The problem I see with CR is that they have two completely different
approaches to products. One approach is to stress test products in a
controlled laboratory environment, while the other is to have
"reviewers" just play with products and report on how they
liked/disliked them. If you want to find out which house paint holds up
the best, CR will give you the results of their exhaustive testing. n
the other hand, if you want to find out which Merlot or Chardonnay is
best, maybe you should check out "Food & Wine Magazine". On that note, I
put personal computers and software in the latter category.
But I have to say that getting unbiased reviews of ANY product is a very
difficult challenge, whether it be entertainment, computing, autos,
photography, or even breakfast cereal. So much of the valuation of these
things is a personal experience that finding universal objective
measurements is close to impossible.
My own approach is to try to get a sampling of various opinions and try
to determine which come closest to the way I would value that product or
service. For instance, I almost never change the stations on my car
radio, so a complaint that the controls are difficult to operate is
meaningless to me, but they could be very critical to someone who
fiddles with his/her car audio constantly.
Mike
Tom Piwowar wrote:
They have a bias that can be seen pretty easily. (Ask Tom about
their reviews and recommendations on Computers)
I think it only rational to evaluate CR based on how they rate things I
do know a lot about (yes, computers). In this area their bias has been so
blatent that it throws into question everything they do. I have seen them
print survey statistics and then in the text state the exact opposite of
what the statistics showed. I wonder about their overall quality control
if they let one group of reviewers run so far amuck for so many years
without getting caught. I wonder how much support they get from the Gates
Foundation. Based on what I do know is true I would not trust CR's
recommendations on anything.
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