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12 Best Blu Ray Media Stores Review

2012-01-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

The 12 Best Blu Ray Media Stores

Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 15: Ranking the 12 Best Stores

How we ranked Blu Ray media stores

After screening a large number of contenders, we reviewed in depth the 12 best stores we identified in the Blu Ray blank media industry. We used the data we collected, previously defined here, to rank these stores with the following weights: 0.5 to the total inventory, 1 to inventory percentage for our sample list of 89 Blu Ray media, 1 for the percentage of selected archival grade media in stock, 0.5 for sorting and binning, 0.5 for site speed, 2.5 for general pricing, 0.5 for archival grade media pricing, 0.5 for best price matching, 0.25 for the ability to write user reviews, 0.75 for the number of user reviews, 1 for the corrected ResellerRatings rating, and 1 for the corrected Google Shopping rating. This gives us an aggregate of 2.5 for inventory, 1 for site usability, 3.5 for price, 1 for user reviews, and 2 for customer service, for a total of 10. We did some sensitivity analysis on these coefficients as well, and found that our resulting ranking was not very sensitive to small changes in coefficients.

The rankings

Analyzing the rankings

The 12 best stores can be neatly arrayed in three tiers. The top tier includes traditional favorites Amazon and NewEgg, along with the very surprising MediaMegaMall, which scores extraordinarily well despite having no user reviews and a short CS track record, because of great inventory and prices. Amazon scores well because it has no weaknesses, although it does not do extraordinarily well anywhere, except in reviews. NewEgg has a great combination of low prices and great CS, but poor inventory, particularly in the archival grade media we selected. MediaMegaMall, the great surprise of our rankings, has excellent inventory and overall prices, but, by some curse of fate, provides poor pricing to the basket of archival grade media we selected.

The next tier, some 15 rating points below, gathers Meritline, TapeOnline, Beach Audio, and SuperMediaStore, and constitutes, like the first, a comedy of contrasts. Meritline, a traditional online electronic media store, scores decently in service and well in reviews, with mediocre inventory and fair to average pricing. TapeOnline, another well known digital media site, has outstanding customer service and very good prices, but a remarkably small inventory, and carries almost none of the archival grade media we consider best. Beach Audio, by being average in all arenas, but neither truly poor nor truly good at any criterion, avoids the last tier. SuperMediaStore excells everywhere except in pricing, where it does so badly that we cannot recommend it at this time.

Finally, the trailing tier gathers Rima, RunTechMedia, Buy.com, BHP Photo Video and Provantage. Rima has excellent customer service, fairly good prices, no user reviews and a narrow inventory. RunTechMedia has a very short track record, very good inventory, and poor to fair prices. Buy.com has fair customer service, good inventory, and a broad spectrum of prices, but carries a good number of our selected media with excellent prices. B&H Photo has excellent support, but a narrow inventory and poor pricing. Provantage has marketing and support issues, a somewhat small inventory and on average high prices, but does provide some of our selected archival grade media at excellent prices.

Unfortunately, as much as we would want to be able to settle on a single store, at this time we cannot get all we want in one store: none of our contenders gives us a broad inventory, most of our archival grade media, good site usability, good prices, lots of user reviews, and a great customer service record. While we feel strongly that the three highest ranked stores are good enough to be primary long term suppliers for blank Blu Ray media, we also feel that each has some specific, significant drawback. MediaMegaMall prices our favorite media a bit too high, although its average prices are very good across its whole inventory. NewEgg, with great prices and outstanding service, does not carry most of our favorite media. Amazon does not have good usability for an easy selection of the right media, and often carries higher prices as well.

The right shopping process

In our opinion, it is best, at this time, to primarily shop for Blu Ray media on MediaMegaMall, NewEgg, Amazon and TapeOnline, but to price check for specific media on Beach Audio, Rima, Buy.com and Provantage (or use Google Shopping to find best pricing). If MediaMegaMall, NewEgg, Amazon (non-marketplace), TapeOnline, or Rima have good pricing on the media, the ordering decision is clear. If Amazon marketplace, Beach Audio, Buy.com or Provantage have best pricing, if customer service is not a critical part of the purchase decision, ordering from any of these stores would be appropriate. if, on the other hand, customer service for the purchase is critical, (for instance if delivery time is critical) , then you will have to decide if good pricing is worth some service risk.

Conclusions

#1 recommended Blu Ray media store: MediaMegamall. Outstanding inventory, very good prices overall but high prices on our favorite archival grade media, good service, no user reviews. Price check on other stores before ordering.

#2 recommended Blu Ray Media store: NewEgg. Outstanding customer service, excellent prices, great user reviews, narrow inventory missing high quality archival grade media. You may need to go to another store if NewEgg does not stock your favorite media.

#3 recommended Blu Ray media store: Amazon. Outstanding inventory, great user reviews, prices are only fair, poor site ergonomics make media selection difficult. Avoid marketplace purchase if customer service is important.

