Apple today managed to hold on to and in some cases widen its lead in a reader-guided study of satisfaction with their computers and mobile devices. The company's MacBooks led the way in PC Mag's studies with an overall score of 9.2; the figure was the highest in any category, not just notebooks, and kept it in front of ASUS' 8.5. Most sat between 7.9 and 8.1, while HP's Compaq label trailed the pack at 7.3.
Systemax on Friday announced it has finished its acquisition of online electronics retailer Circuit City following its bankruptcy and launched a revised Circuit City website. Systemax has also aquired CompUSA last year and oversees online retailer TigerDirect. The new Circuit City site has 24/7 customer service, advanced search functions and photo and video galleries of the products it carries.
PC builder and retailer Systemax may revive the Circuit City name through a deal, a court filing shows (PDF). Already the owner of TigerDirect and recently CompUSA stores, the company is in the running for bids on Circuit City's name before May 11th and would pay as much as $6.5 million to acquire both the brand name itself and the rights to run the Circuit City website. It's not known which other companies are in the running or how likely they are to win a bid.
Following its bankruptcy and sale to Systemax, CompUSA has quietly been reopening new stores with a very different policy on Internet access. In a talk with Wired, Systemax's Technology Products chief Gilbert Fiorentino has confirmed both that there are now 30 new CompUSA stores but that the new shops have a largely open Internet policy that puts every computer in the store on an Internet connection. Shoppers are reportedly encouraged to use demo units to check prices and reviews, and are unrestricted from ordinary tasks like checking Facebook.
