I take "Motorboating" and it has several articles a month about new
boats. All of the new boats are 'spectacular'. None have faults. Are there
any
magazines which actually compare different brands?



Usually not head to head. I subscribed to Poweboat Reports for a while, but
their editorial budget is almost non existent and they draw absolute
conclusions about items that are obviously very subjective. Many of the
considerations are pretty subjective. For example, most new boats have a shiny
gel coat. Does Brand A shine more than Brand B? Who knows? Does it matter as
long as both are really shiny? How big does "roomy" stateroom have to be? Etc.

There are also differences between a thorough, clinical test and a review of
general impressions and experiences while aboard. Sort of like the differences
between David Pascoe's "reviews" and an actual survey.

Take the battery article- you wanted "tests, statistics, charts, graphs, etc"
to back up the guy's claims about his batteries- but really beyond the amp hour
rating, physical case size, and CCA of the batteries he didn't make any claims
that
would have to be verified by an indpendent laboratory.

One of the challenges with boats is that the majority of gasoline powered boats
share the same mfgr's engines. Tough to rate one brand a lot higher on
mechanical reliability than another when so many major components are exactgly
the same. With some of the diesel boats, you might find a particular engine
throughout the production run, or you might find several.

Best way to compare, head to head, would be to save the "performance data
chart" (if there is one) from one issue to the next.

If you're lucky, you might learn enough about a product from a general article
to know whether or not you want to investigate it further, but nobody should
expect a magazine to tell them everything they need to know to make a decision
about any product. Boats and accessories included.