Consumer Reports camera review..

sdubey wrote in post #12710408
I guess price- performance ratio.

CR is not about the best product, but performance your price. Notice 1D4 missing doesn't make it a bad camera.

This has always been my pet peeve with CR. While I appreciate their research and opinion as to what products offer the best price/performance ratio, I'd also like to know which products offer the best performance regardless of price or other qualifiers.

When you read about something you have some knowledge of, the CR reviews get downright silly. I like the comment about the surveys. Then again, when they agree with your assessment, they are downright GENIUS!

BTBeilke wrote in post #12710558
This has always been my pet peeve with CR. While I appreciate their research and opinion as to what products offer the best price/performance ratio, I'd also like to know which products offer the best performance regardless of price or other qualifiers.

Exactly

This turns into fun when you go to buy say, a Vacuum, Pretty much 90% of the time their "best buys" are $300-400 Kenmores and they are VERY slamming of say, Miele, Simplicity, Riccar or other "premium" brands for costing more

But if you go to an actual vacuum cleaner dealer and look at the Miele/etc, Especially AFTER looking at the $300-400 Kenmore, you start to notice what a huge step in build quality it is, and then you'll have it explained to you that they also frequently offer a lot of features said Kenmore does not have, and then you'll be told the pricing starts at about $300 and you'll probubly be very surprised

I used the vacuum example because we went through about 5 vacuums swapping them out trying to get one last year after our Hoover Windtunnel bit the dust... We tried THREE different Dysons (Yes, Seriously) including their top model and had the same problems repeatedly of them just not working well in our home, They either couldnt pick up dog hair at all or Sucked so hard they got stuck to the carpet which we ended up pushing around instead of the vacuum (or we couldnt get the vacuum off without -turning it off-) we also tried an LG bagless, which also did the lovely "get stuck in the carpet" thing (We never had this issue before with any older vacuums - it has to do with the new "Super high suction" ones they came out with)

We looked at the Kenmores and we disliked the build quality on them, we looked at the Electroluxes and disliked the TINY bags you got, and we went through the LG and Dyson ranges, The Hoover that was in the same class was the same one that pooped out on us and we really werent impressed with it when we had it ...Before that we had a Kenmore canister that wasnt that great either....

We finally decided "Well, We spent $600 on a Dyson, lets go look at a vacuum dealer" And well, Yes, theres a big difference, for instance, variable suction controls and other things that none of the others had...We ended up buying a Riccar canister vacuum that was on special for around $500 (our original budget) the difference is..well very VERY large, the thing is built VERY well (the powerhead is metal with a wood beaterbar) and it came with more tools than you can shake a stick at (Horsehair brushes and that) Its also...very quiet we found out... Sure, $500 is more than most people spend on a vacuum, But we also think this ones going to last about 20 years because of its build quality...

Not everyone has the same needs or budget or square footage, so there is value in the comparisons of vacuums, the same could be said of cameras.

KenjiS wrote in post #12710701
Exactly

This turns into fun when you go to buy say, a Vacuum, Pretty much 90% of the time their "best buys" are $300-400 Kenmores and they are VERY slamming of say, Miele, Simplicity, Riccar or other "premium" brands for costing more

But if you go to an actual vacuum cleaner dealer and look at the Miele/etc, Especially AFTER looking at the $300-400 Kenmore, you start to notice what a huge step in build quality it is, and then you'll have it explained to you that they also frequently offer a lot of features said Kenmore does not have, and then you'll be told the pricing starts at about $300 and you'll probubly be very surprised

I used the vacuum example because we went through about 5 vacuums swapping them out trying to get one last year after our Hoover Windtunnel bit the dust... We tried THREE different Dysons (Yes, Seriously) including their top model and had the same problems repeatedly of them just not working well in our home, They either couldnt pick up dog hair at all or Sucked so hard they got stuck to the carpet which we ended up pushing around instead of the vacuum (or we couldnt get the vacuum off without -turning it off-) we also tried an LG bagless, which also did the lovely "get stuck in the carpet" thing (We never had this issue before with any older vacuums - it has to do with the new "Super high suction" ones they came out with)

We looked at the Kenmores and we disliked the build quality on them, we looked at the Electroluxes and disliked the TINY bags you got, and we went through the LG and Dyson ranges, The Hoover that was in the same class was the same one that pooped out on us and we really werent impressed with it when we had it ...Before that we had a Kenmore canister that wasnt that great either....

