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I’ve found their recommendations to be pretty good in general. What products were you disappointed by? If both they and CR are in agreement it’s a pretty good b

by bryan0 5y ago

I’ve found their recommendations to be pretty good in general. What products were you disappointed by? If both they and CR are in agreement it’s a pretty good bet.

harlanlewis 5y ago
It definitely depends on the category. I’ve found it most helpful for items that I don’t know much about, the capability and pricing tiers do matter, but it’s not going to be a purchase that needs to be absolutely perfect and I’m unlikely to have a strong opinion about later. Headphones? Stay away - too subjective. A humidifier for the nursery? Perfect.
- clifdweller 5y ago
  This is where I have a problem with their reviews will start to dive into it but never really educate the reader enough to make an informed decision over trusting them. i.e in their recommended sleeping pads they don't even consider the lower end ones for testing and they balk at the higher end ones because of material choices(which they don't explain have trade offs ie cold or hot camping they remove mylar pads and nylon)Then they are left with picking from a bunch of clones of each other all at same price point with similar features and left with learning nothing other than they chose clone of a clone all because it goes on sale more often than the others
HeavenFox 5y ago
Not OP but I bought their humidifier recommendation and it wasn't great. Barely made a dent in the humidity level of my small studio apartment. Turns out I was not alone: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25993512 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25993512
- clairity 5y ago
  i bought that humidifier and it works fine for my purposes. it's purely evaporative, so it doesn't really work well at lower temperatures and won't raise humidity much past 50%. for my use case, it keeps the air moist enough not to irritate me when the heater is on (a few weeks during the winter), which was the problem i was trying to solve.
coolso 5y ago
The air purifier they recommended makes a loud annoying noise any time the house temp falls below a certain point. The router they recommended started randomly and frequently dropping connections after a year. The WiFi extender they recommended dropped connections from day one and also had noticeable coil whine from across the room. The surge protector they recommended reeked of mid/late 2000s-era cheap plastic and made my living room smell of it for about two weeks. And the expensive house fan they recommended made an off-balance rumbling vibration type noise which made it difficult to fall asleep to. Upon further research into each issue, I found many other people noticing the same things. In addition, many of the products with these issues I exchanged, only to have the replacement exhibit the same exact problem. Their presentation is their only real strength for the most part.
- VWWHFSfQ 5y ago
  I recommend you stop going to their website. You seem to be having a very tough time.
karaterobot 5y ago
I've gotten good recommendations from Wirecutter, but also very bad ones. I bought their recommended coffee machine, and it's $200, and no better than the $30 Mr. Coffee it replaced (except, I guess, in the referral fee they get). They also recommend an air purifier by Levoit, which performed demonstrably worse than a box fan with a HEPA filter bungee corded on to it[1]. In fairness, Wirecutter recommended a cheaper model, but is that model going to perform better than the more expensive one in the same line? In any case, it's still not cheaper than a box fan and a HEPA filter, which ought to be the baseline you'd test against if you were providing value to your readers. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/portable-air-purifier-tests-marketplace-1.5900782 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/portable-air-purifier-tests...
- Cd00d 5y ago
  I have their recommended coffee machine (OXO Barista Brain), and have loved it for over 3 years. I recommend it to everyone I know that likes drip coffee as much as I do. If you were so happy with a $30 Mr. Coffee, what even compelled you to spend $200??
  - mikestew 5y ago
    If you were so happy with a $30 Mr. Coffee... Parent never said that, and they're obviously not happy with the Mr. Coffee if they're willing to spend $200 on a coffee maker...which, BTW, better do a better job than a $30 coffee maker.
  - karaterobot 5y ago
    I was referring to the OXO 9-cup coffee maker[1]. I don't expect it to be 7 times better than the Mr. Coffee, and would be satisfied if it was just noticeably better in any way. But it's really pretty much the same thing, only more expensive. To be clear, both units are absolutely fine at making coffee. What compelled me to spend $200 on the OXO was the glowing Wirecutter review. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-drip-coffee-maker/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-drip-coffee-...
- errantspark 5y ago

by bryan0 5y ago

I’ve found their recommendations to be pretty good in general. What products were you disappointed by? If both they and CR are in agreement it’s a pretty good bet.

