Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier • Hacker News Board

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#61

Post by msbarnett » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

astura wrote: post #58

hypersoar wrote: post #51

The Wirecutter is a highly flawed review site, but at least it's a real one. There are vanishingly few left for general consumer products. There's WC, Consumer Reports, and what else? They've seem to have all been killed off. When I'm researching some category of product, I feel lucky if I find any professional reviews written by people who have actually touched the thing they're reviewing. I know we've all had the e…

Is Tom's Hardware still around? Personally, I don't trust reviews unless I personally know the reviewer. Too much garbage out there.

Yeah but it’s little more than an SEO farm these days.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#62

Post by blobbers » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:40 PM UTC

I had a lot of trouble finding "the right" air purifier. Who knows if its even the right one. I found wirecutter (and the like) to have a bit of a feel of a fake affiliate marketing website.

My take is: people currently trust their friends, and they trust influencers. They don't really trust "experts", or scientists.

What are thoughts on a social network that was simply product endorsements from your social network. You can add influencers & friends and list the products you use.

Yeah if influencers want to shill a product, that's up to them and you. If you trust them, then you trust what they shill. But if you want to see Kara Swisher uses a IQ Air or an Ikea product, you can trust them.

Thoughts?

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#63

Post by jeromegv » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:41 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #19

Protip: you can turn a box fan into an incredibly effective air purifier[0] (particle measurements in thread). The one they show is pretty elaborate, using 4 filters and some construction, but you can also use a single filter and slap it on the back of the box fan and have similar results. The air purifier industry is more about aesthetics than it is function. 0. https://twitter.com/LazarusLong13/status/1425517352624…

I mean... I'm an IT professional. I have no time, energy, desire or ability to build. my own fan, maintain it, and trust that it does a good job. That's the reason I bought an air purifier.

The restaurant industry is also there for people that don't want the time to learn to cook certain dishes themselves. And (many) restaurants are still thriving.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#64

Post by turtlebits » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:41 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #19

Protip: you can turn a box fan into an incredibly effective air purifier[0] (particle measurements in thread). The one they show is pretty elaborate, using 4 filters and some construction, but you can also use a single filter and slap it on the back of the box fan and have similar results. The air purifier industry is more about aesthetics than it is function. 0. https://twitter.com/LazarusLong13/status/1425517352624…

The problem is that on low, it’s too loud and pushes/filters too much air to be needed 24x7. It’s also bulky. I rather use a smaller profile one that can be left on all the time (even if it costs more)

I have the box fan and only use it when AQI is high (wildfire season)

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#65

Post by bitlax » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:41 PM UTC

Spooky23 wrote: post #50

The best air purifier is a $20 Lasco box fan with a 3M square furnace filter duct taped to it. You can vary the cost and filtration ability based on the filter. A super duper filter is like $35, and a midrange is about $20.

Step it up to a comparetto.

https://youtu.be/Y7eL2OAnqc8

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#66

Post by jansan » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

IKEA really mussed the chance to provide a way to connect their air quality sensor with the air purifier. I was hoping to have an automated system that would start the air purifier when a certain threshold is reached, but there is no way to achieve this (except with intensive hacking).

Also, the air quality sensor ALWAYS shows green. Did it show yellow or even red for anyone not living in Hotang?

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#67

Post by wgd » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

hypersoar wrote: post #51

The Wirecutter is a highly flawed review site, but at least it's a real one. There are vanishingly few left for general consumer products. There's WC, Consumer Reports, and what else? They've seem to have all been killed off. When I'm researching some category of product, I feel lucky if I find any professional reviews written by people who have actually touched the thing they're reviewing. I know we've all had the e…

Regarding "reviews written by people who have actually touched the thing they're reviewing", I'm not sure Consumer Reports deserves to be listed these days either.

I bought a subscription a few months ago because I needed to buy several large appliances for my home, but all I found behind that paywall curtain was computer-generated tables of star ratings and statistics about mechanical reliability. Which is probably useful to somebody, but isn't something I found valuable.

I ended up ignoring CR's data tables, cancelling my subscription, and buying the same models of appliances my parents have because at least I could try those out in person and verify that they worked decently well without any glaring flaws.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#68

Post by kllrnohj » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

rahimnathwani wrote: post #20

EnderWT wrote: post #13

On the first point in the article, there is a definition for HEPA which for ISO is 99.95% efficiency. The Ikea purifier doesn't meet this. It meets the EPA standard, hence the designation of E12 (99.5%).

The article didn't say HEPA has no definition. It said that 'true-HEPA' has no definition.

Which seems intentionally nitpicky given that "HEPA" is defined and the Ikea one doesn't meet it while the others do. Therefore, "true-HEPA" almost certainly just means "HEPA", and the "true" just means "is actually HEPA" not some other special definition.

The rest of the article's points are good, but this one comes across as just axe grinding.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#69

Post by jeromegv » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:43 PM UTC

daenz wrote: post #60

donohoe wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The air purifier industry is more about aesthetics than it is function Well, sure, to a point. I could make my own air purifier (like the one you link) but it looks awful. I would not want that in my home. So yeah, aesthetics do matter. Its not the only thing but it is a factor.

> it looks awful. I would not want that in my home. When west coast forest fires put dangerous levels of smoke into peoples homes, box fan air filters are an extremely valuable tool for lower income families. Consider yourself extremely fortunate if you are able to choose form over function on devices like this.

Of course, but nobody is preventing that information to be shared. When I looked for air purifier last year, there was tons of articles I saw on how to build your own. This isn't hidden, there's tons of good resources out there.

I don't understand why you try to shame us for choosing to buy our own. Of course we are fortunate we can afford it. We aren't talking of a sports car here, it's few hundreds dollar, this is a perfectly fine trade off to decide to buy one.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#70

Post by mrkwse » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

hypersoar wrote: post #51

The Wirecutter is a highly flawed review site, but at least it's a real one. There are vanishingly few left for general consumer products. There's WC, Consumer Reports, and what else? They've seem to have all been killed off. When I'm researching some category of product, I feel lucky if I find any professional reviews written by people who have actually touched the thing they're reviewing. I know we've all had the e…

It will be interesting if LMG can pull off what Linus is aiming for with the massive investment in a laboratory environment. There are huge parts of the tech market where the most critical reviewing you can find is anecdotal accounts of if the reviewer liked a product or not (or the more clinical reviews are drowned out by the anecdotal noise).