From Sy

Sy > Reviews

See also

• Sy's writing

[edit] Topics

• Reading has a list of books I've read and reviewed.
• Sy's software reviews -- Basically every software page has my notes on it, but these are some notible items:
• See the list of Sy's reviews

[edit] Advice

Sy wrote this. Please be aware of the personal nature of this article and its opinions. See Sy's writing for more, or see the (in)complete list.

• Read more than one review (from different sources) before you make your decision.
• Only trust reviews from sites which have a good number of reviews.
• Do not rely on reviews which give vague ratings without written justification. This includes sites which just give a "top 100" or "5 star" rating.
• Just because something is heavily downloaded or purchased and therefore considered popular doesn't mean that it is any good (for you).
• Study screenshots wherever possible. Give good consideration to reviews which contain screenshots and detailed explanations.
• Give good consideration to specialised sites which have a broad variety of content and also include reviews. For example, weigh a game review from a games news/reviews/discussion site more heavily than from a broad reviews site (like this one).
• Not all reviews are good. Not all reviews are bad. If a site has just one type of review, take it into consideration as many of these sites are well made, but please... read other sources.
• Do NOT trust a review from the author. These are a joke. In fact, if you are so inclined.. go so far as to completely avoid the original site for information about the product. If it is a popular product, you will find information about it from all other angles. There is, however, a point at which you must turn to the manufacturer or main outlet for the final word on points of contention in the different reviews.
• Always consider the competition for a product before making a final decision. You not only have multiple reviews of the one interesting product to read, but all other related products.
• Pay special interest to reviews which pit one product against another. These often highlite pros and cons for each. Beware of "apples and oranges" comparisons though. There are a number of sites which will compare one thing with something which is in a similar, but not similar enough, category.. e.g. mp3 players - why are there product reviews comparing an mp3 cd player to a solid-state player?

[edit] Other review sources

• Tom's Hardware
• Ars Technica
• Rantmonkey - Demo reviews