I check buyer reviews on almost everything I buy. I think the vast majority of low ratings are from people that rode the short bus. It can be very humorous reading at times.
And that is why you have to read the reviews, not just count stars or eggs. Take Amazon's Marketplace vendor reviews for example. Many of those reviews are actually product reviews so you have to read through them and look for patterns, such as the vendor frequently shipping the wrong item, takes longer to ship than promised, makes lame excuses for its mistakes, etc. I've shied away from many Marketplace vendors that had otherwise good reviews because a high percentage of the reviews were actually product reviews and a high percentage of the actual vendor reviews were less than stellar or showed a pattern of vendor incompetence, such as late shipments (actually, not all that big a problem unless one is on a schedule), shipping wrong items, poor packaging of shipments, blaming the customer for complaints, etc.
To me, the hardest thing about Amazon reviews is they take all reviews for every vendor of the product, including themselves, and lump them all together. So, when you see 'the item was poorly packaged and the wrong item sent', you really have no idea which vendor they are talking about unless they name them. It lends a new meaning to the saying 'one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel'.
It's the same with Windows OS on Amazon, if one vendor sells a pirated product and the review does not state who it was purchased from, it makes everyone selling that OS suspect, including Amazon. And that simply isn't the case.
I find that to be true of Amazon's product reviews however the vendor review's are completely separate and are for that vendor only.
I have seen product reviews for software that specifically said that the reviewers received counterfeit software from Amazon's stock as well as from Marketplace vendors. The problem is that counterfeit software often doesn't get caught until sometime later; if it is after Amazon's 30 day return window, Amazon turns a deaf ear (although I know how to deal with that, I would rather not have to bother with it).
My Computer
At a glance
Win 7 Ultimate 64 bitIntel i7-3930KKingston HyperX Genesis 32GB Kit (8x4GB Modul...MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2...
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
- Custom Build
- OS
- Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
- CPU
- Intel i7-3930K
- Motherboard
- ASUS P9X79 WS
- Memory
- Kingston HyperX Genesis 32GB Kit (8x4GB Modules) 1600MHz DDR
- Graphics Card(s)
- MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC Radeon HD 7850 2GB 256-bit GDDR
- Sound Card
- Asus Xonar Essence STX
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 3x Asus VG248QE 24", Vizio 32" TV
- Screen Resolution
- 1920 x 1080, ?
- Hard Drives
- Samsung 128GB 840 Pro SSD (1),
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (4)
Samsung 4TB 850 EVO SSDs (16) external backup drives used in 2.5" hot swap bays in the computer.
- PSU
- Corsair HX750w
- Case
- Antec Two Hundred v2 (modified)
- Cooling
- Cooler Master GeminII S524 120mm (fan replaced with a 140mm)
- Keyboard
- Logitech G510s
- Mouse
- Logitech M525 (two in use)
- Internet Speed
- =< 32Mbps down, 8Mbps up
- Antivirus
- AVAST!, MBAM, SAS, Spybot S&D (all but MBAM free) Glary Util
- Browser
- IE11
- Other Info
- LSI 9211-8i HBA card (8 SATA III ports), 2.5" & 3.5" Hot Swap Bays, HooToo HT-CR001 PCI-E to USB 3.0 Internal Hub + 6 Slot Card Reader, and LG Model CH12LS28 BD-ROM Optical Drive. Also, ScanSnap S1500 ADF duplexing scanner, Canon 9000F flat bed scanner, Corsair SP2500 2.1 speakers, Samsung CLP 415nw laser color printer, Cyberpower PP2200SW UPS



