5 ms·

Is there any site that you do use now for recommendations? In the game of capitalism it seems everybody becomes a sell-out.

pjz 5y ago
As far as I'm concerned, America's Test Kitchen is the gold standard, with Consumer Reports just a little behind them.
hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
Consumer Reports has a long history of subscriber-funded independent reviews. They refuse all advertising, free/discounted items, etc. to prevent conflicts of interest. They review everything from cars and lawnmowers to mattresses and electronics, but depending on what niche of electronics you're looking at they may or may not have the kind of reviews you're looking for. https://www.consumerreports.org https://www.consumerreports.org
- leetcrew 5y ago
  consumer reports is a great resource when you just want an example of X that isn't a complete lemon. that's not a criticism, most purchases are like that for most people. but if you care about getting a really good X, they're not a great source. most of their buying guides have a lot less detail than Wirecutter's, and of course pale in comparison to dedicated review sites for popular niches. it's unfortunate that you essentially have to trade trustworthiness for detail.
  - wolverine876 5y ago
    Consumer Reports has less prose, but much more objective data - in sortable tables. The data is from their labs, where they have domain experts using the scientific method to evaluate products.
- acomjean 5y ago
  Available in many libraries. They rate products in a bunch of categories using a table and a circle which would be various levels of full color depending on how a product rated. which meant sometimes you wouldn't just go to the highest rated if one part of the product scored lower in a category. Its an interesting data visualization method. Plus the table usually has specs too. https://www.consumerreports.org/consumer-reports/we-put-ourselves-to-the-test/ https://www.consumerreports.org/consumer-reports/we-put-ours...
  - ethbr0 5y ago
    As long as the categories can be boiled down into reasonable, discrete levels, I'm a huge fan of radar charts for quick comparisons. They communicate multivariate differences pretty well, compared to alternatives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_chart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_chart Unfortunately, they also require summarization, so they're only as good as the individual quality projections into discrete levels. Powerful when used correctly. Useless when incorrectly, or your audience isn't visually-oriented.
deleted 5y ago
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pjz 5y ago

As far as I'm concerned, America's Test Kitchen is the gold standard, with Consumer Reports just a little behind them.

hoppyhoppy2 5y ago

Consumer Reports has a long history of subscriber-funded independent reviews. They refuse all advertising, free/discounted items, etc. to prevent conflicts of interest. They review everything from cars and lawnmowers to mattresses and electronics, but depending on what niche of electronics you're looking at they may or may not have the kind of reviews you're looking for. https://www.consumerreports.org https://www.consumerreports.org

leetcrew 5y ago
consumer reports is a great resource when you just want an example of X that isn't a complete lemon. that's not a criticism, most purchases are like that for most people. but if you care about getting a really good X, they're not a great source. most of their buying guides have a lot less detail than Wirecutter's, and of course pale in comparison to dedicated review sites for popular niches. it's unfortunate that you essentially have to trade trustworthiness for detail.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  Consumer Reports has less prose, but much more objective data - in sortable tables. The data is from their labs, where they have domain experts using the scientific method to evaluate products.
acomjean 5y ago
Available in many libraries. They rate products in a bunch of categories using a table and a circle which would be various levels of full color depending on how a product rated. which meant sometimes you wouldn't just go to the highest rated if one part of the product scored lower in a category. Its an interesting data visualization method. Plus the table usually has specs too. https://www.consumerreports.org/consumer-reports/we-put-ourselves-to-the-test/ https://www.consumerreports.org/consumer-reports/we-put-ours...
- ethbr0 5y ago
  As long as the categories can be boiled down into reasonable, discrete levels, I'm a huge fan of radar charts for quick comparisons. They communicate multivariate differences pretty well, compared to alternatives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_chart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_chart Unfortunately, they also require summarization, so they're only as good as the individual quality projections into discrete levels. Powerful when used correctly. Useless when incorrectly, or your audience isn't visually-oriented.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]