Date: 2/8/10 11:53 AM

I just paid $5.95 for a one-month subscription to Consumer Reports in order to look at their sewing machine reviews, since they had several models that I'm interested in listed. It was a complete waste of money, with the only useful thing a user-submitted in-depth review of the Bernina 440QE - the "ratings" were only on "Ease of Use" and "Quality of Sewing" with no further detail, and only the bare minimum of checkboxes like "Sews Knits Well."

And to add insult to injury, the only subscription options are recurring billing, meaning you have to manually cancel or be out every month (or year). So, stick with Google and the wonderful reviews here - Consumer Reports isn't worth it!!!

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Janome L-108 ~ Janome MC6600
2 Singer 221-1 Featherweights (1948 & 1950 British Centennial)
Singer 503A ~ Pfaff 130 ~ Singer NL-15

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Reply to alegriaa
Date: 2/8/10 1:00 PM

I sooooooo agree with you. My DH subscribes to CR -- has for years. At the time, they announced in advance with much self-aggrandizement, that they were going to put out their first sewing machine ratings. When it arrived I grabbed it & was absolutely amazed at the obvious lack of depth. (I'm struggling not to tell you my actual thoughts at the time!)
I truly believe that they did not have a single actual-real-life sewing-person do the evaluations. It was like automobile ratings written by people who don't drive, living in cities where they only use municipal transportation. In other words, clueless!
Since then, I've totally lost confidence in their integrity. I do pick up issues now & then, but to me, their opinions are, to put the best face on it, irrelevant.

FWIW, Pat

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PVA (Pat)  "A girl can't have too many scissors!"
If I don't have time to do it right, when will I have time to do it over?

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Reply to PVA
Date: 2/8/10 1:06 PM

Quote:

I've totally lost confidence in their integrity

I bought a one year subscription because I needed a new washer and dryer (talk about conflicting), the user reviews were the complete opposite. I have lost confidence in them as well.

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"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”
Coco Chanel

Stash Sewn in 2011 as of 9/1/11... 148.5 Yds

http://adonising.blogspot.com

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Date: 2/8/10 1:34 PM

I'm not sure it's an integrity issue so much as the vast array of choices and limited personnel/time/etc. to review all. I guess my perspective changed once I'd been working for a sewing/vac dealer for awhile. While I can't comment on how sewing oriented the reviewers were (just can't recall that somewhat extensive review), what stood out was the fact that, while many many models were reviewed.... there were soooooo many more that weren't. And that's what made me suddenly realize that, other than perhaps cars, any product line review has to be somewhat limited because of how many products are "out there". Your dream item - sewing machine, camera, washer, moisterizer, power tool - may not be there simply because you can't cover them all. And, reviewers can't be expected to be experts in each area/product line they're reviewing. While it may be right that there are non sewers involved, even on a forum like this where there is much input the diversity sewing skill, know how, trouble shooting resourcefulness, etc. varies widely and reviews have to be looked at as subjective. And conversely, the Dec./Jan. issue of Vogue Pattern Magazine had a machine review and there were many many not included.... time and space....
What made me realize though how skewed CR results could be though were the vaccuum reviews. Had I not been working where I was I wouldn't have caught on. The model(s) they ranked as best buys or fewer repairs were the ones we saw come in by far the most with issues. Well.... as a percent of sales it may have been low, but there were SO many sold - think Costco, Target, WM - that in numbers it was a LOT - plus - they were so costly to repair vs. purchase price that if not too old we'd recommend taking it back... and those stores would take them back. So there weren't as many repaired. But a higher end item costing much more and having a better warranty may have been repaired more because it was a bigger investment in a product which would last a longer term and more problems would be covered by warranty even if it meant in ratings it had to go in for service - kind of like comparing a $99 sm to a $999 sm.

I'm not defending or rejecting CR, just saying that any review when there are so many products on the market has to be limiting in some capacity. I used to hate it if someone would come in and cite Consumer's Digest having rated something as a Best Buy (or whatever their term was). I'd ask what other machines were rated - or as importantly - left out. And CD sells the right to use their medal/ribbon for advertising as well so they are clearly not a non profit.
So I wouldn't throw out CR lock stock and barrel, sometimes they'll be right on, sometimes not, but they have to be just another resource, not the WORD in what's the best value/price/product....

