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Comment by sliverstorm | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't matter terribly much, everything trends to 4.5 stars anyway.

I have come to trust that if an item has tens of thousands of reviews, few 1-star reviews, and some useful critique/criticism in the reviews, that while it may not be the best [vacuum|pot|canoe] I'll probably do just fine with it. Much like with Android vs iOS, there are real differences but both have a very high quality level and the non-professional vacuum user is really fine with either choice.

If I really, really, really care about the exact details (e.g. digital cameras, computers) I'll go elsewhere, simply because storefront reviews are never a good source of side-by-side tests & sophisticated, in-depth analysis.

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Always read the 3-star reviews.

Those are usually people who have given some thought to the good and bad about a product.

This is what I do also. I go for the 3-star. If I read a 3-star that seems legit and indicates the person really evaluated the product, I even look at their other reviews, as their 4 and 5 star reviews might be useful.

> If I really, really, really care about the exact details (e.g. digital cameras, computers) I'll go elsewhere, simply because storefront reviews are never a good source of side-by-side tests & sophisticated, in-depth analysis.

Honest question: where do you go instead? YouTube? Review blogs? What makes you trust those reviews more than the in-depth reviews you find on storefronts?

All over, actually. I trawl forums, review blogs, & news articles. The more the better.

"Professional" reviewers in particular fill a gap- some of them have had their hands on just about every <vacuum> ever made, so they can provide something frequently lacking on storefront reviews, an opinion well informed by experience with many alternatives.

I also like sites like DxOMark, which provide raw test data that you can review yourself.

The main theme though is just, many sources. Any one person can be bought, but not the whole internet.

I agree about pro/niche reviewers. A few sites I've used: dpreview.com (cameras, though owned by Amazon now, I think), rtings.com (TVs, and they're adding headphones), and sleeplikethedead.com (mattresses). I am sure they have their biases, but they're good places to start. (And you learn a lot about what the various features/materials/buzzwords actually mean.)

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