Blu Ray Media Stores: RunTechMedia Review

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 12: RunTechMedia Review

In the process of doing comparative shopping for Blu Ray media, we frequently encountered RunTechMedia on shopping engines. We were impressed by the site's broad inventory, and were hoping that we could qualify it as a primary or main supplier for Blu ray media. We were a bit disappointed, but are keeping some hope for the future.   

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the RunTechMedia site under CD/DVD/Blu Ray Media -> BD-R/RE, BD-R/RE DL. Site speed is very good, with 1.8 seconds per page average to display a left-clicked SKU, but the site made the huge mistake of not allowing right-clicks on category pages, resulting in a very painful browsing experience. This caused us to change our speed test, to start with 10 store tabs and use one left click in each tab, since we were not able to spawn new tabs from right-clicks on products. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, RunTechMedia provides the most choice in the category, as 12 of these modes are available. The only missing capability is sort by best selling. On the other hand,  there is a Blu Ray media category, it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), single/ dual layer, manufacturer, speed, quantity and printability, sorting can be done by price, rating, and most reviews, and user ratings are displayed on the category listing pages. These are very good site capabilities for RunTechMedia, although, unfortunately, there are too few user reviews at this time for the review-based criteria to be useful.

Inventory and price
RunTechMedia carries a large inventory of 13 Blue Ray media, 4th lowest in the category after Amazon, MediaMegaMall and Buy.com - a very good performance when one considers that both Amazon and Buy.com are merchant marketplaces on top of being retailers themselves. RunTechMedia stocks 43% of our 89 Blu Ray test media, 3rd best in the category, barely behind MediaMegaMall and Amazon - another excellent score. RunTechMedia prices are on average 23.4% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, which is on the high side in the category. It matches best price for 4 SKUs for media stocked by more than one store, which is in the middle of the pack.  RunTechMedia stocks 5 of the 6 media we selected as best Blu Ray archival grade media, for an average price 24.5% higher than the best price across the category for this basket of media - we find this a bit too high.

User reviews
RunTechMedia lets its users file product reviews. At this time, however, we only found 20 user reviews for all Blu Ray media, which does not allow for any significant evaluation of user feedback for its SKUs.

Customer Service
RunTechMedia does not have any ResellerRatings review, a very disappointing finding which can only be due to small retail volume for the site at this time. We were able to locate a bit over 400 reviews on Google Shopping (they were hard to find) for the site, for a very good rating of 94%. However, while Google Shopping aggregates user reviews from multiple locations (including ResellerRatings when they are available), our experience is that  its ratings are often significantly better than ResellerRatings and do not always give us a full picture of the CS issues for a site.  As its ResellerRatings rating is nonexistent, RunTechMedia  receives a low 46% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating, which we expect to go up rapidly when the site starts aggregating ResellerRatings reviews. Until then, we do not believe that we can properly estimate RunTechMedia's strength in customer service.

Table: RunTechMedia Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
RunTechMedia appears to be a recent entrant in online electronic media retailing. The site capabilities are impressive, and the inventory is excellent. We are less impressed by the average price, that we find a bit high. We are awaiting a reasonable track record for the store on ResellerRatings to  finalize our judgment on customer service. Until then, we consider RunTechMedia a site to look at and experiment with,  but we are not ready to recommend it as a primary supplier for ongoing Blu Ray media purchases.

Next we review SuperMediaStore for Blu Ray media... So come back soon!  

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Table Legend:
Total inventory: total number of Blu ray media SKUs on the site
Inventory %: percentage of ConsumerPla.net list of 89 Blu Ray media that can be found at the store
Inventory % for selected archival media: % of SKUs that we selected in our Blu Ray Media review for archival grade
Site sorting: how many types of sorts and bins are possible on the site (out of the 13 we listed in our wish list)
Average query speed: the average speed to display a right-clicked SKU  - measures browsing speed
Average overprice: How much % over best price, for all media present in more than one store
Average overprice for selected archival media: specifically how much % over best price for the media we selected for archival grade
# lowest priced SKUs: how many SKUs in the store equal best price (if more than one store carries them)
# user reviews: how many user reviews we found on the site for Blu Ray media
Predictive CS rating: our worst case analysis of the likely Customer Support rating for this store, explained here

Blu Ray Media Online Stores: Rima Review

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 11: Rima Review

Rima specializes in electronic media, and is a frequent reference on the forums as a good place to go to for CD or DVD media. It also advertises extensively on Blu Ray media keywords, and is commonly encountered the right right side of your search screen in paid results.While we are generally leery of those sites who feel the need to pay for search results, we were not horrified by what we found on Rima.

Site and usability
Blu Ray media is a top tab on Rima, and can be found both on the top menu bar and on the left navigation bar. Site speed is very good, with 1.7 seconds per page average to display a right-clicked SKU - no surprise there, as the site is VERY simple and should not take any time loading. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, Rima provides only 4 modes:  it is not possible to select manufacturer, speed, or quantity, no sorting is available, and user ratings are not shown on the main category pages.   On the other hand, there is a Blu Ray media category, and  it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), single/ dual layer, and printability. While site usability may appear low, because the inventory is very narrow sorting and binning are less important. The site does not carry a lot of functionality, but it is truly very simple, something which comes with some advantages.

Inventory and price
Rima carries a very small inventory of 38 Blue Ray media, 2nd lowest in the category before  TapeOnline. It stocks 21% of our 89 Blu Ray test media, also low in the category. Rima prices are on average 19.4% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, which is in the middle of the pack. Rima has the best price for only 1 SKU, for a media stocked by more than one store, last in the category with B&H Photo. While Rima has a large sample of low price media, it also carries some high quality products as well, for a well balanced inventory as a whole. Of the 6 media we selected as best Blue Ray archival grade media, Rima stocks 2, which it prices on average 15.2% over the best price in the category - a fairly good performance.

User reviews
Rima allows it users to file reviews, but we did not find a single review across the Blu Ray media category. 