#4 recommended Blu Ray media store: TapeOnline. Outstanding service, excellent prices, very narrow inventory, no user reviews. You may need to go to another store if TapeOnline does not stock your favorite media.

Price checks only: Beach Audio, Rima, Buy.com, Provantage

Blu Ray Media Stores: TapeOnline Review

2012-01-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 14: TapeOnline Review

TapeOnline is another specialized electronic media site with an excellent reputation on the enthusiasts' forums as a trustworthy supplier of CD and DVD media, with high quality customer service. We always enjoy reviewing sites with a long and positive track record in similar industries, and were expecting TapeOnline to do well. It did.

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the TapeOnline site under Disc Media -> Blu Ray. Site speed is very good, with an average of 1.7 seconds per page to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, TapeOnline offers the least amount of capabilities in the category, providing the user with only 3: it is not possible to select the manufacturer, speed, quantity or printability, user ratings are not displayed on the category listing page, and there is no sorting whatsoever. On the other hand, there is a Blu Ray media category, and it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), and single/ dual layer. TapeOnline has such a narrow inventory (it all fits in one page) that sorting and binning are not as useful as they could be for a site with broad media availability.

Inventory and price
TapeOnline carries a tiny inventory of 28 Blue Ray media, narrowest in the category. It stocks 13% of our 89 Blu Ray test media, also worst in the category, even with B&H Photo Video. TapeOnline prices are on average 9.4% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, an excellent score which ranks second best in the category after MediaMegaMall. TapeOnline matches best price for three SKUs, for a media stocked by more than one store, in the lower half of the category. We are very pleased with the pricing offered by TapeOnline, but are disappointed in the very small inventory. TapeOnline only stocks one of the 6 media we selected as best Blu Ray archival grade media, which it sells 14.5% more than the best price across the category, an overprice we find reasonable.

User reviews
TapeOnline offers users the opportunity to submit user reviews, but we could not find one across all Blu Ray media on the site.

Customer Service
TapeOnline has an excellent reputation for customer service when selling optical media. Its customers count a lot of professionals who are demanding when coming to customer service. TapeOnline gathers over 150 reviews on ResellerRatings, with an outstanding 100% rating. On Google Shopping it gathers another 145 reviews, again with an excellent 98% rating. We gave TapeOnline an excellent 97% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating.

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

Conclusion
TapeOnline turns out to be a small but clean site, with a narrow inventory but excellent prices and outstanding customer service. If it has the media you need, it is an excellent supplier for ongoing Blu Ray media orders. high usability, a large set of user reviews, and a very good customer service record. Its very small inventory may not, however, give you the choice you need.

Next we compare all online stores for Blu Ray media and pick our selections... So come back soon!

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: Meritline Review

2012-01-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

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 a 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 archival grade media pricing.

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

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

Blogger Outage is Still Affecting us

2011-05-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, last week's very damaging Blogger outage is still affecting us.

The outage has left us with data loss and missing content for the past week and more. We have been awaiting service restoration day after day, but are coming to the point where we will soon conduct manual restoration. While we have not lost our research data, our final publication data is missing and will require some work to restore.

We are not happy campers, Blogger:(

OS Market Share April 2011

2011-05-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

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 still not true of our browser stats... Windows dominates, as expected, with over 83% of the platforms, followed by MacOS with approximately 10.5% (lower again this month) and Unix (including Linux) with 3% (lower again 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 April 2011

2011-05-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

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, April 2011 market share statistics still show a skewed distribution. Firefox, at 29%, is still over-represented compared to Internet Explorer (IE), as it has been ever since we have tracked browser stats. Safari, at 10%, 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.

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

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Blu Ray Media Stores: SuperMediaStore Review

2011-05-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 13: SuperMediaStore Review

Like MediaMegaMall, MeritLine and TapeOnline, SuperMediaStore is a specialized electronic media site, with an excellent reputation on the enthusiasts' forums as a trustworthy supplier of CD and DVD media, and with high quality customer service. We felt there was very good potential in this highly usable site, and had high expectations for SuperMediaStore. They all turned out to be true, yet we still were a bit disappointed by one attribute of this excellent retailer.

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the SuperMediaStore site under Blank CD/DVD Media -> Blu Ray Media. Site speed is good, with an average of 2.0 seconds per page to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, SuperMediaStore provides the second broadest set of capabilities in the category, after RunTechMedia, as 10 of these modes are available: it is not possible to sort by best rating or by most reviews, and unit price is not displayed on the product pages. On the other hand, there is a Blu Ray media category, it is possible to select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), manufacturer, single/ dual layer, speed, quantity and printability, sorting can be done by price and best selling, user ratings are displayed on the category listing pages, and price per disk is displayed on the product pages. Because SuperMediaStore actually has many customer reviews, we find its sorts and bins more useful than RunTechMedia's (even though RunTechMedia has more of them), because we can actually use meaningful quantities when selecting "most reviews" and "best rating" criteria.

