I finally subscribed to consumer reports. It is the only independent place we can trust for that information. However they only review a subset of the things I want to buy.
I finally subscribed to consumer reports. It is the only independent place we can trust for that information. However they only review a subset of the things I want to buy.
I think it's interesting that very often the best rated one is typically not the most expensive (nor the cheapest for that matter).
The more interesting part is to read the full detailed reviews on why they choose that. Often the most expensive or second most expensive has some useful features that they decide are not worth the cost but I do.
I have long thought they place too much emphasis on low cost over other factors, but the fact that I can get a useful review to make informed decisions is important.
Pretty sure they have a "best" (top of the list) and a "best value" IIRC. So you are interested in the best, but even it is often not the most expensive. OK, i didn't do any statistics, but that seemed to be typical.
There's also rtings[1]. They test consumer products and seem to try to keep their methodology transparent and consistent.
A lot of the data they produce is paywalled, but that's alright. They don't have advertising and they buy the products that they review. Someone has to keep the lights on and put food on their tables.
[1]: https://rtings.com
I recently determined that it's basically the only place that reliably test PS5 VRR monitor capability!
A niche use case, but at least there was one source of information.
Why do you trust Consumer Reports?
Independent, non-profit, probably just two of the factors. They don't allow ads or ranking either. I don't think they've steered me wrong.
More like who else can I trust at all? By default I trust them the most because everybody else I can find is too obviously a sell out and so the bar is low.
Note that everybody else I can find is very different from everybody else. Someone else linked rtings - I'd never heard of them before they were not in the running. There are probably many many others that are trust worthy - but all search engines will find is obvious sell outs.
Project Farm on YouTube has never disappointed me. The guy buys everything himself and finds creative & reproducible ways to test things.
He convinced me to get a Dyson vacuum. Worst expensive purchase of my life.
Nothing he said was wrong. Dyson’s performance is genuinely excellent. The problem is everything else.
It squeaks as I move it around while vacuuming due to flimsy rubber seals. It doesn’t have a retractable cord or any good place to put it. It has a clever feature where if the vacuum is fully upright, then the accessories are active, otherwise the main floor head is active - cool, except that the upright position never clicks well, I have to constantly fight it. I could go on and on…
None of these things show up on a spec sheet and I didn’t come across them in any reviews either. It looks cool and it cleans well, but every other aspect of it is junk. I’m never going to buy one again.