Customer Service
Rima does not have a very numerous track record, but what there is is very good. It gathers approximately 80 reviews both with ResellerRatings and with Google Shopping, scoring 100% with both, and receiving an excellent 98% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating, almost on a par with B&H Photo Video and NewEgg despite the low number of reviews.

Table: Rima Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
Rima, a small entrant with a tiny inventory and a very simple site, succeeds in providing a reasonable customer experience because of a well balanced inventory, decent prices and very good customer support. While we cannot recommend it as a general purpose choice for ongoing Blu Ray media purchases because it simply does not provide enough choices, we think that Rima can be a good choice for one-off purchases.

Next we review RunTechMedia for Blu Ray media... So come back soon!

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Table Legend:
Total inventory: total number of Blu ray media SKUs on the site
Inventory %: percentage of ConsumerPla.net list of 89 Blu Ray media that can be found at the store
Inventory % for selected archival media: % of SKUs that we selected in our Blu Ray Media review for archival grade
Site sorting: how many types of sorts and bins are possible on the site (out of the 13 we listed in our wish list)
Average query speed: the average speed to display a right-clicked SKU  - measures browsing speed
Average overprice: How much % over best price, for all media present in more than one store
Average overprice for selected archival media: specifically how much % over best price for the media we selected for archival grade
# lowest priced SKUs: how many SKUs in the store equal best price (if more than one store carries them)
# user reviews: how many user reviews we found on the site for Blu Ray media
Predictive CS rating: our worst case analysis of the likely Customer Support rating for this store, explained here

Blu Ray Media Stores: Provantage Review

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores 
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 10: Provantage Review

We often found Provantage on shopping engines when doing comparison shopping on specific Blu Ray media products, sometimes with compelling prices. We wanted to investigate if it could become one of our regular online providers for Blu ray media. We were somewhat disappointed by our findings.

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the Provantage site under Storage -> Storage Media -> Blu Ray Media. Site speed is good, with 2.0 seconds per page average to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, Provantage provides only 5: it is not possible to select Single/ Dual layer, speed, quantity or printability, sorting cannot use best rating or most reviews, ratings are not displayed in the category listing pages, and it is not possible to view price per disk. On the other hand,  there is a Blu Ray media category,  it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE) and manufacturer, and  sorting can be done by price and best selling. We found a disturbing issue on several products, as price changed (up, unfortunately...) as we were adding an item to the cart. We also found circumstances when sorting was not enabled, depending upon browsing history. Finally, we encountered several broken product pages on the site.

Inventory and price
Provantage carries a small inventory of 46 Blue Ray media, 4th lowest in the category ahead of NewEgg, Rima and TapeOnline. It stocks 16% of our 89 Blu Ray test media,  3rd lowest in the category, ahead of B&H Photo and TapeOnline. Provantage prices are on average 32.70% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, highest in the category - bar none. Surprisingly, despite the very high average prices, Provantage still matches best price in the category for 4 SKUs present in more than one store, showing a wide variation in its prices across media. As Provantage is often present in shopping engines, we believe that some of these prices may be set as "call" prices to get traffic through shopping engines, while prices on other items remain somewhat high. Provantage carried 2 of the 6 media that we selected as best archival grade Blu Ray media, and matched the best price across the category for both - that was quite a positive surprise.

User reviews
Provantage allows its users to post reviews, but we could not find a single one across Blu Ray media SKUs.

Customer Service
Provantage gathers over 1,200 reviews on ResellerRatings, with an fair 86% rating. On Google Shopping it gathers a little over 2,000 reviews, with an good 94% rating - although Google Shopping ratings tend to be more forgiving. Provantage receives a fair to good 89% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating, in the middle of the pack for the category.

Table: Provantage Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
Provantage carries a small inventory of Blu Ray media, with a mediocre site experience and a somewhat buggy site, no user reviews, decent customer service, and the highest prices in the category. Because Provantage occasionally shows excellent prices on specific items, we feel that it is worth checking the site for specific SKU prices before making a purchase, but, at this time, we do not consider Provantage a good regular supplier for ongoing Blu-Ray media purchases.

Next we review Rima for Blu Ray media... So come back soon!

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Table Legend:
Total inventory: total number of Blu ray media SKUs on the site
Inventory %: percentage of ConsumerPla.net list of 89 Blu Ray media that can be found at the store
Inventory % for selected archival media: % of SKUs that we selected in our Blu Ray Media review for archival grade
Site sorting: how many types of sorts and bins are possible on the site (out of the 13 we listed in our wish list)
Average query speed: the average speed to display a right-clicked SKU  - measures browsing speed
Average overprice: How much % over best price, for all media present in more than one store
Average overprice for selected archival media: specifically how much % over best price for the media we selected for archival grade
# lowest priced SKUs: how many SKUs in the store equal best price (if more than one store carries them)
# user reviews: how many user reviews we found on the site for Blu Ray media
Predictive CS rating: our worst case analysis of the likely Customer Support rating for this store, explained here

Blu Ray Media Stores: NewEgg Review

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 9: NewEgg Review

NewEgg does not need any introduction as the leading online supplier of electronics and computer parts, with an outstanding reputation and service record in the industry. Being accustomed to check it first for much of our online purchasing when dealing with electronics, we were particularly interested in finding out how well it does as a supplier of Blu Ray media. NewEgg did not disappoint in its primary attributes, but did not totally fulfill our expectations.  