Inventory and price
SuperMediaStore carries a somewhat small inventory of 47 Blue Ray media. However, it stocks 29% of our 89 Blu Ray test media, slightly better than average. SuperMediaStore prices are on average 32.2% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores for media stocked by multiple stores, which is very high, and ranks second worst in the category, immediately after Provantage. SuperMediaStore matches best price for two SKUs, for a media stocked by more than one store, also very low in the category. We are very disappointed in the pricing offered by SuperMediaStore, in particular because it has a reputation for fair pricing in the CD/DVD arena. We couldn't help noticing that SuperMediaStore prices are, relatively speaking, lower for low-priced products, and higher for high quality products, making the price equation even worse when we consider high quality brands like TDK. SuperMediaStore stocks 5 of the 6 media we selected as the best Blu Ray archival grade media, for an average of 48.1% over the best price across the category for this basket of media - an overprice of a magnitude that we find simply unacceptable.

User reviews
SuperMediaStore uses user reviews well, and has many of them on the site. We found 333 user reviews across all Blu Ray media on the site, third highest in the category after Amazon and NewEgg - nice job!

Customer Service
SuperMediaStore has an excellent reputation for top notch customer service in other optical media. Its track record shows it: it gathers over 9,000 reviews on ResellerRatings, with an outstanding 96% rating. On Google Shopping it gathers another 30,000 reviews, again with an excellent 94% rating. We gave SuperMediaStore an excellent 95% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating.

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

Conclusion
SuperMediaStore turns out to be a excellent site with high usability, a large set of user reviews, and a very good customer service record. Where it falls short is in pricing, being within 0.5% of the worst ranking in the category. This is all the more surprising since its CD and DVD prices are typically very good. We would enthusiastically endorse it if its pricing structure was, on average, 15% lower, and 30% lower on our basket of selected media. As it is, while we consider it a very trustworthy supplier, we feel that SuperMediaStore is simply too pricy to recommend as a primary supplier for ongoing Blu Ray media purchases.

Next we review TapeOnline 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: RunTechMedia Review

2011-04-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

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!

<<Previous Next>>

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

2011-04-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

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!

<<Previous Next>>

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

2011-04-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

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.

We are now on Twitter!

2011-04-11T09:15:00.000-07:00

You can follow us there @Consumerpla_net

Thanks to Michael Rhys for a truly stunning picture of a bead of ants in amber under a microscope, which we are using for our Twitter pic.

Blu Ray Media Stores: Meritline Review

2011-04-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

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!

<<Previous Next>>

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

2011-04-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

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.

<<Previous Next>>

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?

2011-04-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

ConsumerPla.net March 2011 OS Site Stats

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

2011-04-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-01T06:44:00.000-07:00

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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Blu Ray Media Stores: Buy.com Review

2011-03-31T00:09:00.000-07:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 6: Buy.com Review

Buy.com often shows up in shopping engines as a good place to find well priced, difficult to find items, yet appears, at first site to have a ridiculously small inventory. When we dug a little deeper we actually found out that there is a larger mother lode of Blu Ray media to be found in a secret stash, some of it with excellent prices...

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the Buy.com site under Optical Media -> Blu Ray Media, but for some reason the category so identified does not display more than a very small number of choices. To get to the "real" inventory of Blu Ray media, one has to go to Computers -> Supplies & Media -> Media & Cleaning Cartridges -> Optical CD/DVD/Magneto Media, then refine results using the keyword "Blu Ray." Site speed is dismal, with 7.0 seconds per page average to display a right-clicked SKU, although, probably due to caching, a regular left-click will display the same page in 3.5 seconds. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, Buy.com provides a lowly 4: you do not have a Blu Ray category, cannot select speed, type, single/ dual layer, printability, or quantity, cannot sort by best rating or most reviews, and need to calculate price per disk yourself. On the other hand, you can select the manufacturer, sort by best selling price, or manufacturer, and view user ratings on the listing pages.

Inventory and price
Buy.com shows off a total inventory of 117 Blue Ray media, and stocks a solid 31% of our 89 Blu Ray test media. - ranking 4th of all stores surveyed, after MediaMegaMall, Amazon and RunTechMedia. Buy.com prices are on average 25.4% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores, fourth highest after Provantage, SuperMediaStore, and B&H. Interestingly, Buy.com has the best price for 5 SKUs, for media stocked by more than one store, rating 4th after MediaMegaMall, NewEgg and Amazon - much better under this criterion that when looking at the average overprice. This tells us that Buy.com has a fairly wide range of prices, with some excellent prices and some very bad ones...Some of the best prices are met when Buy.com is the actual distributor as opposed to marketplace merchants. Buy.com stocks 3 of the 6 media we selected for best Blu Ray archival grade media, for a low overprice of 12% over best price across the category.

User reviews
Buy.com gives its users the ability to write user reviews, which are common in some parts of the site. In the Blu Ray media area, however, user reviews are practically nonexistent, totaling 17 across all Blu SKUs.

