trusting online reviews

[made cummsies]

I frequent a few sites (mostly cnet and pcmag) for advice before buying any new technology and put a fair amount of stock into the reviews but am always surprised with how different the editors rate products vs. the reader's/user's.

Your choice?

[PapaBear]

50/50. I read the readers reviews, but you have to be able to tell which ones know what they're talking about. The one thing that bugs me about reviews and votes on sites like Newegg, is so many of them are giving votes based on service and shipping, and not the actual product. I already know Newegg is good. That's why I buy there. Tell me what you thought about the damn product!

[oldladyfacepuncher]

50/50.. The one thing that bugs me about reviews and votes on sites like Newegg, is so many of them are giving votes based on service and shipping, and not the actual product. I already know Newegg is good. That's why I buy there. Tell me what you thought about the damn product!

"I got mine the same week. Thank you NewEgg. New Egg rocks!"

I like to read the edtior's reviews first, since they usually explain how things work, but I don't trust them when it comes to ratings. They have to maintain good relationships with manufacturers if they want to be the first one to review the latest stuff.

For consumer ratings, I start at the bottom and work my way up. I read the lowest ratings first, and decide if they know what they're talking about, and whether or not I think their problem is actually an issue for me.

[instrument]

Its difficult, some reviewers never handle the product they just re-hash what other reviewers say...

And yes, you'll find user reviews to be higher because they simply don't know any better.

[Morningkill]

For games and stuff, I find I rely on Play Magazine's reviews over everyone else's. The reviewers' tastes there parallel mine most consistently, so if they praise a game, I'll purchase it sight unseen.

For most other stuff, I'll check the Amazon user reviews and look for the negative reviews. If the neg points are consistent enough, and the reviews are at least moderately articulate, I know to move on.

[boosterp]

If there are enough reviews per product then yes, one or two may be questionable.

[styckx]

For games and stuff, I find I rely on Play Magazine's reviews over everyone else's. The reviewers' tastes there parallel mine most consistently, so if they praise a game, I'll purchase it sight unseen.

For most other stuff, I'll check the Amazon user reviews and look for the negative reviews. If the neg points are consistent enough, and the reviews are at least moderately articulate, I know to move on.


For games etc, Amazon user reviews tend to be more honest. Big gaming sites? I wouldn't bother, IGN is a perfect example. They get payola to give good reviews. If you do read biased reviews like IGN, it's better to read the comments about the review instead. It's funny when they give something like a 6 and the entire comments are users trashing IGN and their biased ways.

metacritic is probably your best and fastest way to get an overall judge of if a game will suck or is ok.

http://www.metacritic.com

[Morningkill]

For games etc, Amazon user reviews tend to be more honest. Big gaming sites? I wouldn't bother, IGN is a perfect example. They get payola to give good reviews. If you do read biased reviews like IGN, it's better to read the comments about the review instead. It's funny when they give something like a 6 and the entire comments are users trashing IGN and their biased ways.

metacritic is probably your best and fastest way to get an overall judge of if a game will suck or is ok.

http://www.metacritic.com

There's a fairly widespread 'net saying: You can't spell "ignorant" without IGN.

[ruggedo]

I go out on the net and find whatever I can about something I want to buy. I try to read either kind of review with a bit of insight, balancing what I want from the item with what the reviewer is expecting from it. It works pretty good,most of the time.