -- usefulness, enjoyability and ease of use -- Apple led the pack, noted Bruce Temkin, a principal analyst and vice president at Forrester.

Acer outdueled Asus in the third quarter to become the world's No. 1 seller of mini-notebook PCs, according to DisplaySearch and Gartner.

Though Asus essentially created the mini-notebook segment in late 2007, DisplaySearch reports that Acer was able to capture more than 35 percent of the market globally in the third quarter, stripping market share from its main rival. Gartner confirmed that the rivals have swapped market-share slots.

Lori Jantulovich stands in the middle of Best Buy's computer section, flagging down a sales clerk. She's trying to buy a laptop for her nephew. "I have no clue," she says.

Jantulovich, 51, is surrounded by displays touting the merits of dozens of similar-looking PCs. "Superior performance with 3GB of system memory," one says. "Powerful discrete graphics," another advertises. "Blazing fast performance with a next-generation Intel Core 2 Duo Processor." "On-the-go multi-tasking." "Limitless performance and response."

"For the average person, this is a lot to dissect," she says.