harlanlewis 5y ago

It definitely depends on the category. I’ve found it most helpful for items that I don’t know much about, the capability and pricing tiers do matter, but it’s not going to be a purchase that needs to be absolutely perfect and I’m unlikely to have a strong opinion about later. Headphones? Stay away - too subjective. A humidifier for the nursery? Perfect.

clifdweller 5y ago
This is where I have a problem with their reviews will start to dive into it but never really educate the reader enough to make an informed decision over trusting them. i.e in their recommended sleeping pads they don't even consider the lower end ones for testing and they balk at the higher end ones because of material choices(which they don't explain have trade offs ie cold or hot camping they remove mylar pads and nylon)Then they are left with picking from a bunch of clones of each other all at same price point with similar features and left with learning nothing other than they chose clone of a clone all because it goes on sale more often than the others

HeavenFox 5y ago

Not OP but I bought their humidifier recommendation and it wasn't great. Barely made a dent in the humidity level of my small studio apartment. Turns out I was not alone: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25993512 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25993512

clairity 5y ago
i bought that humidifier and it works fine for my purposes. it's purely evaporative, so it doesn't really work well at lower temperatures and won't raise humidity much past 50%. for my use case, it keeps the air moist enough not to irritate me when the heater is on (a few weeks during the winter), which was the problem i was trying to solve.

coolso 5y ago

The air purifier they recommended makes a loud annoying noise any time the house temp falls below a certain point. The router they recommended started randomly and frequently dropping connections after a year. The WiFi extender they recommended dropped connections from day one and also had noticeable coil whine from across the room. The surge protector they recommended reeked of mid/late 2000s-era cheap plastic and made my living room smell of it for about two weeks. And the expensive house fan they recommended made an off-balance rumbling vibration type noise which made it difficult to fall asleep to. Upon further research into each issue, I found many other people noticing the same things. In addition, many of the products with these issues I exchanged, only to have the replacement exhibit the same exact problem. Their presentation is their only real strength for the most part.

VWWHFSfQ 5y ago
I recommend you stop going to their website. You seem to be having a very tough time.

karaterobot 5y ago

I've gotten good recommendations from Wirecutter, but also very bad ones. I bought their recommended coffee machine, and it's $200, and no better than the $30 Mr. Coffee it replaced (except, I guess, in the referral fee they get). They also recommend an air purifier by Levoit, which performed demonstrably worse than a box fan with a HEPA filter bungee corded on to it[1]. In fairness, Wirecutter recommended a cheaper model, but is that model going to perform better than the more expensive one in the same line? In any case, it's still not cheaper than a box fan and a HEPA filter, which ought to be the baseline you'd test against if you were providing value to your readers. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/portable-air-purifier-tests-marketplace-1.5900782 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/portable-air-purifier-tests...

Cd00d 5y ago
I have their recommended coffee machine (OXO Barista Brain), and have loved it for over 3 years. I recommend it to everyone I know that likes drip coffee as much as I do. If you were so happy with a $30 Mr. Coffee, what even compelled you to spend $200??
- mikestew 5y ago
  If you were so happy with a $30 Mr. Coffee... Parent never said that, and they're obviously not happy with the Mr. Coffee if they're willing to spend $200 on a coffee maker...which, BTW, better do a better job than a $30 coffee maker.
- karaterobot 5y ago
  I was referring to the OXO 9-cup coffee maker[1]. I don't expect it to be 7 times better than the Mr. Coffee, and would be satisfied if it was just noticeably better in any way. But it's really pretty much the same thing, only more expensive. To be clear, both units are absolutely fine at making coffee. What compelled me to spend $200 on the OXO was the glowing Wirecutter review. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-drip-coffee-maker/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-drip-coffee-...
errantspark 5y ago