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Karen

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Date: 2/8/10 2:13 PM

Perhaps too that just like any magazine article, each review is alloted a certain number of characters. Perhaps CR does not have in mind readers who have become accustomed to well written and thorough reviews on sewing machines.

I also wonder if CR can truly give a thorough review on several sewing machines. Who do they have on staff who can do the job well? (It's been a while since I looked into a CR publication. I don't remember now if they have user opinion or staff opinion or both.) America's Test Kitchen has several taste testers. Can CR have several SM testers, and each one have his or her own opinion included in the single, final review? A review that is perhaps limited to a certain number of characters? (Again, maybe I'm wrong here... maybe CR prints several opinions from actual users... hazy memory...)

Anyway, if the review is or has to be mediocre, I hope that they at least print the MSRP.



-- Edited on 2/8/10 2:19 PM --

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Her needlework both plain and ornamental was excellent, and she might have put a sewing machine to shame. ~James Edward Austen-Leigh, about Jane Austen

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Date: 2/8/10 2:53 PM

I paid for a year subscription at the online CR website. They took my money but I was never able to access anything on their site. It would not accept the name and PW that they confirmed were accurate. I sent them multiple emails, asking for a fix or a refund, to which they never replied. I called them and they blamed it on my computer (a Mac) and would not refund my money. Then, if all that wasn't bad enough, they tried to auto-renew me. But fortunately, I had cancelled that card. So then they started spamming me a couple times a week demanding payment for renewal. So I had to put them in the spammer file. Given that this is Consumer Reports, I was simply stunned at the difficulty in dealing with them. My husband thinks it's just incompetence but I'm not so sure. I have a feeling it's working for them money-wise.

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"The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted the spoons" Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Reply to alegriaa
Date: 2/8/10 3:00 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if CR sales are down dramatically, from say, 10 years ago. With the vast amount of information/reviews that can be found on the web, for almost any product, it would seem so. I can't even tell you the last time I picked up an issue.
-- Edited on 2/8/10 3:01 PM --

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Carol - * I always have more time to sew *
Babylock Ellageo, Viking Mega Quilter, Janome MC6600P, Babylock Evolve Serger, Janome FM 725

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Date: 2/8/10 3:38 PM

I have a CR subscription, and I find their ratings useful for considering major household purchases. I think that if you already have a fair amount of specialized knowledge (as we do regarding sewing machines), their ratings are not going to be detailed enough to make much difference. My husband, for example, always hates their computer reviews because he knows quite a bit about hardware and disagrees with their judgments. Their guides on topics like computers and sewing machines might be useful for novices, but less so for experienced people.

Michelle

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Date: 2/8/10 3:45 PM

Frankly these days, I read AMAZON reviews in depth for appliances etc. I bought a vacuum several years ago without doing so and boy was I sorry! If I had read AMAZON I wouldn't have purchased it.

CR has the problem of being for everyone. The car ratings are really not that good either because who knows what the person reading it is looking for really. The sewing machine ratings are really not aimed at sewers for one thing. I have no idea to whom they are addressed. There is no clear explanation of criteria used int he ratings, so who can tell what they mean.

I do like CR for an overview, and I think that's all you can get. You have to do some other research as well. It is useful for stats on repairs, etc. on cars, appliances and more. However, libraries have this and the CR Annual edition, so why spend your own money?

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"Let's play librarian. I'll read and in 6 hours you come and tell me the library is closing."
--Brick Heck

"Begin each day as if it were on purpose."
--Mary Anne Radmacher

Blogging at http://eyeletsintheseams.blogspot.com/

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Subject: Dont bother with Consumer Reports Date: 2/8/10 3:57 PM

For sewing machine and serger reviews besides PR, I go to Epinions on line. They have reviews for other products as well.
Quilter's Review on line has some good sewing machine reviews too, and by people that sew. I don't think the site has been active for quite some time but the old reviews are still on line for viewing.
-- Edited on 2/8/10 3:57 PM --

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