I agree with @desertgrandma on this one. I bailed out on CR many years ago when they spread themselves too thin in trying to cover every product known to humanity. I found, in general (and admittedly it has been many years ago now) that their recommendations try to find the 'best buy' without regard to overall functionality and quality for the intended purpose.
They rely too heavily on their perceived 'bang for the buck' by factoring in too much (in my opinion) emphasis on price. If a product is excellent at what it does, but costs more than a competitor a notch below, the lower-performing item will gain a 'best buy' while the top performer will not.
They also try to evaluate an item based on its total functionality and not give adequate credit for excellence in specialized areas that may be of specific interest to a potential buyer. For example, I may prefer the Kindle 3 for it's eInk screen and that's a deal maker for me. You may prefer the Sony for its color LCD and that makes it for you. Both might be 'best buys' for us, but fail CR ratings due to cost.
Read many reviews, especially now with internet available, and find gurus on specialty web sites who know their fields of expertise.
