Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier • Hacker News Board

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#601

Post by wingworks » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 7:36 AM UTC

bityard wrote: post #312

underhill wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like the crowd-sourcing / SEOing / optimization of reviews on the internet has, for all its benefits, made everything too noisy and untrustworthy. I know myself and a lot of other people first search reddit now instead of google because it's impossible to get anything written by a real nonbiased human otherwise. For similar reasons I've used things like Yelp less and less and tried to use professionally editor…

Heh. The biggest problem I have with Amazon isn't even the fake reviews, it's the people who leave reviews and don't even know what a review is, which is almost all of them. "My gadget just arrived today and I haven't even used it yet but it looks well-made and I'm sure it will last forever. Five stars!"

I see this ALLOT on AliExpress. I mean what can you expect, but somehow I expected more. Like why even bother posting if you havn't even opened the package up yet?!

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#602

Post by janandonly » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 7:40 AM 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…

The Dutch "Consumentenbond" is real and paid for by real users. But alas, it's in Dutch, and most is paywalled.

https://www.consumentenbond.nl/

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#603

Post by ricardobayes » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 7:44 AM UTC

Can someone recommend a good purifier available in Europe? I feel like Dyson is hyped up and there are better alternatives.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#604

Post by bayindirh » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 7:59 AM UTC

duskwuff wrote: post #394

epolanski wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never seen a recent mid budged tv take longer than 4 seconds to boot

I have a Sceptre TV from a few years ago that takes about 15 seconds from power-on to even display a boot screen. It takes another 10 seconds or so after that to actually become usable. Maybe it's just an outlier? It's certainly slow, though.

Mine cold boots in 15-20 seconds (I need to check that), and wakes up in less than four seconds if it's on. It's a 2020 model.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#605

Post by djmips » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 8:02 AM UTC

hirvi74 wrote: post #505

kitsunesoba wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm hopeful for LMG's lab too. It's still a bit of a gamble, but from the sound of it the company is set up such that they can review products in an objective, data-backed way and tank any blowback from manufacturers that occurs as a result. It's much more focused on enthusiast computer hardware, but Gamers Nexus[0] is doing good things in this space too. Their style is much more dry and data-dense than LMG's though,…

There is no denying that "Linus (Torvalds) Tech Tips" would not be extremely entertaining though. I would love to see him just go off on everything. :)

Code review: Suggestion make logic positive. "Linus (Torvalds) Tech Tips" would be extremely entertaining" :)

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#606

Post by bayindirh » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 8:03 AM UTC

TheBozzCL wrote: post #466

applecrazy wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any TV is stupid if you don’t connect it to the Internet.

Sadly, that assumes the TV will behave and not connect to open networks, or use companies' mesh networks (like Amazon Sidewalk), and that they'll never include their own SIM cards. Granted, none of this has happened yet... but when it happens, I'll start busting open my devices to disconnect any and all antennas.

I've recently read (in HN), that Samsung's appliances mesh network with other Samsung appliances with the hope of reaching the internet. So it's around the corner, it seems.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#607

Post by bearmode » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 8:05 AM 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…

Which? in the UK is pretty excellent.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#608

Post by bearmode » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 8:07 AM UTC

gerdesj wrote: post #405

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually subscribe to Which a UK consumer reports guide. And mostly it's kind of like subscribing to the Guardian newspaper - putting a few quid where my shrivelled liberal conscience used to sit. Oddly there is a episode on this on BBC podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-bottom-line/id2643... This podcast is not the best (it's often too lightweight and too frightened to dig deep, or the format is w…

"I actually subscribe to Which a UK consumer reports guide." I used to too, for quite a few years. However, their IT related reviews boiled down to "Windows PC: Good, Apple: Pretty, Linux and Open Source: Not on my watch". A Consumer Forum "for good" completely ignores Open Source - why? Personally I think it is down to a lack of imagination rather than anything politically motivated. I did find many of their reviews…

"Linux and Open Source: Not on my watch". A Consumer Forum "for good" completely ignores Open Source - why?"

Because for general consumers, most of it really isn't suitable compared to their competition.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#609

Post by baq » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 8:21 AM UTC

simondotau wrote: post #580

usednet wrote: post #572

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unionisation as a default state of affairs is what prevents exploitation. Join a union.

Which is great in theory, until you realise that unions can and do exploit workers too. Collectives of people (whether corporations, unions, or entire countries) tend towards corruption as they scale. History has shown that large unions are similarly prone to exploitation and corruption.

the choice is between having no negotiating power with HR or having some at the cost of being part of an organization.

Re: Contra Wirecutter on the IKEA air purifier

#610

Post by Goz3rr » Tue, Jun 21, 2022, 8:25 AM 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…

I'm very happy that in the Netherlands we have tweakers.net. Not only do they do tech news and reviews, they also have an amazing parametric search/price watch tool that I'm reasonably sure is a major contributing cause to how competitive pricing is here compared to neighboring countries. Every time I happen to use Amazon I die a little inside because of how bad their search is.