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the NewEgg site under Computer Hardware -> CD/DVD Burners and Media -> CD/DVD/ Blu Ray Media. Blu Ray media are mixed with other optical media, but can be selected by type, with a choice of BD-R/ BD-RE/ BD-R DL (BD-RE DL media are found under the BD-RE selection).  Site speed is very good, with 1.7 seconds per page average to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, NewEgg provides the third most choices in the category, after RunTechMedia and SuperMediaSales, as 9.5 of these modes are available:  there is no way single Blu Ray media category, sorting cannot use best selling, it is not possible to view price per disk, and, while it is possible to select BD-R Dl media, it is not possible to do so with BD-RE DL.  On the other hand,  it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), manufacturer, speed, quantity and printability, sorting can be done by price, rating, and most reviews, and user ratings are displayed on the category listing pages.Because NewEgg actually has many customer reviews, we find its sorts and bins  more useful than RunTechMedia (even though RunTechMedia has more of them), because we can actually use meaningful quantities with most reviews and best rating criteria.

Inventory and price
NewEgg carries a small inventory of 45 Blue Ray media, 3rd lowest in the category before Rima and TapeOnline. It stocks 19% of our 89 Blu Ray test media, also low in the category. NewEgg prices are on average 13.5% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, which is a very good score, and ranks third best across the category after MediaMegaMall and TapeOnline. NewEgg has the best price for 8 SKUs, for a media stocked by more than one store, second best across all stores after MediaMegaMall and before Amazon. However, while NewEgg carries a good number of low-price media SKUs, it does not have a good inventory of high quality Blu Ray media. NewEgg stocks only 2 of the 6 media we selected for best Blu Ray archival grade media, and prices them 4.2% higher than the best price across the industry, a very low price.

User reviews
NewEgg, like Amazon, is known for its excellent user reviews and their integration to the site. It does not disappoint, and registers 349 user reviews across all Blu Ray media, second only to Amazon.

Customer Service
NewEgg is known for its excellent customer service in Electronics and Computer parts.  Its track record is clear: it gathers over 33,000 reviews on ResellerRatings, with an outstanding 97% rating. On Google Shopping it gathers another 36,000 reviews, again with an exceptional 98% rating. NewEgg receives a category-high 98% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating, even with B&H Audio Video and ahead of Rima.

Table: NewEgg Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
As usual, NewEgg impresses by its excellent site, its good prices, its abundant user reviews, and its outstanding customer support. While it has good numbers of low-priced Blu Ray media, NewEgg is however missing a good inventory of high quality media.  A small change in inventory could make it the top site in the category. As it stands today, it is an excellent choice for low-priced media, but it cannot provide a good choice of quality Blu Ray media at this time - what a pity!!

Next we review Provantage for Blu Ray media... So come back soon!

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Table Legend:
Total inventory: total number of Blu ray media SKUs on the site
Inventory %: percentage of ConsumerPla.net list of 89 Blu Ray media that can be found at the store
Inventory % for selected archival media: % of SKUs that we selected in our Blu Ray Media review for archival grade
Site sorting: how many types of sorts and bins are possible on the site (out of the 13 we listed in our wish list)
Average query speed: the average speed to display a right-clicked SKU  - measures browsing speed
Average overprice: How much % over best price, for all media present in more than one store
Average overprice for selected archival media: specifically how much % over best price for the media we selected for archival grade
# lowest priced SKUs: how many SKUs in the store equal best price (if more than one store carries them)
# user reviews: how many user reviews we found on the site for Blu Ray media
Predictive CS rating: our worst case analysis of the likely Customer Support rating for this store, explained here

ConsumerPla.net's Best 34 Political Sites

What are the 34 best political web sites on the net? The 2012 political campaigns are starting to organize - where do you go to stay informed and make up your mind? ConsumerPla.net has put together a guide of the best political sites on the web for the ramp-up to the 2012 elections.

In the following selections, we use "non partisan" to label sites which declare themselves non partisan, and which we found out to be non partisan. We use "left of center" and "right of center" to label sites with liberal or conservative leanings, but which retain  reasonable objectivity and which are not, in general, advocates -as an average- across their many writers. We use "liberal" or "conservative" to label sites which we believe are significantly partisan or advocates for a side.


Best Site to Figure Out Where You Stand

Political labels are harder to use than ever. When you are a liberal, are you a social or a fiscal liberal? When you are a conservative, are you a social or a fiscal conservative? Where do you fit if you are a libertarian? Do you believe in strong or weak government? Where do your beliefs slot you?

• Political Compass gives you a questionnaire of basic questions, and interprets your answer to give you a better graphical understanding of where you stand in several dimensions. For many of us at ConsumerPla.net, the outcome of the analysis from Political Compass was at first surprising, yet, in the end, made very good sense. 

Best Political Fact Checking Sites

Do you trust political ad campaigns to get to the truth? We have all become jaded, and sometimes cynical, about facts, truth, and politics. Our research has uncovered several outstanding sites to fact check political assertions, and figure out where your candidates stand.

• Politifact.com is our #1 pick, and an outstanding site. A Pulitzer Prize winner, and a non partisan project of the St Petersburg Times, it looks at the big national picture, as well at specific stories. It rates how true political assertions are, and whether campaign promises are being met. It specifically tracks the fulfillment of  presidential election promises. Politifact is an outstanding site, which you will find interesting regardless of where you live.

• FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the recipient of  several Webby Awards, is another excellent non partisan project. Like Politifact, it looks at significant stories and evaluates the truth of political assertions. A neat feature: you can ask FactCheck about specific assertions. 

• VoteSmart.org aims to provide you with specific local information you can use. Another non partisan project which relies on many volunteers, it gives you the lists of candidates you will vote on, depending upon your address, and their positions on significant issues when they are known. One major way in which it obtains information is by asking candidates' organizations to fill questionnaires on major issues. Many organizations are not ready to openly discuss their positions on difficult issues, so, as a result, you do not always get the information you need (these candidates are downgraded by VoteSmart).

Best Campaign/ Ad Funding Source Analysis

Following a recent Supreme Court decision, interest groups can now significantly influence election outcomes by funding ads in a campaign without disclosing the origin of their funding. As a result, some races see third party interests actually outspending the candidates themselves.

• Open Secrets, a non partisan organization, gathers, analyzes and publishes information about which organizations fund what political campaigns or directly finance "independent" ad campaigns. Open Secrets uses volunteers and paid staff, and is the best at what it does, but cannot, of course, be expected to unearth all of  of the significant players, in an election which may end up costing $4B across all candidates and influence organizations.