We finally decided "Well, We spent $600 on a Dyson, lets go look at a vacuum dealer" And well, Yes, theres a big difference, for instance, variable suction controls and other things that none of the others had...We ended up buying a Riccar canister vacuum that was on special for around $500 (our original budget) the difference is..well very VERY large, the thing is built VERY well (the powerhead is metal with a wood beaterbar) and it came with more tools than you can shake a stick at (Horsehair brushes and that) Its also...very quiet we found out... Sure, $500 is more than most people spend on a vacuum, But we also think this ones going to last about 20 years because of its build quality...

Get yourself a quality shop-vac for the "attachments" stuff ($50-100) and a standard el-cheapo red and white janitorial vacuum ($150) and you are set for 20 years as well.

The janitorial vac is designed to last for 10 years while being run for 4 hours a day every day. Normal home use won't come close to wearing it out... And if anything does break you can buy the parts online super cheap and repair it yourself 99% of the time.

BillwYellowstone wrote in post #12710592
When you read about something you have some knowledge of, the CR reviews get downright silly!

+1

arentol wrote in post #12710954
Get yourself a quality shop-vac for the "attachments" stuff ($50-100) and a standard el-cheapo red and white janitorial vacuum ($150) and you are set for 20 years as well.

The janitorial vac is designed to last for 10 years while being run for 4 hours a day every day. Normal home use won't come close to wearing it out... And if anything does break you can buy the parts online super cheap and repair it yourself 99% of the time.

True but they also lack full HEPA filtration...something we very much wanted for allergens and ETC

Consumer report thread are so funny because they are so biased, but the wife swears by them. So frustrating....

Not strictly relevant, but one time I was flipping through CR and the had given some very harsh marks to a Lotus Elise because the ride was stiff, the interior was cramped, and luggage space was very limited.

S.Horton wrote in post #12710445
Anagrams. If you translate the first term to German using Google, then to French, then back to English, you get Corkllew Nek, which is Ken Roxkwell rearranged.

ROTFALMAO ~ briliant, you're killing me, please make it stop, . .

I just glad those of who frequent this site are so unbiased, unlike those meatheads at Consumer Reports.

rick_reno wrote in post #12716884
I just glad those of who frequent this site are so unbiased, unlike those meatheads at Consumer Reports.

right, Consumer Reports and their bogus claims of being fair and balanced because they don't accept advertising.
Obviously the fair and balanced opinions are here

People read CR because if they asked friends who were experts they would not understand a thing they said.

Overall, CR is surely better than nothing.

I noticed the vacuum example above. We ended up with an Oreck after burning out a bunch of others because if build quality and service. Lasted more than 5 years, so far.

I don't get why CR does not include high end cameras in the reviews for "advanced" SLR's... Why not include the 5D2, 1D series, etc... Along with the Nikon comparable bodies.

They have enough subsections for P&S's, why not add professional/advanced and include reviews for those as well. Their camera reviews have always been weird to me, and makes me skeptical about all their other reviews so I stopped my online service with them.

Invertalon wrote in post #12718498
I don't get why CR does not include high end cameras in the reviews for "advanced" SLR's... Why not include the 5D2, 1D series, etc... Along with the Nikon comparable bodies.

They have enough subsections for P&S's, why not add professional/advanced and include reviews for those as well. Their camera reviews have always been weird to me, and makes me skeptical about all their other reviews so I stopped my online service with them.

Because for the pros or advanced amateurs/hobbiests CR isn't the place they would go for a review of a high-end camera. The pros or advanced amateurs/hobbiests likely have more knowledge of those cameras than whoever CR might use for reviews. CR targets their content to the "average" consumer who will probably buy from a Walmart or other big box type store.