Anyone notice this about magazine equipment reviews?

[tracydr]

It's gotten to the point where I don't even look at the equipment reviews in magazines anymore. First, they are all about pricy, spendy, expensive models. Do the words "sticker shock" come to mind? Second, you NEVER see a single significant criticism.

There have to be new inexpensive models that are worthy of review. And surely there must be some duds out there. If every model reviewed is great then it makes no difference which you buy and use so the reviews are meaningless.

The fact that it's only high end stuff that's being reviewed makes me suspect the integrity of the review process. It seems that reviews have degenerated into advertisements without the notification that they are commercials for the manufacturer.

The reviews are all paid advertisements, from what I understand.
The only reviews I read are the ones in TDS,CDF,RF and SB. Magazines are just one,big paid advertisement. You know those magazines that tell you the 100 best doctors in the state? All those doctors did to get on the list was to pay. The more you pay, the higher on the list you get. Really, when I was in private practice the magazine approached me and that's when I learned exactly how it worked.
I suspect the US News top college reports work in a similar way but I'm not sure.

 

[mselenaous]

I call it "Advertorial" content. I look for actual users reviews which you will usually only find on forums.

 

[Panama Jones]

So for a slightly different turn on this topic, with the exception of some possible $99 dollar knockoff, is there really any bad equipment? Let me expand:

Almost all people on SB acknowledge that well maintained older equipment is still useful as long as it is "well maintained". Well, like anything else in the world, this year's lower priced equipment is last years high end stuff. 3 years ago if I bought a $1500-$2000 reg set I am getting quality, this year, for $599 it's crap and I'm gonna die. (BTW, same with my golf clubs).

Regulators have improved a lot over the years but fundamentally have not change in a hundred. My thoughts...choose a well known brand name of which there are many, buy the products that suit the environment that you will be diving and are confortable to you and ....save away.

 

[diverrex]

For some reason I find it even worse for the resorts side of the business. When you read an article about a certain tropical location and the resorts they mention if you didn't know better you would assume those are the resorts to go to. Those resorts always have ads in the same edition. SB reviews from actual unbiased users is a much better source of info. I still get dive magazines but other than Diving Training and Alert Diver I just mostly look at the photos.

 

[CT-Rich]

I remember Skin Diver was always pumping up these super slim regs in the 1980s. Never saw them on a diver and eventually they disappeared. I remember reading reviews where you could sense they were holding their nose while trying to polish the turds. Ultimately, the turds did get shine on them.

 

[freewillie]

Most of the gear reviews have a range of affordable entry level to high end. Scuba Diving in particular has a "best buy" designation for reasonably priced gear that performs like some of the more expensive gear.

One of the explainations regarding generally positive reviews is that the magazine is sent more gear than they can publish in one article. At some point gear that does not perform to a certain standard would not have been tested therefore would not have been commented on for the article in general. They also tend to publish on well established brands like Scubapro, Aqua Lung, Apex, Atomics, etc. and even the entry level gear for these companies is going to perform at least mediocre if not excellent.

 

[Doc Harry]

Kharon, that's why I quit subscribing to those magazines many years ago.

 

[elmer fudd]

It doesn't matter what your hobby is, the magazines tend to see the world through rose colored glasses.

To get a good idea of what's worthwhile you are much better served by going online and reading the opinions of enthusiasts.

To really find out what's what, you need to try a lot of it out yourself, experiment with it and make up your own mind.

 

[Carlos Danger]

It's gotten to the point where I don't even look at the equipment reviews in magazines anymore. First, they are all about pricy, spendy, expensive models. Do the words "sticker shock" come to mind? Second, you NEVER see a single significant criticism.

There have to be new inexpensive models that are worthy of review. And surely there must be some duds out there. If every model reviewed is great then it makes no difference which you buy and use so the reviews are meaningless.

The fact that it's only high end stuff that's being reviewed makes me suspect the integrity of the review process. It seems that reviews have degenerated into advertisements without the notification that they are commercials for the manufacturer.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying, but what else is there to do during the off season?

 

[DaleC]

What's an off season?


The reviews and adverts are the actual intended content of most mags - the supposed "content" is really just the advertising hook added to get the consumer to look at the ads.