Best Spin Control Watch

The origin of information in a political campaign is often as important as the information itself, and camouflaging this origin often is a part of the game. How do you figure out whether the source of an information is credible?

•  SourceWatch, a left of center organization, focuses on identifying the source of critical campaign stories, along with the possible bias of the source.  It attempts to remain reasonably objective in its analysis, and does track stories from both sides. On the whole, however, it should be counterbalanced by a right of center organization. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a credible organization with equivalent strengths right of center. We find the two big spin analysis players on on the right, Accuracy in Media and Media Research Center, to play too much of an advocacy role to be truly credible organizations when truth in politics is concerned.

Best Political News Flashes

• Political Wire provides brief news flashes - many of them every day - and links to reference posts or raw data.

Best Vote Projections

• FiveThirtyEight, named for the presidential electors, is part of the New York Times, and tracks the progress of voting projections throughout the campaign.

• Electoral Vote, funded and staffed by the same organization as The Political Wire, also provides real time tracking of all country polls, and publishes non-stop large numbers of stories that are related to election projections.

Best Political Coverage Sites (excluding major newspapers)

Where should you get your political news? In this section, we feel that it is better to classify from the get go all sites with their political affiliation, overt or implied. We made the final determination as to what political affiliation should be assigned to each site.

• Politico, a non partisan site, is a stellar example of what new media can be. It represents in 2011 what good newspapers must have been at the turn of the 1900s, a vibrant new media full of excitement and value, where the man on the street got the latest information. 

• The Hill is a non partisan newspaper with an excellent site, unaffiliated with the major news organizations, and largely focused on federal politics.  Somehow it never gets mentioned in any of the lists we have seen - good writers, timely info, excellent coverage - worth being a lot better known. 
  

• CNN: Politics, non partisan to slightly left of center: one cannot discuss political coverage without mentioning CNN. They have the largest organization, always up to date, well organized and well presented. Their analysis does not match their information coverage.

• Slate: News and Politics, slightly left of center, is of Politico quality but with less breadth, a great example of new media in the 2010s, lively, interesting, up to date, good analysis.

• The Atlantic: Politics, part of a left of center site, could also be classified under the "thinking person" category. The site has decent coverage, but also provides stories, and probably as much analysis as coverage.

• RealClearPolitics, right of center, another excellent example of new media for the 2010s, aggregates stories but also carries its own. A lot of information, moves fast, dense presentation, conservative sympathies but overall tries to keep a neutral tone.

Best Liberal Blogs and Commentaries

There are many excellent and opinionated blogs on both sides - but we decided to focus on sites rather than individual blogs. When we talk about blogs, we mean blog sites covering multiple authors and streams.

• The Huffington Post, with an outstanding set of bloggers and a large audience, started with a strong liberal leanings, but has now moved much closer to the center. It is seen as a center organization by liberals, and as left of center by conservatives. Highly recommended for the quality of the bloggers and the spirited tone of the publication. 

• Talking Points Memo started with a single blogger. It has become, over the past 10 years, a major site of broad political coverage. It started left of center but has moved closer to a neutral point in the political spectrum. Famed for deep investigative reporting.
  

• The Daily Kos, a strongly liberal site, is a traditional flag bearer for its side, and provides unashamed liberal opinions and commentaries. Fun and opinionated.

• TruthDig, openly liberal, gathered a large handful of awards at the last Webbies. Excellent stories, a lot of new content all the time, interesting look - altogether a great package if you want to read people who think like you (if you are on the left) and are not afraid to be advocates. 

• Daily Beast: Politic left of center, softer tone, more neutral coverage, interesting opinions and articles.

Best Conservative Blogs and Commentaries

Again, when we talk about blogs, we mean blog sites covering multiple authors and streams.

• Townhall is the right wing counterpart to the Huffington Post, with an strong stable of bloggers, large amounts of content, influential and interesting voices. 
  

• Human Events is the old man on the block. Around since the 2nd World War, it has steadily maintained its conservative orientation. Its tone might have sounded a touch strident in the 80s, but now it seems to be the wise old man of the right wing, with strong advocacy and, occasionally, sound analysis as well.
  

• Newsmax is really a conservative news site with a strong advocacy voice. We had originally classified it as a news site, but it carries such a partisan voice that we ended up moving it to the commentary section.Wide breadth of reporting, good entertainment value.

• The Drudge Report  is in your face. A flag bearer for the right wing, awful presentation, aggressive content, it is never afraid to shock, and no stranger to hyperbole. 

• Hot Air entertains as much as it informs, a la MTV. It combines aggregation with its own stable of bloggers, and never hesitates before using screaming headlines. Highly partisan and proud of it. 

Best Thinking Man's Political Sites

These sites provide deep analysis and provocative thoughts. They represent the best of the best in political reporting, although not always so in news coverage. To them we could add Slate and The Atlantic, already listed in different categories.

• The New Republic, also a print publication, used to be left leaning, but has moved to the center, and is not considered by the left to be a liberal site any more. Outstanding analysis, deep thinking, provocative writers.

• The Nation is the traditional flag bearer for the left, and has been for the past 40 years. While it used to be, many years ago, in competition with The New Republic in this role, the latter's move to the center has left The Nation as sole proprietor of the nation's left leaning soul. Excellent writers, strong voices, thoughtful but partisan writing.

• The Weekly Standard, also a print publication, comes with a strong conservative bent. It was started by William Kristol, and has gathered a small number of very influential voices on the right. Excellent opinion papers.

• The National Review wants to speak for the right where The Nation wants to speak for the left. Neither of them, of course, can speak for whole political wings which have, in the past few years, become more fractured than ever. The National Review speaks for the traditional right and gives it a strong voice.  

