BlueDolphin
Guest
Zboss..... as in..... THEY DON'T HAVE TO.
Question about Rodale's reviews
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leadweight
Contributor
Rodale's is a good source of information, but read the entire article and then go out and look at the stuff and try it out if possible. Ask your friends and snoop around on the internet. (Beware, this board has a DIR slant.) Do not just look for the "editor's choice" or "best buy" logo to make a purchasing decision without using your brain first.
In the area of regulator performance they can give fairly objective info. However, this does not cover long term reliability. Their BC reviews tend to be off the wall because I don't agree with their rating system at all.
Their fin tests are kind of interesting, and they have produced some results that are consistent with Diver magazine and an independent tester. Noteably, that the Apollo Pro fin is very efficient in controlled tests.
In the area of regulator performance they can give fairly objective info. However, this does not cover long term reliability. Their BC reviews tend to be off the wall because I don't agree with their rating system at all.
Their fin tests are kind of interesting, and they have produced some results that are consistent with Diver magazine and an independent tester. Noteably, that the Apollo Pro fin is very efficient in controlled tests.
Cherry
Contributor
I suspect that Rodales does the best job possible with their reviews. After saying that I was suprised at the results they had with Apeks regs. In particular the ATX 200. Now I dont know about you guys but criticism of a reg on markings on the adjust ment knob is weak. My 200 clearly has the + and - marked and hell if ya gotta look at the adjustment knob to figure which is on and which is off all I can say is please stay dry you will be much safer. :mean:
One person wrote:
Unfortunately the shop I worked in had bought IST regulators and BCDs prior to the review. The equipment was CE certified, meaning OK for the EU market. My experience was that the products were quite inferior.
I tend to side with ZBoss and find Rodales is relatively unbiased in their testing. It would be a killer for them if they were cooking their results. Soon they would go the way of Skin Diver.
But I believe that Rodales does, on occasion at least, go out and buy equipment for testing. E.g.; they went and bought IST regulators and BCDs and tested them and warned that the regulators, at least were unsafe for diving.
Unfortunately the shop I worked in had bought IST regulators and BCDs prior to the review. The equipment was CE certified, meaning OK for the EU market. My experience was that the products were quite inferior.
I tend to side with ZBoss and find Rodales is relatively unbiased in their testing. It would be a killer for them if they were cooking their results. Soon they would go the way of Skin Diver.
Captain Hardhead
Registered
I poked around quit a bit and found the following site that claims to be 100% independent on their equipment reviews. They claim their reviews are not ad driven. :doctor:
http://www.cyber-diver.com/gear/gear.html
http://www.cyber-diver.com/gear/gear.html
ScubaBobby and his CyberLiar webscam? The site is basically an email scam (harvest those addresses for spam lists) with a penchant for shoveling bull**** as fast as they can. If you think that they are not ad driven, then those must be not ads all over their homepage...
Caveat emptor - in scuba as in everything.
Steven
I checked it out Hardhead. Although I think Rodale's is mainly unbiased they are open to commercial pressure; therefore at first look, I have to prefer Cyber Diver.:bonk:
DazedAndConfuzed
Contributor
But their review is so bare boned, just a numerical rating of 10 regulators and 10 dive computers. Plus they don't give us the bottom rankers, the ones we should know to avoid.
Captain Hardhead
Registered
OK, I admit I might have jumped the gun. While I might agree with their ratings, I miss not haveing the detail. After digging around on the site, I found a spot that said it gave more detail BUT you had to be a member. I stopped looking at that point. I also don't know how often they update their list. I guess I just was happy to see that they approved of some of the gear I researched and purchased.
Upon 2nd look I have to concur with Lwang that the Cyber Diver site is rather skimpy on info. It has promise. I emailed them but I haven't received a reply yet.:bonk:
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