What is the best source of reviews?

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Magazines are usually out-of-date, online sources may be too early or a form of advertising, users are often fanatics, we have all heard horror stories or have our own, salesmen are salesmen — who do YOU trust for advice on what to buy?

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1. Recommendations from trusted (knowledgeable) friends.

2. Google, with a healthy dose of scepticism, careful judgement, and a dash of luck.

#1 risks a good friendship unless treated with care, while #2 is more work and more objective.

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Google never entered my mind, but I have a tale of a salesman who sent me to a competitor for a purchase, to his credit. There is a marketing tool that is used in this neck of the woods whereby chains have a ‘lowest price guarantee’ or at least will match the currently advertised price of a competitor for a specified product. In other words, you take the weekly flyer from one store into the competitor’s store and they will match the price or beat it by a certain amount if they have the same model.

The computers looked the same to me, but the salesman pointed out that the exact model in the competitor’s flyer was one their chain had never sold, and he readily told me what the specs meant (e.g. expensive video card) and said outright that it was an exceptionally good buy. I bought it at the competitors’, but still do my primary business with the store that steered me to the better product.

Flyers are no substitute for reviews with benchmark tests, but if you have them cluttering up your newspapers they do keep you abreast of the current deals.

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Peterg.

The site below is very good for reviews
http://www.cnet.com.au/%5B/url%5D
Gus..

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I echo gus’ suggestion – I use CNET US, and read the reader/user reviews. Even though there are usually flamers, if I find that a number of reviewers consistently have good reviews, or a number of reviewers have a consistent problem with the product, it tells me about pros and cons that a one-time “expert” review may not. I remember one instance where the “expert” reviewer gave a high rating to a Motorola Bluetooth noise reduction headset, but 80% of users had problems being heard clearly because the miniature microphone boom rubbed their faces when they moved and talked.

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