Best Traditional Newspaper Sites in Political Reporting

These entries do not need to be introduced:-)

• The Christian Science Monitor, a non partisan online-only paper, represents what is best about objective American journalism, with good news coverage, strong analysis. and excellent writers and newsmen.

• The Wall Street Journal, the preeminent conservative organ in journalism, is the traditional voice of business. While the bulk of the paper focuses on business issues, the very strong Opinions section focuses primarily on politics, and has free range to engage the enemy. Its writers are  influential, and carry strong ties with the most powerful conservative think tanks. 

• The New York Times: Politics, left of center, is possibly the most influential newspaper in the world. Its site provides excellent, up to date coverage, with deep analysis and remarkable opinion pieces from major players in the political life of our country.

• The Washington Post, also left of center, is the primary rival of the NYT as the representative of the liberal elites, and manages to play equally with it in almost all domains. The Washington Post has an outstanding stable of top notch writers, great daily coverage, and penetrating analyses.

• The National Journal, a non partisan site, paper and magazine, focuses on Beltway issues. With less breadth on national news than the entries above, its focus on Washington politics is insightful, with frequent pieces of deep analysis.

Some Good Sources of Data on Political Sites

Beyond the present article in ConsumerPla.net, a few sources have published, in the past few years, relevant and interesting data, some of which has made its way into this presentation. The most influential is PC Magazine's top 20 political web sites (2008). CNET/ Webware published an excellent top 10 report in 2009 on the top 10 political sites of the time. The PD Report blog published, in 2008, a top 10 list. As usual, XMarks, with its  top 10 fact checking sites, is the king of the hill. Top Political Sites keeps track of political sites demographics, while Right Wing News published, in 2009 its top 100  list of right and left wing sites. eBiz also keeps tracks, every month, of the best top political sites. The NYT published, in January 2011, an article on political blogs and the 2012 campaign trail. And, of course, the Webby Awards always bring in the yearly share of interesting, and sometimes surprising, sites.

This post is an updated version of a previous analysis.

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Blu Ray Media Stores: Meritline Review

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores 
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 8: Meritline Review

Meritline, a well known CD and DVD media provider, largely specializes in a limited set of computer accessories. It carries a very small but well chosen Blu Ray media inventory which mixes low and high end products, with a preponderance in the low end. Its reputation in the CD/DVD world is very good, and we were interested in figuring out how well it would fare in the Blu Ray world.

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the Meritline site under CD/DVD Media -> Blu Ray Media.  Site speed is good, although not blazing fast, with 2.2 seconds per page average to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, Meritline provides 5.5 of them: there is no way to select single/dual layer, quantity or printability, and only some speeds can be selected (2x and 4x), sorting cannot use best rating, most reviews or best selling, and it is not possible to view unit price. On the other hand, there is a Blu Ray category, it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), manufacturer, and some speeds, sorting can be done by price, and user ratings can be viewed on the listing pages. To be fair, Meritline's inventory is so small that all products can be viewed in 2 short pages, so selecting and sorting are less needed than for stores with larger inventories.

Inventory and price
Meritline's inventory is limited to 47 Blue Ray media, at the low end rage of the industry, yet it still stocks 22% of our 89 Blu Ray test media, which ranks Meritline in the middle of the pack.  Meritline prices are on average 19.6% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, again roughly in the middle of the pack. Meritline has the best price for 4 SKUs, for a media stocked by more than one store, rating in the middle of the pack again. While Meritline's original inventory is truly very narrow, its selection is clearly well chosen, and prices are reasonable overall. Of the 6 media we selected as best archival grade Blu Ray media, Meritline stocks 3, for an average 40.9% over the best price across the industry, a very high overage that we cannot endorse.

User reviews
Meritline has an excellent set of user reviews for its size, totaling 250 reviews across it Blu Ray inventory. Many of its products (although not all) can be solidly evaluated based on its own user reviews.

Customer Service
Meritline is a proven source of optical media with a very well documented track record. It gathers more than 4,000 reviews on ResellerRatings with a very good 91% rating. On Google Shopping it gathers over 13,000 reviews, again with a very good 88%, although not perfect. Meritline receives a solid but not perfect 89% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating, also placing it in the middle of the pack.

Table: Meritline Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
Meritline is a specialized computer accessories site with a good reputation for optical media, and a limited but well chosen inventory. It scored in the middle of the pack among the stores with surveyed for all criteria - this is a very good result, as our deep survey sample gathered the best media stores we found. Meritline does not have a significant weakness. While its price are not the best in the industry, they are fair - and its customer service is good. However, the actual price of our basket of Blu Ray media selected for archival grade is unacceptably high. Altogether, Meritline would constitute a solid choice as a Blu Ray media store supplier, were it not for the problem of its pricing for archival grade media.

Next we review NewEgg for Blu Ray media... So come back soon!

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Table Legend:
Total inventory: total number of Blu ray media SKUs on the site
Inventory %: percentage of ConsumerPla.net list of 89 Blu Ray media that can be found at the store
Inventory % for selected archival media: % of SKUs that we selected in our Blu Ray Media review for archival grade
Site sorting: how many types of sorts and bins are possible on the site (out of the 13 we listed in our wish list)
Average query speed: the average speed to display a right-clicked SKU  - measures browsing speed
Average overprice: How much % over best price, for all media present in more than one store
Average overprice for selected archival media: specifically how much % over best price for the media we selected for archival grade
# lowest priced SKUs: how many SKUs in the store equal best price (if more than one store carries them)
# user reviews: how many user reviews we found on the site for Blu Ray media
Predictive CS rating: our worst case analysis of the likely Customer Support rating for this store, explained here

Laptop Battery Life: Avoid Heat and Storage at Full Charge

How to prolong and maintain the life of your Lithium (Li-Ion) laptop or phone batteries? Battery University, a battery-specific knowledge site affiliated with Cadex Electronics, discusses the life of Lithium-based batteries. The conclusion is surprising: you should expect them to die quickly in normal conditions of use. It is possible, however, to make them last for the life of the laptop by making some minor changes to your working habits.

