On Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:01:57 GMT, "Doug Kanter" wrote:

"Lord Reginald Smithers" The fastest and most accurate Gun in the World
wrote in message ...
Doug,
CR is a well intentioned group of individuals who don't seem to have a
clue.
The don't review boats, but they seem to miss the mark on all other
products. It seemed that they would always pick the product with the
worst quality.

For some products, they really are off base. Stereo equipment's a good
example. When I was in that biz back in the late 70s & 1980s, they'd always
recommend Japanese speakers, which sounded horrible. And, Sanyo car stereos,
which were an absolute joke at the time.

With cars, though, I think they're between a rock and a hard place. Some
people like to slam their reliability surveys because they primarily cover
very young cars. But, how long does the average buyer keep a car? Is it that
easy to find a large sample of people whose cars have reached 100,000 miles?

For things like appliances, I don't think it's possible to do any better.
But, the magazine *does* educate some readers about features they might not
have otherwise considered. This is important because considering the low
quality of most retail staff, you might never hear about these features in
the stores.


Exactly.

It ain't perfect, but I have yet to hear anyone come up with constructive
suggestions.


I've never been disappointed following a CR 'best buy' recommendation. The information it provides
just on what to look for is worth the price. The latest issue has a nice article on VOIP telephones.
My neighbor has been trying to talk me into one, and the article gave me some good food for thought.
--
John Herring

Hope your Christmas is Spectacular,
and your New Year even Better!