Customer Service
Like Amazon, Buy.com has a very significant marketplace component, with various merchants selling directly to consumers in the Buy.com space - it probably pays a heavy price for it in its CS ratings. It gathers more than 4,000 reviews on ResellerRatings with a lowly 81% rating. It gathers an astounding 255,000 reviews on Google Shopping with a slightly higher 86% rating, and receives a low 81% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating.

Table: Buy.com Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
Buy.com is a general purpose shopping site with a large marketplace component, with poor site speed and sorting, an uncomfortable browsing experience, average inventory, some of the best and worst prices at the same time, and mediocre customer service. While it should not be relied on as the primary shopping site for Blu Ray media, with some excellent prices it is probably a site to check out when looking for good pricing opportunities, as long as service (such as delivery time) is not a critical part of the purchase.

Next we review MediaMegaMall for blank 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

UPDATED: No Keyloggers on Samsung Laptops

2011-03-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

UPDATED: GFI Labs, manufacturer of the anti-malware scanner VIPRE used by Mohamed Hassan, confirms that there is no keylogger on Samsung laptops, and that detection was a false positive. Our headline was changed to reflect the news.

Computer security: we generally expect to get spyware from infected mails or sites. It is unusual to get some directly from a computer manufacturer, and even more unusual for spyware in a brand new computer to have been put there voluntarily by the manufacturer. Yet a professor of Information Systems at the University of Phoenix has discovered keyloggers on two brand new models of Samsung laptops (R525 and R540), apparently installed by Samsung itself.

Mohamed Hassan, an adjunct professor of Information Systems in the School of Business at the University of Phoenix, and the founder of the security firm NetSec Consulting Corp, found a copy of the commercial keylogger StarLogger in a Samsung R525 laptop that he had purchased for his personal use. After returning it and buying a Samsung R540 model instead, he found the same keylogger in the same directory of his new laptop. He contacted several Samsung staff. A support supervisor confirmed that the keylogger had been installed by Samsung "to monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used." Samsung PR did not respond to requests by Dr. Hassan for a week, after which Dr. Hassan went public.

A keylogger is able to capture any keystroke you type on your computer, including passwords, and send them to an outside party. Softpedia describes StarLogger's capabilities as follows:

"Do you want to know what your buddy, colleague or employee is typing? What are they doing on the computer? StarLogger records every keystroke made on your computer on every window, even on password protected boxes.

This key logger is completely undetectable and starts up whenever your computer starts up. See everything being typed: emails, messages, documents, web pages, usernames, passwords, and more. StarLogger can email its results at specified intervals to any email address undetected so you don't even have to be at the computer your are monitoring to get the information. The screen capture images can also be attached automatically to the emails as well as automatically deleted."

If you have a Samsung laptop, find out if it has a special guest: CNET already published instructions to find out if StarLogger is present on your laptop, and to remove it if you find it there. If you are shopping for a laptop - do try to avoid buying one that comes with a keylogger.

It is hard to believe that a company of Samsung's size and reputation would do take such an idiotic - and probably illegal- step. If they truly did it - what were they thinking? Who had the bright idea - and - who authorized it? This would be a hard story to pass on your resume.

Update 3/31/2011, 10:55AM PST: as indicated in our earlier twitter post 6 hours ago (:-), the keylogger detection was a false positive by scanning software VIPRE. Early on, ZDNet figured out how to duplicate the false positive by creating an empty directory with the right (or wrong...) name. Security company F-Secure, shortly afterwards, posted that they could not find keyloggers on Samsung laptops. Samsung came out denying the allegations, and pointing at malware scanner VIPRE as the culprit for a false positive detection. Later this morning, GFI Labs, maker of VIPRE, confirmed that the keylogger detection was a false positive:

"A Network World article has alleged Samsung laptops of having a keylogger. Unfortunately (and to our dismay), the evidence was based off of a false positive by VIPRE for the StarLogger keylogger.

The detection was based off of a rarely-used and aggressive VIPRE detection method, using folder paths as a heuristic. I want to emphasize “rarely”, as these types of detections are seldom used, and when they are, they are subject to an extensive peer review and QA process. (It’s not common knowledge, but folder path detections are actually used by a good number of antimalware products, but are generally frowned upon as a folder that looks clearly like one for malware has the potential of generating just this kind of result — a false positive.)

The directory in question was C:\WINDOWS\SL, and is the Slovenian language directory for Windows Live. This same directory path is used by the StarLogger keylogger."

So all's well that ends well. The hubbub about this story, however, points out a few issues of interest:

How did Network World, who broke the story, check it prior to publishing? It would not have been difficult to line up a couple of *real* security experts to look over the event and confirm the finding. In fact, it appears, post facto, that a simple inspection of the suspicious directory would have been enough to find out that there was no keylogger.

Why did it take a week for Samsung to respond (or not respond) to such an allegation? This was a very serious issue, yet nobody seems to have minded the store.

False detections are a very common occurrence in virus/spyware scanning software. We do not feel that GFI Labs really needed to apologize for it., On the other hand, the original security "expert" would have been well inspired to have double or triple checked its keylogger detection by the use of additional tools, along with visual inspection, prior to leveling a major accusation, which now turns out to be unfounded.

