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I bought a subscription to Consumer Reports and have been happy with the two purchases I made on their recommendation (headphones in the $100 range, and a new f

I bought a subscription to Consumer Reports and have been happy with the two purchases I made on their recommendation (headphones in the $100 range, and a new food processor). Do you consider them compromised? It's actually just about time to renew my subscription and i've been wondering whether I should. I've also used your strategy of reading the bad reviews on Amazon!

paulddraper 9y ago
Consumer Reports is top nouch and very thorough. It can be a bit behind on the far changing stuff like electronics, and it can be pricey. But I've never found them lacking in quality and detail.
- robertdicabrio 9y ago
  Good trick
r00fus 9y ago
The appliances I bought using their advice has been hit/miss - ranges are decent but the fridges and dishwasher I bought are noisy and required service barely outside warranty period. These are big name brands too. I don't necessarily fault CR but I with the hundreds of models released all slightly similar but different (I hear partly to prevent price-matching across stores) it must be as impossible to review for CR as it is for consumers to keep track of.
- nickpsecurity 9y ago
  I wouldn't count the appliance reliability against CR as this great article shows appliance industry is doing it on purpose: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13909365 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13909365 Typical cartel-like, profit-boosting activity of oligopolies which appliance market seems to be with a handful of companies owning most brands.
JohnBooty 9y ago
I used to be a subscriber. Theoretically I like CR's approach better than Wirecutters; CR purchases their products anonymous and therefore should be quite impartial and totally independent, receiving no special treatment or assistance from manufacturers. But I found that they simply didn't update their guides nearly often enough to be useful. Wirecutter's modern twist on CR's formula -- maintaining a frequently updated leaderboard in popular product categories, plus information on deals -- just winds up being more useful to me. It also seems like Wirecutter has more relevant experts writing their articles. Maybe that's because they're actually better experts; maybe it just seems that way because WC articles begin with the author/authors stating their credentials and experience.

paulddraper 9y ago

Consumer Reports is top nouch and very thorough. It can be a bit behind on the far changing stuff like electronics, and it can be pricey. But I've never found them lacking in quality and detail.

robertdicabrio 9y ago
Good trick

r00fus 9y ago

The appliances I bought using their advice has been hit/miss - ranges are decent but the fridges and dishwasher I bought are noisy and required service barely outside warranty period. These are big name brands too. I don't necessarily fault CR but I with the hundreds of models released all slightly similar but different (I hear partly to prevent price-matching across stores) it must be as impossible to review for CR as it is for consumers to keep track of.

nickpsecurity 9y ago
I wouldn't count the appliance reliability against CR as this great article shows appliance industry is doing it on purpose: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13909365 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13909365 Typical cartel-like, profit-boosting activity of oligopolies which appliance market seems to be with a handful of companies owning most brands.

JohnBooty 9y ago

I used to be a subscriber. Theoretically I like CR's approach better than Wirecutters; CR purchases their products anonymous and therefore should be quite impartial and totally independent, receiving no special treatment or assistance from manufacturers. But I found that they simply didn't update their guides nearly often enough to be useful. Wirecutter's modern twist on CR's formula -- maintaining a frequently updated leaderboard in popular product categories, plus information on deals -- just winds up being more useful to me. It also seems like Wirecutter has more relevant experts writing their articles. Maybe that's because they're actually better experts; maybe it just seems that way because WC articles begin with the author/authors stating their credentials and experience.