The most reliable Windows laptop is a Mac, says Soluto

Soluto's PC troubleshooting Web service has saved many a forehead from banging against a desk. By scanning computers for installed software and crowdsourcing problems, Soluto's consumer service helps with everything from boot times and app crashes to remote configuration. Soluto used the wealth of data it collected in this way to compile a list of the ten most reliable Windows laptops currently on the market, dominated by a surprising star...and it's not a PC.

It's Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The list published today is based on information collected from 150,000 laptops since January 1, 2013. Analysis took into account application crashes, hangs, and blue screens. Soluto believes the MacBook Pro 13" may have gained its spot at the top of the list because of its clean Windows installations: When users install Windows on a MacBook, it comes as Microsoft intended, completely free of any OEM extras.

Second on the list is the affordable Acer Aspire E1-571, which costs a third as much as the MacBook Pro 13" yet was nearly as stable and trouble-free. The Acer comes out slightly ahead of the much fancier Dell XPS 13, which comes with an SSD and costs more than twice as much. Soluto notes that a full 32% of Soluto users removed the version of Windows that shipped with their Dell XPS, opting to start out with a clean Windows installation instead.

Soluto's "big-data frustration analytics" are based on objective metrics such as the number of crashes per week and the number of processes running in the background. The company used a formula to interpret the numbers and arrive at a single, simple grade for each computer tested. The list, which is published in the April 2013 edition of "Soluto's PC purchasing guide for small businesses," contains the raw scores for each computer as well, making further analysis (and alternative interpretations) easy.

SMBs, you can simmer down now

Along with the rankings, Soluto also made a product announcement today. The new Soluto for Business service, which is aimed at small businesses and IT service providers, builds on the popular consumer software. For $8 a month, Soluto for Business supports up to ten PCs, letting IT experts (formal or otherwise) remotely troubleshoot them. Soluto has created a video illustrating the process. Future editions of the purchasing guide will be available to subscribers only.

Going up against established competitors in the remote control arena like GoToMyPC and TeamViewer, Soluto drastically undercuts prices while offering additional services. Soluto will keep offering a free version of the service that supports up to three computers, aimed at home users or small businesses who want to evaluate it.

Soluto's agent runs in the background as the computer operates, collecting data about application crashes, blue screens, hangs, and other annoyances often encountered in daily work. Administrators can then view this information in an online dashboard, taking action remotely to eliminate sources of frustration.

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Android laptops: The $200 price is right, but the OS may not be

When Intel said recently that its Bay Trail chips will power a wave of $200 touchscreen laptops, the company wasn't talking only about Windows.

Those $200 notebooks will predominantly run Android, Intel Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer David "Dadi" Perlmutter told CNet. Windows laptops could reach the $200 mark, but that "depends on how Microsoft prices Windows 8," Perlmutter said. "It may be a slightly higher price point."

An earlier report by The Wall Street Journal claimed that Microsoft may slash licensing costs for small, touch-equipped notebooks. The lower cost of Windows, combined with lower resolution requirements and low-end Intel processors, could make for some cheap Windows 8 devices later this year.

Even so, Android laptops will likely be even less expensive, because Google doesn't charge a licensing fee for the operating system.

But is Android a good fit for laptops? Some companies have tried the Android notebook before--most notably Asus, with its Transformer and Slider hybrids--but these have been niche products at best.

To make Android more practical as a laptop operating system, Google needs to make some tweaks. Although Android supports external mice, the operating system and apps aren't really optimized for trackpad input. The things you'd expect from a trackpad, like right-click context menus and hover-over functionality, aren't supported. Android would also need more desktop-like features, such as a version of Chrome that supports windowing and a more robust version of Google Drive.

Besides, Google already has a notebook operating system in Chrome OS, and already it's much better suited for productivity than Android. It fully supports trackpads and other pointing devices and it offers the full desktop Web. One Chromebook has already reached the $200 mark.

In the past, Google has said that Chromebooks and Android devices serve separate purposes, but their respective user experiences will merge over time. That hasn't really happened yet, so at this point, throwing Android onto a laptop seems like jumping the gun.

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Samsung rationalizes PC naming scheme

In an attempt to rationalize its Windows PC lineup, Samsung announced Friday that it will gather all its Microsoft boxes under the ATIV brand.

The move will affect Samsung's Series 3, 5, and 7 all-in-one computers and more than half a dozen of its laptops.

The all-in-one models, which were announced last summer, will be called the ATIV One 3 (Series 3), ATIV One 5 (Series 5) and ATIV One 7(Series 7).

Samsung's laptop models will be renamed the ATIV Book 2 (the Series 3 300), ATIV Book 4 (the Series 3 370), ATIV Book 4 (the Series 5 510), ATIV Book 5 (the Series 5 Ultra), ATIV Book 7 (the Series 7 Ultra), ATIV Book 6 (the Series 5 Chronos), ATIV Book 8 (the Series 7 Chronos), and ATIV Book 9 (the Series 9).

Samsung apparently didn't want to totally rationalize its lineup, since the company is renaming the Series 3 370 and Series 5 510 both as the ATIV Book 4.

Tablet line also renamed

Prior to the renaming splurge on Friday, the ATIV designation was reserved for Samsung's Smart PC line--itself a bit of confusing nomenclature

"Whether Samsung is trying to confuse buyers into thinking they're buying a laptop, or can't make up its mind what it is, the Samsung ATIV Smart PC is (mostly) a tablet," wrote Lloyd Casein a review of the product in PCWorld.

With its new renaming scheme, Samsung appears to be addressing that confusion. The ATIV Smart PC Pro is becoming the ATIV Tab 7, for example, while the ATIV Smart PC is now the ATIV Tab 5.

In addition to re-christening its PC line, Samsung also announced something it calls SideSync.

The feature enables you to switch from working on your PC to your Android-based Samsung smartphone by simply connecting the two devices via a USB cable.

When connected, you can respond to a text on a mobile phone from the PC keyboard, as well as view maps, photos, and multimedia from your phone on your PC screen.

You can also make edits to files on your phone via your ATIV PC and even drag and drop files from one unit to another.

Samsung's president Jun Dong-Sun has been critical of Windows 8 in the past -- even comparing it to the much maligned Windows Vista. Whether this new naming scheme will have any impact on PC sales or is just putting lipstick on a pig remains to be seen.

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