If you run into a suspicious malware issue, you can upload the file in question to virustotal, a web-based malware analyzer which runs multiple malware detection engines to validate detection.

Our apologies to Samsung for reporting suspicions which were untrue.

Want to read more about it? Try Network World #1 and Network World #2 (they broke the story), CNET, Washington Post, ZDNet, PC World, Financial Times, TIME, msnbc, eWeek, Computerworld, PCWorld, CrunchGear #1, CrunchGear #2, Forbes, Naked Security or Lifehacker Australia.

Blu Ray Media Stores: Beach Audio Review

2011-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 5: Beach Audio Review

Beach Audio often shows up on shopping engines with decent prices. We researched it in depth, expecting to see it appear among the best. After a thorough investigation, we were disappointed by some of its marketing and customer service practices.

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on Beach Audio under Blank Media -> Storage Media -> CD/DVD Media. They share the category with CDs and DVDs, but can be isolated under the selections Blu Ray Recordable Media (BD-R) and Blu Ray Rewritable Media (BD-RE). By checking both categories you effectively select all Blu Ray media, which is the equivalent of having a Blu Ray category. Site pages load comparatively slowly, with an average 4.5 seconds to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, Beach Audio provides 9: you cannot sort by best rating, most reviews or best selling, and you have to calculate unit price yourself. On the other hand, you have the equivalent of a Blu Ray media category, you can select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), by single/ dual layer, printability, speed, quantity and manufacturer, you can view user ratings in the listing pages, and you can sort by price and manufacturer.

Inventory and price
Beach Audio's inventory totals 77 different Blu Ray media, an average inventory for the category. It stocks a low 18% of our 89 test Blu Ray media - 4th lowest before Provantage, TapeOnline and B&J Photo Video. Beach Audio's average overprice over best price across the stores we surveyed was 14.2%, which is low for the industry, and puts Beach Audio 4th in the category, after MediaMegaMall, TapeOnline and NewEgg. On the other hand, Beach Audio only has 2 SKUs match the best price across all stores surveyed, ranking 3rd last, even with SuperMediaStore, and before Rima and BHP Photo Video. Beach Audio stocks 3 of the 6 Blu Bary media that we selected as best archival grade media, with a low average overprice of 11.5% over the best price in the category for the basket of them.

User reviews
Beach Audio lets the user write user reviews, but so far very few have been written. We could only find 10 reviews across the whole site.

Customer Service
Beach Audio only gathers a bit over 300 reviews with ResellerRartings, with a very low rating of 78%. It does better on Google Shopping, raking up more than 4,000 reviews with a good rating of 94%. In our overall predictive CS rating, it scores a low 83%, even with Buy.com and only ahead of MediaMegaMall. Most common issues had to do with advertised prices and canceled orders.

Table: Beach Audio Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
Beach Audio carries a average inventory of Blu Ray media, with overall good but not record prices, decent site capabilities, practically no user reviews, and a rather poor CS record. Its pricing is good for our basket of selected archival grade Blu Ray media. While do not see many reasons to shop there for Blu Ray media unless you already have a cart going for other purposes, Beach Audio is worth visiting for a price check unless service (delivery time, for instance) is an important aspect of the purchase.

Next we review Buy.com 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

550 Paracord, Universal Utility Line: Cool Gear

2011-03-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Mil-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord, or Mil-C-5040H Type III parachute cord, is an amazingly universal tool that can be used in many different circumstances to improvise repairs, like duct tape, as dictated by your environment. Originally produced for parachutes in the second World War, its lightness and compactness combined with its versatility quickly turned it into a must-have piece of equipment across army units of all kinds. Ex-servicemen quickly spread its popularity to the general population.

What do its users think of it? This is what we collected from numerous forums and reviews: "It is the handiest stuff that I have ever seen... strong, light and durable... There are 1000 uses for it... I highly recommend it to everyone... You can never have enough paracord around... Many uses for this product... Small, lightweight, and strong... Everyone should have great quality [para]cord... So many uses.... Uses are endless and worth having around for almost everything... This cord is the perfect all-purpose camping cord.... You might be able to break it with a large truck but I wouldn't bet on it... Toss a ream of it in your vehicle and leave some at home too... If you are an outdoorsman or outdoorswoman and you don't have a 1000' roll of this in you gear then you just aren't really serious about it... I didn't know I needed it until I got it... This stuff is amazing! It is very tough and cut-resistant.... A must have for any hunter and outdoor person and survival kit... An absolute necessity in a survival kit... As important as a knife... I have [boy scouts] wrap cord around their hiking sticks as a hand grip material; then there's always some on hand in an emergency.. There isn't a weekend that goes by that we don't use it and my boys are always finding new uses..."

The one we like best is: "with a 1000' roll of this and two rolls of duct tape I think someone could take over the world!!"

Why is it so popular?

