why the scoff and disregard for popular magazine gear reviews ?

[jallen013]

i've been in and out of the forums for about a year-and-a-half now and have always been aware of the scoff and disregard for gear reviews in the popular scuba magazines. thing is, i've never really heard WHY or what they're doing so wrongly. what is about XYZ Magazine's "Gear of the Year" issue that is so incorrect?

(not trying to troll, honest inquiry.)

 

[Tortuga68]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accessories/398466-knife-light.html

 

[danvolker]

i've been in and out of the forums for about a year-and-a-half now and have always been aware of the scoff and disregard for gear reviews in the popular scuba magazines. thing is, i've never really heard WHY or what they're doing so wrongly. what is about XYZ Magazine's "Gear of the Year" issue that is so incorrect?

(not trying to troll, honest inquiry.)

Their tests are always bogus...even when they use reasonable criteria in a test ( sometimes happens), they stack the deck by only testing the gear they want to showcase--and AVOID testing gear that would be far better in the tests, than the brands of their advertisers which they are testing.
For instance, every year there is a top fin test....yet they have NEVER tested DiveR freedive fins ( for scuba use) , these fins being like the Lamborghini Galardo of fins, and easily would destroy the brands of the advertisers being tested. They ignore the superiority of freedive fins being made in soft, medium, stiffer and stiffest flex charicteristics, to match the fitness level of the scuba diver, and the intended use...I could go on about this for a long time

 

[redacted]

Do you know the difference between a magazine article on new gear and an advertisement???


Either do most magazines.

 

[cerich]

From my point of view, it just plain pisses me off that the higher the $$$ spent on ads the better your gear.... Just saying.

Strangely enough that doesn't mean all the advertised gear is crap, far from it.

 

[BabyDuck]

because the selection bias in what they test is *staggering*. because the uses they put the equipment to have nothing whatever to do with how i dive. because - have you ever seen any piece of equipment have 'this really sucks. i can't see a use for it at all.' written about it? no? me either, but lots of equipment really sucks.

when they put bp/w, jetfins, and predators in the tests, i'll read them cheerfully. until then...nope.

 

[Superlyte27]

Once upon a time Dacor had the number 1 Mask, the number 1 Fin, the number 1 BCD, and the number 1 Regulator all in the same year.....

What are the chances that was because they were they spent the most money on advertising?


Also, have you ever seen a product review of like 10 masks. And the magazine ranks Mask X as number 1 and ranks Mask Z as number 4. When you look closely you realize that those mask are the exact same mask made by the same manufacturing company just with different badging on them. Kind of like Scubapro and Halcyon or Hollis and Oceanic.

 

[DevonDiver]

Do you know the difference between a magazine article on new gear and an advertisement???

Either do most magazines.

I know the difference, which is why I consider 99% of magazine reviews/articles as advertisements.

There's quite a few 'reviews' that just copy-paste the manufacturers' blurb as a review (Google the words and you'll see they appear on many reviews). Others portray a very positive view, but neglect to provide any meaningful negative feedback. Few, if any, reviews really provide honest comparisons against the wider market and/or the true competition.

Give me a few $000s for marketing and I reckon I could get a house brick rated as a top product for divers.

 

[Nwcid]

Lots of good points and I agree.

If I really want to know how a piece of gear performs or if it is worth buying or not I read USER reviews on boards like this.

 

[buddhasummer]

Lots of good points and I agree.

If I really want to know how a piece of gear performs or if it is worth buying or not I read USER reviews on boards like this.

+1 absolutely ...