The real indictment of Fidel Castro's regime are the images of Cubans carting away their first computers.

Yes, Cuba this month lifted a ban on the sale of home computers to the public, one put in place to keep people in their place. Information is power, and more so in a place where it is scarce.

People living in a place where the average wage is about $20 a month were finding the $800 or so to buy one as soon as they began arriving on the island.

I hope the images we saw of Cubans eager to jump into the information age are symbolic of a sharp change in thinking by the island's leaders. Even they must now realise what long years of repression has done to squash entrepreneurship. Instead a thirst for information, and the hope of a better life is winning out.

If so, Raul Castro's government must now move to remove the ban on Internet access, which remains restricted to designated companies, schools and universities. Due to the US' trade embargo Cuba's Internet access is currently via satellite, which is expensive, rather than by undersea fibre-optic cable.

True, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, is laying a new cable under the Caribbean that will connect Cuba, but it is up to the government to kill the onerous restrictions.

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With computers basically operating in the same range of performance, technical support is a key consideration when shopping for a new machine. Consumer Reports has put Apple and Lenovo as the top of the list in technical support among computer makers, based on a survey of 10,099 notebook and desktop owners.

All of those surveyed had contacted customer support between January 2006 and January 2007.

Consumer Reports found Apple to be number one in technical support all round. Lenovo came in second for notebook computers and Dell was second for desktops.

In its survey the organisation found that Apple's tech support solved the problem about 80 per cent of the time, compared to the 60 per cent average. Apple's Genius Bar free service solved the problem 90 per cent of the time.

Consumer Reports also mostly backs my complaint against extended warranty plans that stores try to flog at you for ridiculous sums. In general, extended warranty plans "generally aren't good buys", the organisation says.

In general Consumer Reports recommends against buying a plan on the basis of its repair coverage alone. I always use my credit card to make my purchase. Like mine, some credit-card companies automatically offer extended coverage if you use it to make the purchase.

You can often doubling the manufacturers' warranty period by using the right card.

Consumer Reports says its data suggests that on average, computer repairs cost about the same as the plan if the computer indeed needs a repair during the first few years.

You might consider purchasing an extended plan in certain cases, for example if you know you will be putting your new laptop through some rough trips. For this you will need a plan for that covers accidental damage.

Most factory warranties specifically exclude coverage resulting from accidents or misuse, but purchased plans might not.

If you have a Mac then Consumer Reports suggests getting Apple's AppleCare, since the company only offers free technical support for a scant 90 days (unlimited free advice if you go to an Apple store to solve a problem).

The survey found that consumers with AppleCare, received service that was "significantly better than for support without a plan, which is already a standout for Apple".

Service is important as computers are among the most trouble prone products Consumer Reports track.

About 40 per cent of laptops and 30 per cent of desktops require repairs or replacement within three to four years of purchase, according to the organisation's annual product-reliability surveys.

By comparison, about 10 per cent of digital cameras need repairs over that period.

The organisation's June computer package issue, which went on sale this week, also features ratings of 14 desktops and 24 laptops. For the record the thinnest laptop on the market is the Macbook Air by Apple, the smallest is the Asus Eee PC, and largest is the HP Pavilion HDX Entertainment Notebook.

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