It is very light for its strength. As its name indicates, its breaking strength is rated at 550 lbs, yet 10 feet of length can be carried on your wrist in the form of a woven bracelet. A pound of 550 paracord will produce at least 225 feet of line.

It is impervious to water, being made of nylon.

It does not fray easily, as it can be terminated cleanly by burning the end with a lighter or a match.

It has strong resistance to light exposure per its original specification, and, as a result, ages well in outdoor use.

Each length of 550 paracord can produce 7 to 9 times its length in much thinner line, since it is possible to extract the guts for other purposes, such as fishing line, sutures, etc. In turn, each gut can be unstranded into 3 smaller yarns, although these can be somewhat twisty. While there is no performance difference between 7x, 8x and 9x cores, we have a slight preference for 8x or 9x cores because we can get more gut length out of the same length of 550 paracord, since we have more core yarns.

The sheath and its yarns can also be used independently. The sheath is woven of 32 or 36 yarns, which can also be reused to weave material.

The versatility of 550 paracord makes it ideal as a light universal rope in outdoor activities. It is highly prized by survivalists. Many users carry a woven bracelet, neck lanyard, or belt of paracord for possible reuse. Others wrap flashlight or knife handles with it for the same purpose.

Mil-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord drawbacks

Abrasion is a risk, as it is not resin-impregnated, although the sheath/ core construction provides some protection.

The great elasticity of the cord, which gives it its high breaking strength, is also a weakness for some uses as it can lengthen under strain 30% or more. This will rule out some potential uses where constant length is important. For instance, it would not be wise to use 550 paracord to make a metal canoe fast on the top of a car, as the cord would easily stretch and let the canoe fall in a big gust...

What it is being used for

We collected some of the uses that people have put it to. One user describes emergency surgery: "I didn't see ... barbed wire... and I ended up with two deep gouges... I cut some 550 cord, pulled out the seven interior strands, and divided the 2-ply strands again. Those were my sutures. A # 8 snelled hook served as the needle, and I used a Leatherman tool to pull the hook through. I gave it 6 stitches... A week later, I removed the stitches, and although they held the wound tightly together, the skin did not adhere to the nylon threads." The variety of uses is quite remarkable: "wall tent, clothes lines... In a group camp usually someone want a piece of cord for something and bingo, here it is... Hang a hammock... Fishing line, net weaving, stitching, and netted containers... I once used the exterior sheath of 550 to weave a small hammock... My primary shelter-lashing material when making lean-tos, wickups, and tarp-shelters...Perfect for hauling up your gun or bow up to the tree stand, the BEST boot laces ever, I've used it to help stake out my tent... This is one of the first thing I add when making a emergency survival kit for someone. Not only is it strong and lightweight, you can separate the strands for even more length. (Each separate cord, and there are 7, is good for about 50 lbs.)... Bought 2 x 100ft rolls and renewed cords on 50 two man tents. Has worked a treat. Good and strong to handle the New Zealand's southern weather conditions... Inner cords can be used for fishing line, sewing repairs, lashing, snares... Hang antennas from trees... or to tease the cats with... I had to set up a tarp canopy between some oddly placed trees because we were expecting rain in the morning... Everything from making your own parachutes to tying your tent down... I used the cord to set a Z-Drag lift system, using carabiners, in my basement to lift an approximate 400 lb band saw so I could put it in a movable base... I used this rope wile working in Haiti, It really held up to the heat, moisture, and dusty terrain. It held up great, very good product for multiple purposes... Rope ladder... Survival bracelets - one bracelet up to 30 ft cord... Key rope around the neck 3 ft or so... Braided key rope around the neck 25 ft... Gun straps 100 ft... Boot laces 8 ft... Backpack straps braided triple solomon 20 ft... Knife lanyards... Multi tool lanyards... Small loops to hang off your belt... Made rope swing at the river with it 70 ft french braided wood handle... Lashed together a few make shift beds lean tos... Pulled a car outa the snow with it once triple lapped cord 30 ft then tied off to Jeep pulls minivan slowly carefully out lol... Sleeved a few computer wires with it... Used as a fish stringer few times... Used it for hauling a few couches few times... Took 20 foot in 6 in sections removed all the inner cords filled it with lead for fishing weights, no more snags... I bought this for a knife handle wrap and it worked perfectly... Ridge lines for tarps... Shoelaces... Hanging food from bears... Vehicle Tie Downs... Sewing fabric... Making a fire bow... Fishing line... String for a bow... Making a shelter... Fish gill nets... Animal snares... Anchor line... Binding... Twine... Animal restraints... Dental floss... Splints... Tourniquet."

The use description we like best, though, is this one (we are not sure about its truthfulness though): "tying up burglars (or your wife), securing split trees, rappelling down buildings during the apocalypse, restraining zombies, or zombie dogs, and/or camping. You simply cannot beat the versatility of this product.
Side-note: Given how well it works on zombies, I feel it would work equally well on were-wolves and vampires."

