Does anyone under age 45 read Consumer Reports?

[thatgirl]

My DH was raised to live and purchase by the guidance of CR. His parents still have a subscription.

I find CR so far behind the curve they now longer the bible of standards they once were.
I rather read reviews from real customers when making decisions. Besides it is not like years ago when appliances lasted for 20+ years.

Am I alone here?

[natablue]

I'm pretty sure my stepdad has a subscription. I tend to look at user reviews, and google around for other reviews from real-life people before I make a decision. My DH on the other hand is more of an impulse buyer. If the sales person tells him it's the best, then it's the best. Very frustrating sometimes!

[tarheels]

It's not an age thing for me. I'd use them if I were making a purchase where they could have an impact.

My problem is that since college, I've lived in some pretty backwoods towns for work. I just don't have access to all the products CR's discussing, so there's really no point in it for me. It's not like I can go without an oven for a month (or whatever) waiting on whatever CR recommended to come in special order.

(Semi-related rant: living in backwoods towns is reeeeally starting to piss me off. I guess it's because I grew up in a good sized city that I know what I'm missing, but if work doesn't move us to civilization soon, I'm gonna go apeshit. I don't like online shopping!)

[Deleted]

I have an online subscription, but as I said in the other post, I think they have some issues on the washer front, and I completely distrust them on that. We used CR when buying a car, which we love, and a vacuum, which we also love. I also have enjoyed their countertops article and ratings and will probably use that when we redo our kitchen. I tend to combine their advice with advice from other places. I might use a really terrible rating from CR to rule something out, but I don't necessarily buy something only because it says it's the best. I take their recommended products and then read lots of reviews from other sites.

I find their electronics advice to be somewhat useless and like CNET better for that. I've found that CR often doesn't review what's in the stores near me, and what they do review, I can't find. Sometimes I wonder how they pick which models/products they will be reviewing.

[auntie]

Jun 30, 2012 13:24:15 GMT -5 @juno said:

I have an online subscription, but as I said in the other post, I think they have some issues on the washer front, and I completely distrust them on that. We used CR when buying a car, which we love, and a vacuum, which we also love. I also have enjoyed their countertops article and ratings and will probably use that when we redo our kitchen. I tend to combine their advice with advice from other places. I might use a really terrible rating from CR to rule something out, but I don't necessarily buy something only because it says it's the best. I take their recommended products and then read lots of reviews from other sites.

I find their electronics advice to be somewhat useless and like CNET better for that. I've found that CR often doesn't review what's in the stores near me, and what they do review, I can't find. Sometimes I wonder how they pick which models/products they will be reviewing.

This.

I have the on-line subscription. I find they're good for stuff besides brand name product reviews. I don't always agree with their reviews of appliances or wine but they've been spot on for cars, roofing, replacement windows and HVAC.

[mie]

We have an online subscription, but haven't really used it recently.

[circa1978]

My parents buy nothing - nothing - without consulting CR. I tend to look at online reviews first, but a lot of things don't have a clear winner there - like a lot of vacuums seemed to average out around four stars on Amazon when we were looking a few months ago. We have an online subscription to CR and use it either to point us in a direction right at the very beginning or as a tie breaker. Or we ask my dad, which is basically the same thing.

[adhdfashion]

I read it and love it. I'm 29 years old. ;D

[lightbulbsun]

I like it. I used it when looking for my stove, and I'm really happy with the one we chose. I'll probably use it when looking for a TV and fridge later this year, too.

[lmdbww]

I have a few issues downloaded on my iPad but only because they were free. There are a ton of other great online resources for product reviews that we usually reference first.

[orangeblossom]

I used to get it, but I do love their new magazine that's geared towards women: Shop Smart. I love it. Lots of information on good apps for a variety of things, websites for travel, free shipping, etc. Overall, I really like the magazine. I think of all of the magazines I get right now, it's in the top three. First is Food Network, then Real Simple and then Shop Smart.

[emoflamingo]

I don't think I've used any CR to buy things, but I do look at real-life reviews and ask on here and on FB. Like the Libman Freedom Mop I bought per recommendations here. SUPER happy with it.