Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
I don't know how they do these days on lawnmowers, washing machines and toaster ovens, but a few years back I absolutely gave up on them for any technology (printers, digital cameras, etc) because their reviews were absolutely useless, as if they were written by folks with no understanding of the tech, or any sense of what was valuable or not about the products.
I'm glad they are maintaining objectivity, but they seemed to have lost competence.
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I almost said something about that, but I already had written more (and gotten off topic) more than I had planned to.
I agree with you. I think that that is a weakness of CR, and has been ever since I can remember. Over the 20 years or so that I've been buying serious (vs Commodore-esce) computer stuff, I have glanced over CR's ratings, reviews, and recommendations, but rarely, if ever, have they had much of an impact on my ultimate decisions. In addition to what you mentioned, it seemed like the number of models that they tested was always very small--on every other kind of product that they tested, there were a lot of items tested. Why (or why not)? Maybe it has to do with the fact that dedicated computer magazines have, IMHO, always done a very good job testing computer-related items. They still do--that is, the computer magazines that still exist. From the way that they talk (and occasional photographs of their test benches), it seems that they have the high tech, specialized lab equipment to do the tests that need to be done; if not, they farm it out to companies who do (I think especially of testing anti-virus software). It just doesn't seem like CR has a place in this orb.