The trap of commercial paracord

True mil-spec paracord is specifically referenced as Mil-C-5040H TYPE III parachute cord or Mil-C-5040H TYPE III 550 paracord ("Mil-C-5040 TYPE III" without the H is also good), and the cord batch carries a testing certificate guaranteeing its performance. Commercial paracord, however, is not tested, and often carries significantly lower performance. Some samples of commercial paracord use different, cheaper, materials, for the core yarns or for the sheath, or a lesser number of core yarns. Some of them have very low breaking strength, or use material that degrades quickly. So, when you buy commercial paracord, as opposed to Mil-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord, you do not have any guarantee of performance.

A common way to advertise commercial (i.e. with no guaranteed performance) paracord is by calling it "mil-spec 550 paracord." This is NOT for Mil-C-5040H TYPE III 550 paracord - it could be for any quality of commercial paracord, with no way to know what the breaking strength of the paracord will be. Trustworthy vendors who sell commercial paracord will specify that it is not made for parachuting applications.

The trap of Type II or Type IIA paracord

The Mil-C-5040H military specification defines 6 types of paracord: type I with braking strength of 95 lbs, type IA, with breaking strength of 100 lbs, type II with breaking strength of 400 lbs, type IIA with breaking strength of 225 lbs, type III with breaking strength of 550 lbs, and type IV with breaking strength of 750 lbs, which is difficult to find. Many items labeled "paracord" or "mil-spec paracord" without a mention of 550 lb breaking strength with be type II or type IIA paracord, with a minimal breaking strength which is significantly lower than 550 paracord. This is even worse than the manifestly falsely advertised "mil-spec 550 paracord" items. In particular, most bracelets or lanyards made of "paracord" are typically made of type II or type IIA commercial paracord.

Colors

True Mil-C-5040H TYPE III 550 paracord only comes in white, black, camouflage colors, or international orange, due to the original military specifications. Cool colors are available in commercial versions (including interesting reflective colors). We recommend using two colors, one earth or green color for camouflage uses such as hanging food outside the reach of bears, and international orange for other uses.

Buying Mil-C-5040H TYPE III 550 paracord

In order to buy Mil-C-5040H TYPE III 550 paracord, with guaranteed breaking strength, you need to buy paracord that is advertised exactly as "Mil-C-5040H TYPE III parachute cord," "Mil-C-5040H TYPE III paracord," or "Mil-C-5040H TYPE III 550 paracord." The better sites will also publish the official certificate of compliance (i.e. test verification) from their paracord tests. True Mil-C-5040H TYPE III 550 paracord is 30-70% more expensive than cheap commercial 550 paracord, but only slightly more expensive than good quality paracord.

Where to buy Mil-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord

We recommend buying paracord from vendors who focus on sky jumpers, parachutists or emergency workers, because their paracord is much more likely to buy the true Mil-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord. For the same reason, we recommend buying a USA-made product.There are very few sites where you can find the true blue item. Best Glide is a provider of aviation survival equipment, and provides a certificate of compliance. Best Glide carries all regular military colors. Adventure Survival Equipment, a division of Best Glide, is also a good online choice. ParaGear is a paruchuting store. LifeView Outdoors is a retailer of recreational outdoor gear.

If you are willing to compromise down to high quality commercial 550 paracord,where you will find a better set of colors, but non-guaranteed performance, you might want to check out Cabela's, TakKnife, CheaperThanDirt , CountyComm or CampingSurvival.

Statistical user ratings

We could not find a statistically significant set of user reviews for true Mil-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord, so we looked for user reviews of decent quality commercial grade 550 paracord. We found 211 reviews, of which 195 were positive, for a 92% approval rating, with a 3.6% margin of error at 95% certainty. This represents an excellent rating, which could only increase if applied to true Mil-C-5040H. A presentation of our rating methodology can be found on ConsumerPla.net Statistical Ratings Explained.

Conclusions

Mil-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord is an extraordinarily versatile general purpose utility line, as useful as duct tape.

It is light and compact, with high tensile strength, and can fit into any survival or mini-tool kit. It is almost a required part of any such kit, and is highly appreciated by its enthusiastic users.

True MIL-C-5040H Type III 550 paracord is superior to commonly found commercial "mil-spec" paracord, and can be found in a few sites, such as Best Glide, a provider of aviation survival equipment.

Want to read more about it? Try Cool Tools, Outside Magazine, Survival Topics. or this excellent Wikipedia article. The Survival Forum, which is not a survivalist forum, but an emergency gear forum, is an interesting place to discuss paracord use. There are many sites with tutorials on specific paracord braiding projects, along with YouTube tutorials - Stormdrane's Blog has many projects illustrated over the past few years. General purpose braiding sites, such as Boondoggle Man, also provide excellent references. The actual MIL-C-5040H specs can be found with the DoD, or on EverySpec. Essex Mills published, in 1954, a Test Report on MIL-C-5040.