Battery University bases its findings on research done by Cadex Electronics, some of which was published in book format by its founder Isidor Buchman. Some of the data presented is striking.

Keep the battery as cool as possible
Going from an operating temperature of 75°F to 140°F doubles -or more- the yearly loss in battery capacity, depending upon the average charge. While the statement that heat damages batteries is not very original, the data given by Battery University is shocking:

A laptop battery functioning at at 140°F, when normally left at full charge, will drop to 36% of capacity in two years, or to 42% if working at 104°F. On the other hand, if we are able to keep it cooled to 77°F, it will still have 64% of its original capacity left after 2 years. How likely is it for laptop batteries to run significantly hotter than 77°F? Using our trusted lab thermometer gun, we did an informal survey around the office, and found that most of our laptops' batteries were at or above 104°F, and some of them were close to 140°F. Based on Battery University data, this means that most laptops may lose 60% of their capacity in two years: shocking!

Battery University also advises against leaving the laptop in the sun, and warns about using laptops in a bed or pillow due to restricted air flow. It suggests putting objects such as rulers under the laptop to improve heat transfer. We find this suggestion impractical -ever tried typing on an unstable keyboard?- but figure that a good laptop cooler should be standard operating procedure when at home or in the office. Some open space near the laptop intake and exhaust is obviously beneficial.

When not using your laptop, leave it at partial charge
We just discovered that, even if we are able to cool our laptop to 77°F at all times, as long as we store the laptop at full charge (i.e. plugged in), we are still left with a pithy 64% of battery capacity after two years. Can we improve this number? Leaving your laptop at 100% capacity when not in use can triple the rate at which your lose your maximum  battery capacity: "Lithium-ion suffers stress when exposed to heat and kept at a high charge voltage." While the site does not suggest that disconnecting your laptop is necessary, it is not clear to us how else to leave it at partial charge (40% recommended). The good news is that, based on Battery University data, it should be possible to keep a laptop battery in very good shape, and usable for 4 years or more, by keeping its operating temperature around 77°F, and by always storing the laptop at partial charge:

Based on the conclusions from the articles, it appears that a good practice would be to disconnect your laptop some time prior to terminating use for the day, and leave it disconnected while not in use -unless, of course, you need your battery topped off the next time you use it.

Deep discharges shorten your battery life
Despite all the advice we have heard in the past, it is NOT good practice to fully discharge your battery: "similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, so also does the depth of discharge (DoD) determine the cycle count. The smaller the depth of discharge, the longer the battery will last. If at all possible, avoid frequent full discharges and charge more often between uses." The data is clear and impressive:

 

There is no room for ambiguity - if we want to prolong the life of a Li-Ion laptop battery, we had better be very careful about deep discharges.

Lithium batteries do not suffer from memory effect
There has often been some concern expressed ("memory effect") about specific battery types where partial discharges may decrease total battery capacity. Battery University dispels that concern for Li-Ion: "Partial discharge on Li-ion is fine; there is no memory and the battery does not need periodic full discharge cycles other than to calibrate the fuel gauge on a smart battery."

Beware wireless chargers
Battery University discusses the higher temperatures generated by wireless charging: "Batteries are also exposed to elevated temperature when charging with wireless chargers. The energy transfer from a charging mat to the portable device is 70 to 80 percent and the remaining 20 to 30 percent is lost mostly in heat. Placing a cellular phone on the heat generating charging mat stresses the battery more than if charged on a designated charger."

How to easily measure your laptop temperature
You can easily check out your laptop temperature without any temperature sensor. First put your hand below your throat, right under your shirt. Then touch your laptop casing around the battery. If it feels warm to the touch, it is likely to be at or above 104°F. It it feels hot to the touch, it is likely to be at or above 140°F.

Beyond the pure physics discussed by Battery University, Lifehacker also has some good advice on how to make your battery last longer.


Conclusions

• Use a laptop cooler when possible

• Disconnect your laptop AC charger sometime before finishing work for the day, and store it at partial charge

• Avoid deep discharges

• Only use wireless chargers when no traditional charger is available

Battery University via Lifehacker

Blu Ray Media Stores: MediaMegaMall Review

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 7: MediaMegaMall Review

Media Mega Mall specializes in electronic media, and is often recommended among digital media forums as a good source for CD and DVD media. Because of its small volume, it is not often tracked by shopping engines. We were interested in finding out how well it would do against some of our powerhouses - we ended up being very positively surprised.

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the MediaMegaMall site under Blank Media -> Blu Ray.  Site speed is excellent, with 1.5 seconds per page average to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 12 types of sorting and binning, MediaMegaMall provides nine of them: there is no way to select quantity, sorting cannot use best rating or most reviews, and, as there are no user ratings, it is clearly impossible to view average ratings in the category listing pages. On the other hand, there is a Blu Ray category, it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), single/ dual layer, manufacturer, speed and printability, sorting can be done by price and best selling, and price per disk is provided.The missing piece, of course, is user ratings and reviews.

Inventory and price
MediaMegMall's very large inventory extends to 141 Blue Ray media, second only to Amazon. MediaMegaMall stocks 44% of our 89 Blu Ray test media, also top across all stores, even with Amazon.  MediamegaMall prices are on average 7.0% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, and score best across the category - this is a shockingly low number. MediaMegaMall has the best price for 9 SKUs, for a media stocked by more than one store, again rating best across all stores. MediaMegaMall records the lowest prices across the stores we surveyed. When looking at the 6 media we selected for Best Blu Ray media, MediaMegaMall stocks 5 of them, but for a disappointing 22.3% over the best price in the category for the media basket.

User reviews
There are none - a huge gap in in otherwise very promising site.

