I was amused at how a one of the products reviewed by PC Magazine this last year got a WORST OF 2006 listing then found the same product was nominated by a trade show as a BEST OF SHOW product. The PC Magazine review is clearly more accurate. And this is exactly why I do not like to get involved in casual BEST OF SHOW awards at trade shows. They’re always a joke.
The MediaREADY™ 5000, on display at the RetailVision show event in Phoenix, Arizona, was selected as a “Best of RetailVision Awards”™ finalist.
from the PC Mag rant:
It delivers nothing but heartache and eyestrain. The substandard analog TV tuner can’t even get colors right, DVD playback is poor, the remote didn’t work right, and it suffered from the same video-squashing disease as the Dell Plasma (# 7 on this list). For $700, you can get a lot more, including an HD receiver and DVR from TiVo, five years of DVR rental from your cable company, or a better home-built option. Robert Heron put it best, as he summed up the review and the product, calling it “a box full of half-finished junk.”
Hmm. which sounds right to you? Support independent reviews!
With all respect to JCD, I have taken PC Magazine reviews with a huge grain of salt ever since they gave some version of Microsoft DOS the award for technical excellence, in a year when clearly Digital Research with DR-DOS had blown Microsoft out of the water, technically.
There are also built-in prejudices. The traditional product review in a high-tech mag would rate “performance” and “bang for the buck” paramount, but for many products, such as hard drives, reliability and low noise of a tolerable pitch are more important to many.
So, bottom line, take ALL reviews skeptically. The internet being what it is, you can generally get “best of 5” or “best of 55” if it’s really an important acquisition.
But … over a year ago, I foolishly bought Skullcandy Proletariat noise-reducing headphones based only on price and specs and an industry design award which they received before the product went to market. Luckily, I did not receive my well-deserved punishment because they sound OK to me. Caveat: I am not an audiophile.
I nominate this product
crap i frogot to include teh link
http://www.ladyada.net/make/wavebubble/
#2 #3
Oh joy! No more phones ringing in restaurants and movie theaters.
#5, Restaurants generally have these things called Land Lines that don’t require radio waves and are usually shielded from interference.
If I am going to trust anyone, it is going to be Robert Heron. In other words, if he says it is crap, it would take some work to convince me it is not.
and every American should be equipped with the device in #3. I don’t know if I ever mentioned my experience at a wedding when someone’s cell phone rang as the bride was walking down the aisle. Not only did the phone owner not have it muted, but she picked it up and started talking …