Yeah, and I have found that once they get outside of their core (TV/audio) their reviews, to me at least, are a bit dodgy in a number of ways. We were looking for something as simple as a Roomba type robot vacuum to pick up pet hair. Some friends have the Roomba 600 series and love it. Went to Wirecutter today (no request yet for pay) and they have a nice overview and recommended the Roomba 600 series as best overall for normal cleaning, about $200, described the differences in the different models, and also had reviews of a wide range of others. I looked on Rtngs and they had their top pick and second top picks, and when I looked on Amazon the top one was about $1000 and the second one was about $750. I’m sure they are “better” but I doubt they are $800 bettter.
I found their headphone stuff (RTings) to be overly detailed and focused on the wrong things.
I always dread doing research for AV components. Invariably the best reviews are so tech-y and message boards are full of people who have super vision or hearing and can find a fault in everything. It’s hard to calibrate what’s good/not good if those folks review on a scale of “everything sucks.”
Yeah, try to go to the AV forums and find a new TV. Every one of them are unwatchable according to the forums. And try to discuss the physics of cables and why some claims are simply scientifically impossible.
For headphones and gaming headsets, I’ve put in my time at head-fi.org and swear off/at hardcore audiophiles now. I rely on /r/gaming_headset/ 's /u/lifelongcaboose/ 's recommendations.
Wirecutter’s fridge ratings say pending but they still recommend LG as a top choice whereas the only advice I have is not to get an LG fridge ever
Why, do they not support HDMI 2.1?
LOL…
Two class actions the last ten years. Parts fail and you can’t get anyone to come fix it. I threw out a 3000 buck LG after one year. The shitty compressors leak. Tried five authorized repair shops. Only one responded to say they had nobody in my area. mf you’re five minutes away from me.
Right? As others have noted, all the good information is behind paywalls, all the bullshit and conspuiracy theories are free of charge. It’s no wonder we have the problems we have.
Ok, so where do we go if we want recommendations that are actually useful? Because all I got from following his breadcrumb trail of links is “all wireless headsets are garbage and you shouldn’t buy one”. Which, you know… isn’t particularly helpful.
You don’t get any value out of:
https://old.reddit.com/r/LifelongCaboose/comments/kq00im/12a_lifelongcabooses_wireless_gaming/
?
All the wireless headsets are inferior to a good wired headset.
https://old.reddit.com/r/LifelongCaboose/comments/kpzjds/00_lifelongcabooses_audio_guides/
His opinion is that they all sound bad, or at best “fine” and you shouldn’t buy them unless they’re 30-50% off MSRP so not particularly. The only headset he even comes close to recommending (the Penrose) isn’t being produced again until November.
You just disagree with his opinion/conclusion that all of the wireless headsets are inferior so it’s of limited utility then.
It’s not helpful buying advice if you’re explicitly searching for a wireless headset, unfortunately (and having to click through multiple levels from the main guide certainly didn’t help).
Post a Looking For Headset (LFH) post and see what the peanut gallery recommends?
I can tell you the $400 sony wh1000xm4 is ok for music* but the mic is inferior. Also, bluetooth sucks. I had to delete a bunch of registry entries to nuke the mic off windows before I could repair it. Apparently it’s a fix all the way from Windows XP.
Oh wait, if you use the mic I think it reverts to mono mode and the sound quality gets super crappy. Nope, I take back what I said.
It’s all about compromise. There’s no single headset universally good for telephony, conferencing, gaming and music. I know people who buy $10-20 wired clip-on mic for the $400 XM4 and it still isn’t great for PC use.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball complained about the Wirecutter’s recommendation for coffee makers, because they said that a freely available $200 drip coffee maker is a better deal than two limited-run pour-over coffee makers, at $350 and $495:
And what’s the deal with using “less widely available” as an excuse not to recommend them? A list of “The Best Coffee Makers You Can Definitely Get Delivered This Week” or “The Best Coffee Makers You Can Find on the Shelf If You’re Reading This Review While Standing in the Coffee Maker Aisle at Target” is very different from a list of “The Best Coffee Makers”. A coffee maker is the sort of item I’d research the heck out of, and get on a waitlist to buy, so that I could get one that would most delight me every morning for years to come.
I looked up both pour-over coffee makers: Sure enough, they’re both out of stock, and you can put your name on a mailing list to get notified when they’re back. But speaking as someone who is looking for a new coffee maker, it would be incredibly frustrating to get on a mailing list and hope the coffee maker is available sometime in the distant future.
I use a Jabra Evolve 75 for telephony and conferencing and it’s great IMO. Good wireless range, it’s comfortable on my huge noggin, voices are clear and not crushed/tinny, and my voice sounds good on the other end. It’s expensive, but I figured in this work-from-home world I’m on Zoom calls 5+ hours a day on average so it’s worth a splurge to be comfortable.
I tried the newer Evolve2 65 and it’s much worse. Skip that one and go with the 75.