Analysts are skeptical about such initiatives, however. "Community support always works well for people who really know what they're doing. But for the masses, it may not be a great option," says Healey. HP counters this criticism by arguing that younger users are more likely than older users to try support forums. "The younger generation typically has a very strong willingness to hear from other users, and to explore what they have to say," says Potts, who adds that baby boomers often prefer talking with a company representative.

To be fair, there are a lot of perfectly happy HP customers, too, such as Malcolm Leonard Jr. and his wife. The couple divide their time between Arizona's White Mountains in the summer and Tucson in the winter. They own three HP desktop PCs, two of which have an HP Pocket Media Drive bay, which holds a portable USB hard disk. "When I move, I take the drive with me," says Leonard, who adds that the portable disk is considerably easier to carry around than a separate notebook. And though Leonard owns a lot of HP hardware, he says that he has had to call tech support only one time--and that was just for a minor Windows problem that HP fixed quickly.

What the Future Holds

Today's typical home computer resembles an air-traffic control tower that is responsible for regulating a growing number of associated tech devices, including printers, MP3 players, digital cameras, and routers. "It's really a portal into the broadband-connected world," says IDC's Healey. Unfortunately the growing level of complexity poses problems for traditional computer vendors and their support staff. They're willing--though not always able--to fix a notebook or desktop problem, but not a home-networking glitch that involves, say, a Wi-Fi router and a printer. "The device manufacturer says, 'Oh, wait, we don't do home networking. We're just a PC provider. We make the box.'" Healey adds.

As a result, other companies are filling the void by offering home tech support--for a price. In-home service visits from traveling techies employed by the likes of Geek Squad and Firedog have been around for years, but they can be prohibitively expensive, often costing hundreds of dollars for a single visit. New players in this space include Internet service providers such as AT&T and Verizon, both of which offer fee-based phone support. The AT&T ConnecTech service, for instance, charges $20 a month to diagnose and fix computer hardware, software, peripheral, and networking troubles. Support calls are limited to 20 minutes, however.