I think a lot of people don't understand Consumer Reports and that really is too bad. They are not just a non-profit organization. Their publications contain no advertising from anyone (except for their own consumer safety services). This is important because it means none of their product or services reviews can be influenced by advertising money, or even give the appearance of any influence. If you look at other review publications, for cars for example, it is not unusual for the top rated car to have a very expensive (and profitable for the magazine) full page ad touting their top rating opposite the review results. Makes you wonder if the reviews really were unbiased. Consumer Reports NEVER accepts products for review from the maker either. Instead, they send "secret shoppers" out to Wal-mart, Best Buy, Amazon, the local Ford dealer, etc. and buy the product right off the shelf, just as you or I would. This ensures they don't get a cherry picked or "tweaked" sample that has been specially optimized just for the testing. They don't just give a quick test for specification compliance or for function. They test over days, weeks or even longer (sometimes simulating years of use - mattresses and lawn mowers, for example) to test how well a product will hold up over time and abuse. CR also lobbies Congress, the Food and Drug Administration, and various consumer protection agencies to get bad/unsafe products off the market, or laws put in place that protect the consumer. If I sound like a fanboy, well, I guess I am. I know of no other consumer protection organization that goes to such extremes to ensure unbiased reviews, with the willingness to take on politicians, governments, insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, or anybody else who puts profits ahead of consumers. Once CR and The Digital Standard group gets their methodologies sorted out (so company lawyers and marketing teams for down-rated products and companies cannot contest the findings) this should really be good for consumers.