Customer Service
MediaMegaMall does not have a well established track record, possibly due to small comparative sales volume, despite having been in operations for 15 years.  It gathers only 10 reviews on ResellerRatings, with a very good 88% rating. On Google Shopping it gathers 140 reviews, again with the same 88% rating. because of the low number of reviews it has accumulated so far, MediaMegaMall receives a low 75% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating, which we expect will go up as the number of reviews increases.

Table: MediaMegaMall Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
MediaMegaMall is an extremely promising site, with an excellent inventory -second only to Amazon,- good site usability, and the lowest prices across the industry. Where it is weakest is in user reviews - it does not have any. It also lacks an established CS track record. In another 6 months it could simply be the best overall site for Blu Ray media purchases. We are very impressed. We are, however, disappointed that our selected media basket is priced significantly higher than the stores' average overprice.

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Table Legend:
Total inventory: total number of Blu ray media SKUs on the site
Inventory %: percentage of ConsumerPla.net list of 89 Blu Ray media that can be found at the store
Inventory % for selected archival media: % of SKUs that we selected in our Blu Ray Media review for archival grade
Site sorting: how many types of sorts and bins are possible on the site (out of the 13 we listed in our wish list)
Average query speed: the average speed to display a right-clicked SKU  - measures browsing speed
Average overprice: How much % over best price, for all media present in more than one store
Average overprice for selected archival media: specifically how much % over best price for the media we selected for archival grade
# lowest priced SKUs: how many SKUs in the store equal best price (if more than one store carries them)
# user reviews: how many user reviews we found on the site for Blu Ray media
Predictive CS rating: our worst case analysis of the likely Customer Support rating for this store, explained here

Can Air Filters Improve Performance?

Best Air Filters Review: Air Filter Facts
Air Filter Facts Part 7: Performance differences between clean air filters

Average atmospheric pressure at ground level is typical estimated at 101.325 kPa. The difference between no filter and the least flowing clean filter, as measured by the Oak Ridge National Lab, is less than 0.7 kPa. This represents less than 0.7% of atmospherics pressure, although it is over 25% of the increase in pressure drop that is considered characteristic of a clogged filter (increase in pressure drop of 2.5kPa). Is this pressure differential enough to cause differences in performance?

Unfortunately, we have no data on this point from Oak Ridge. Diesel Power Magazine, however, commissioned this test from Westech Performance, which compared K&N (typically measured as the best flowing air filter on the market), Volant, AFE, Airaid, True Flow, and S&B aftermarket air filters on a 2004 1/2 Dodge Ram 2500 equipped with a manual transmission:

Diesel Power Magazine's conclusion: "don't bother trying to tell them apart, the average results of the dyno runs ranged between 308.7 and 310.4 hp, and each filter had at least one run that was in the 309s." Differences of 5 hp or less or typically not statistically significant on dynos, due to the sensitivity of the tool, so the differences in results are not significant.  

The test's conclusion, then, is that drop-in air filters do not result in any performance difference when tested clean. Can we get corroborative proof to confirm this conclusion?

Next we look at other supporting evidence on air filters and performance... So come back soon!

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VAR Tire Levers: Cool Gear

VAR Tire Lever: the Park Tool TL-1 Bike Tire Levers (or tyre levers, as our friends in the UK call them) and the Kool Stop Bicycle Tire Levers are the most common of all bike tools in existence, ubiquitous, in practically everyone's kits. They probably are also the most hated: "I'm sick and tired of having these things break just when I need them. With modern stiff wall tires, [...] they just snap off the tip when you try to lever the tire off the rim. And yes, I know what I am doing having worked in a bike shop through college and changed about 7,485,433 tires. I'm upgrading to something metal or indestructible for good."

Haven't we all had this experience once (or many) times in our life, to see the head of our plastic tire levers snap under pressure when we are 15 miles away from home? This must be the #1 source of frustration when getting a tube changed or patched out on the road... The second source of frustration, right after this one, has got to be trying to put back a stiff tire on top of an intolerant aluminum wheel without pinching the tube, and seeing it pop at the last second, after 15 minutes of hard work, when you have no strength left on your thumbs: "Trying to get [my stiff tires] on my [...] wheels[...]  produces an absolute meltdown on my part - complete with screaming, crying, pleading, darn-near throwing the wheel across the room, and an absolute refusal to ride the bike on the road without DH nearby, in case I get a flat tire and have to actually change the blasted thing."

Is there a portable tool out there that can help us put our tires back on quickly and efficiently, when the right M.O just does not seem to be working for us? This question is a perennial theme on bike forums such as CyclingForums or BikeForums, as shown by this typical example:  Best tire lever? [Archive] - Bike Forums. Well, we found one - and only one - result to this query so far: the VAR Bicycle Tire Lever, or VAR tyre lever (VAR tools are French, but this tool is popular in the UK and often carries British spelling in on-line comments).

The VAR Tire lever looks like an aluminum wishbone, although it is made of plastic. Once you have most of your tire in position, You use it by putting one side of the wishbone inside the tire rim, between the rim and the tire:

... then by grabbing the opposite side of the tire with the hook, and leveraging the tire in by pulling sideways on the wishbone:

The VAR tire tool weighs about 60 grams. The tool is made of plastic, although, because of its mode of sue, it is not as prone to breakage as standard plastic tire levers. It is just small and light enough to be carried in a small bike pack. and includes an extra lever, independent from the wishbone, that is fitted inside it. How do the VARs users like their tool?

