Iria

They're all over the Web. Everybody reads them. But are reader reviews reliable enough to depend on when it comes to spending your cold, hard cash?
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Source: PC World

BlueMak

I remember when a certain RTS game was released by a smaller company through an online destribution company and over the next day or so multiple customer reviews appeared there, all saying how fantastic the game was in all fields. It felt so horribly planted...

They are a problem, almost as big as idiots who are not affiliated with the company, posting reviews. You know, the type of people who grade the product with the lowest available because it will not run under X operating system when the product clearly states that it only runs under Y, etc.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Judas

customer reviews are as reliable as asking your cat how it's day is going and what it was like ealier... it's kinda pointless.

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Chaos

Thats not true Judas, online reviews serve a good purpose as long as people dont take the posted results as gospel. I find they provide a good starting point when sourcing out a specific piece of hardware. They tend to pickup many of the downfalls of a specific item and give people the chance to read more then one perspective on something they are planning to spend their money on

Zardon

they are as reliable as information posted in blogs.......

Judas

even if you filter out alot of the customer reviews....... which is about 90% of the reviews (if they can be called that) that are basically just nothing but .. this product rocks or this product sucks simplified... there is a considerable number of reviews that are still far to unreliable due to setup proceedure and user error...... alot of which is ID10Ts...

to date.... i haven't come across a single user submitted review on another site that has in any way or form.. been accurate as well as useful in a buying decission.

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BlueMak

Then you are unlucky Judas. I come across good user reviews almost everytime I look for them for a product I am interested in.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

OldBuzzard

I read customer reviews, mostly on Newegg. I do try to filter out the fanboi, and clueless user ones. I won't use them 100% for making my decision tho. They are just a part of the decision process.

The 'official sites' aren't necessarily any better than some customer reviews either. There are a lot of "JoeBobsWhoreWare" sites out there, You know, the ones that test a PSU by plugging it in, it runs the system, and they give it a 10/10. Or the ones that are blatent fanbois for Intel, AMD, nVidia, or ATI.

And no review can help with long term reliability issues like almost ALL of the MB makers had with leaky capacitors a while back. Stuff that doesn't show up until the product has been in use for a year or two.

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When looking for a reason as to why things go wrong, never rule out sheer STUPIDITY

Judas

indeed..... alot of the stuff that is reviewed is reviewed for a short period of time..

that's one of the main problems... nothing is thoroughly tested for a long period of time.... there just isn't time enough for it...

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Tril

I usually read reviews before buying a product. Reviews can be biased.

Let's say you want to buy to buy a book on fencing written by a fencing master. If the reviewers are his students, the reviews will be biased and very positive.

I read a story a few years ago about false reviews done by people working for a company making computer fans. I found out about this when I did a search for information on the fans. I was looking for quiet fans. What made me look for more information in the first place was that the specs sounded too good. I don't remember the exact spec but I think it was around 12 dB. I'm not entirely sure but I think it was a model of SilenX fans.

Reviews usually give more information than products details. That's why I normally read reviews before buying a book or DVD if I buy online.