Registered: Mar 2001
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 441

I don't know if anybody has said anything yet, but on the cover of Consumer Reports this month is a picture of a VPL. They're doing reviews on 15 PDA's.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

Platinum came out pretty good. I read it a while back and was surprised the m505 did so well.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Prison
Posts: 421

It placed?

The M505 was in that report? I remember the VIIx, and the M100.

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

I meant the m100, sorry.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 501

I've always been a fan of Consumer Reports (or at least, the idea of it -- magazine that tests products and has no advertisers to be responsible to). I've used it to buy vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, etc.

However, whenever I've had any background in something they're reviewing -- software, PCs, home electronics -- I've usually strongly disagreed with their choices. Not regarding functionality or features -- I usually figure I'm in the "power user" category, and have a different outlook than the average purchaser. But they just haven't done their homework.

The example that stands out is their review last year of high-speed internet access for the home -- a GREAT idea for CR, and something that a lot of folks want but don't have the technical background to understand. CR made a fair stab at it, but failed to mention a lot of issues about security and performance (particularly regarding cable modems).

So I have to wonder -- how accurate are they being about products that I know nothing about (like cars)?

I'll have to look at their PDA review and see how they did... Thanks for the pointer.

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Jeff Meyer

"And he died like he lived: with his mouth wide open."

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Elkins Park, Pa
Posts: 577

It isn't a new issue. It's a month old. I just got this month's in the mail today.

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-Bernie

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

quote:

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Originally posted by bookrats

So I have to wonder -- how accurate are they being about products that I know nothing about (like cars)?

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Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Atlantic Rim
Posts: 570

Home User

CR often tries to apply the subjective term, "Home User". In fairness, many magazine and manufacturers attempt to classify "Home Users" as a specific group. Most define home users as those who use their desktop primarily to send and receive email, surf the web, and use a budget application like Quicken. In the real world the definative "home user" also has a 16 yo son who wants to play the latest rendition of Quake, a wife who would like to build an digital picture album, and a new video camera under the Christmas tree with an IEEE 1394 port that might be fun to play with.

As CR tries to establish the baseline needs and performance benchmarks for the typical "home user" they often (always) lose sight of the fact that there is no "typical" user. My advice to a novice buyer always amounts to finding the most expensive desktop system (around $2800) and the least expensive (say, around $600) and buying a system smack dab in the middle ($1200). How about this for a CR conclusion on home computers: "Plan to spend $1200 on a system by a major manufacturer, and look for a deal that includes a year of Internet service. Expect the system to run most applications with no major upgrades for at least two years; plan to spend an additional $300-$500 at that point on additional RAM, video card and processor upgrade to extend the life of the system another 2 years."

My 2cents.