Able to easily mount stiff tires
Users of the VAR tire lever see it as successful in enabling them to easily mount tough tires: "I've been very happy with my VAR tyre lever. It's reduced the time spent messing about mounting a [Conti Gatorskin] from 2 hours to under 15 minutes. Well worth the dollars", "success!!! I tried it out on my very difficult Hutchinson Equinox tire on my Axiom's front wheel. I took the tire off completely AND was able to put it back on...with no screaming, cursing, crying, or hurling objects across the room! A little bit of leverage is a good thing", "I've NEVER had a problems > > mounting any clincher tire on a rim with this tool", "I have used the VAR lever for over 20+ years and tried most other levers on the market. The VAR lever is truly the best for tight kevlar bead tires", "It's hard to be patient when there are 20 hungry cyclists looking forward to their next tea stop waiting for you to finish mending the puncture. I'll stick to my VAR lever", "allows you to refit tyres without pinching that inner tube even when the tyre is a nice tight fit on the rim, "great for putting on tight fitting tires, particularly on road rims", "I'll second the suggestion of the VAR lever","they make a super-tight fitting clincher a breeze to mount","allows you to refit tyres without pinching that inner tube even when the tyre is a nice tight fit on the rim","It works for me on the toughest of rims and tires", "I'll second the VAR Super Tyre Tool. They make a super-tight fitting clincher a breeze to mount", " the best lever for putting on stubborn tires such as Specialized Armadillos whose sidewalls are extremely stiff and thus difficult to put the last 2 or 3 inches of the tire on by hand or by regular tire irons", "Makes putting on a tough tire sooo easy", "the way the lever works makes it impossible to pinch a tube, or damage a tire or rim."

Just small enough for a kit bag
The VAR's users use it on the road: " [...]  The VAR lever can fit into your tube/patch kit bag", "The VAR levers will be for my saddle bag", "so good I have one in each of my tool kits","it takes up a lot of room in a seat bag but is great to have as a shop tool and on tours", "small enough that it fits into a standard seat bag"

High build quality
Users consider the tool a quality tool with good fit and finish: "There are better tools like this out there [than the Kool-Stop Tire Bead Jack], I'd recommended paying a few dollars more and getting one [...]  like the VAR Tyre tool."

Difficult to find
The VAR tire tool  is hard to find in the US: " Quite hard to come by in the USA though", "Can't find a place to buy them at anymore", "amazing that such a good and simple product is so hard to get hold of", "greatest [weakness] is the difficulty of finding a place that sells them anymore."

Brittle in cold weather
While the VA tool is seen by its users as strong and robust, some warn that manhandling it in very cold weather has to be done carefully, as it may get more brittle in cold weather: "I generally break a VAR > every 3-4 years."

Stats
We found 29 reviews of the VAR tire levers, with a 99% approval rating, for a low 4% margin of error with 95% certainty. These are outstanding numbers that we have only rarely encountered.

Where to buy
Very few places carry the VAR tire levers. Thanks to RandonneurExtra, from whom the very helpful pictures illustrating the present article were obtained (he also has a great post on the VAR: Making life easier: VAR tire lever), we also found sources for the hard-to-find tool:

• Bike Tools Etc., periodically out of stock

• North Road Bicycle Imports, not displayed in inventory, need to call 

Conclusion
The VAR tire lever would be the absolute perfect tire tool if it were made of aluminum. As it is, we still recommend it, as its mode of operation does not promote breakage similarly to a regular tire lever. In the words of its users: "$30 AUD delivered to the land of Oz. That sounds like a lot for a tyre lever, and it is. But I'd rather spend the dollars and not have to waste another two hours of my life", "bottom line: if you have tight rims and/or tires, this is the lever to carry."

OS Market Share March 2011

ConsumerPla.net March 2011 OS Site Stats

How much market share do Windows, MacOS, Unix, Linux, iPad, iPod, or iPhone represent on the net? In order to contribute to global knowledge on browser and operating systems market share on the net, we share our own site statistics with the community:-)

Our OS market share statistics appear to be reflective of the global marketplace when you compare them to NetApplications'  reported OS market share data, which is not true of our browser stats... Windows dominates, as expected, with over 80% of the platforms, followed by the MacOS with approximately 12.2% (lower this month) and Unix (including Linux) with 4.2% (also lower this month). Apple mobile devices represent approximately 2% of traffic. We still don't see significant Android presence.

Want to learn more about platform trends? Check out our browser statistics.

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Browser Market Share March 2011

ConsumerPla.net march 2011 Browser Site Stats

How much market share goes to Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari or Opera? In order to contribute to global knowledge on browser and operating systems market share on the net, we share our own site statistics with the community:-)

On the ConsumerPla.net site, March 2011 market share statistics still show a skewed distribution. Firefox, at over 33%, is over-represented compared to Internet Explorer (IE). Safari, at 11.1%, is probably close to representing the regular Apple audience. We still see Chrome behind Safari, and we still don't map very well to the stats provided by NetApplications.

Update 4/2/11: Ars Technica does not align well either with NetApplications stats...

Want to learn more about platform market share? Check out our audience's OS market share.

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Clogged Air Filters Impact Performance

Best Air Filters Review: Air Filter Facts
Air Filter Facts Part 6: Do clogged air filters impact performance?

In our last few posts, we proved conclusively, with some surprise, that air flow and air filters do not impact mileage. The next step, for us, is to similarly investigate air flow through air filters and vehicle performance, that is, acceleration, horsepower, or torque.

If the restriction to air flow caused by air filters is going to impact performance, it stands to reason that we would see the worst impact in severely clogged air filters. How do these impact performance?

Highly restricted air filters

Oak Ridge National Laboratory tested several vehicles with highly restricted (clogged) air filters. In fact, one of the filters was so clogged that it got sucked into the intake... Their experiments make it clear that there is severe impact to performance when the filter is clogged:

All three vehicles tested experience significant performance degradation in the presence of a clogged air intake, varying between 6% and 11% in terms of time needed to accelerate from 20 MPH to 80 MPH using a wide open throttle.

There are many supporting anecdotal reports discussing loss of performance with dirty air filters. As an example, columnist Jim Allen reported, on BITOG, some dyno tests on a diesel truck showing loss of performance with a dirty air filter.


Conclusion

• Clogged air filters negatively impact performance in a measurable way

 It is clear that highly restricted air flow, such as one sees in a clogged air filter, does impact performance. What about the much smaller air flow difference that is seen between two clean air filters - is there impact to performance?

Next we review how different clean air filters impact performance... So come back soon!

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