Blu Ray Media Stores: B&H Photo Review

2011-03-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Online Stores Part 4: B&H Photo Video Review

B&H Photo Video is well known to photo enthusiasts as a high quality, well priced online store with excellent customer support. Its traditional rival is Adorama, which, however, is not really present in the Blu Ray media market a this time (we screened Adorama here).

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the B&H site under the Film, Tape, Media Tab: Film, Tape, Media -> CDs, DVDs and Other Blank Media. While they are under the same category as other optical media, it is not hard to isolate them, as there are specific selection bins for BD-R and BD-RE, which you can both select to get the equivalent of a Blu Ray category. With an average 2.0 seconds to display a right-clicked SKU, the site speed is decent, although not blinding fast. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, B&H provides 9: you cannot select speed, cannot sort by best selling, or most reviews, and need to calculate price per disk by hand. On the other hand, you can access the equivalent of a Blu Ray category, select type (BD-R/ BD-RE), single/ dual layer, printability, quantity and manufacturer, sort by search relevance, price, manufacturer and best rating, and view user ratings on the listing pages.

Inventory and price
B&H Audio Video totals right now 63 SKUs for Blu Ray media, a relatively narrow inventory. It stocks a low 13% of our 89 test Blu Ray media - lowest of all of the reviewed stores, even with TapeOnline. B&H Video prices are on average 29.4% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores, third highest after Provantage and SuperMediaStore, and slightly ahead of Buy.com and RunTechMedia. While, clearly, any store is, on average, higher than the best price (no store can have, on average, the best price for all media), 29.4% is high. B&H Audio Video matches best price for one SKU, for media stocked by more than one store. This is the lowest number across stores surveyed, even with Rima. Of the 6 best Blu Ray media we selected for archival grade storage, B&H stocks 2, with a 43.4% overprice over best price in the category.

User reviews
B&H Photo Video has a limited number of user reviews, for which the average ratings can be seen on the category listing pages. It totals 86 reviews across all Blu Ray media SKUs, which, given the total inventory, is not enough critical mass to reliably gauge the quality of specific Blu Ray media when shopping on the site.

Customer Service
Where B&H Audio Video truly stars is in customer service and support (CS). It has very large numbers of reviews both with ResellerRatings and Google Shopping, and gets outstanding 98% ratings from both, as well as a category-high 98% in our predictive CS rating, even with Rima and TapeOnline. Given its astonishingly high numbers of reviews as well as ratings, we can be sure of a very high quality of service.

Table: B&H Photo Video Blu Ray media review (see legend below)

Conclusion
B&H Audio Video is a general purpose shopping site, with decent site speed and sorting, narrow inventory, rather high prices on average, and outstanding customer service. While we cannot place it among the top online media stores, it is a good place to buy media if you are already shopping on the site for other items, as long as price is not an essential criterion.

Next we review Beach Audio for blank 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

Air Filters: Does Air Flow Impact Mileage?

2011-03-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

Best Air Filters Review: Air Filter Facts
Air Filter Facts Part 5: Air flow and mileage

Can air flow improve your vehicle's fuel economy? Many users report improved mileage upon the adoption of an air filter with measurably increased airflow, such as when you change from a stock OEM filter to a K&N filter. They are (mostly) wrong.

We already proved that different air filters can increase (or worsen) air flow (+/- 0.5kPa), and that clogged air filters significantly impact air flow (up to +6.25 kPa, much higher impact than air filter swap). How does air flow impact mileage?

Fueleconomy.gov is a federal government site focused on - guess what - fuel economy. Under their aegis, the famed Oak Ridge National Laboratory published, in February 2009, a investigating the effect of air filter condition (i.e. air flow restriction) on fuel economy. They were able to show, once again, that aftermarket (high flow) filters were able to provide more air flow than OEM filters, measuring a lower pressure loss across aftermarket filters than OEM filters:

The February 2009 Oak Ridge National Laboratory research report on fuel economy measured the difference in mileage between a clean, new air filter, and the severely clogged air filters we showed in our last post. The researchers experimented with both modern fuel-injected engines, and with older carbureted engines. Despite the difficulty at getting very low airflow, the difference in fuel efficiency for all newer vehicles was statistically nonexistent, as shown below for one of the experiments (for this illustrative graph, we picked the Dodge Charger, which showed, in our previous test, the worst clogging):

Oak Ridge National Laboratory's conclusion: "Results show that clogging the air filter has no significant effect on the fuel economy of the newer vehicles (all fuel injected with closed-loop control and one equipped with MDS). The engine control systems were able to maintain the desired AFR [air fuel ratio] regardless of intake restrictions, and therefore fuel consumption was not increased. The carbureted engine did show a decrease in fuel economy with increasing restriction. However, the level of restriction required to cause a substantial (10–15%) decrease in fuel economy [...] was so severe that the vehicle was almost undrivable."

If clogging the air filter - which increases restriction to air flow by 6.25 kPa - does not have an effect on mileage, then clearly, swapping air filters - which varies air flow restriction by +/- 0.5kPa - certainly does not impact mileage either.

There is an important note to add to the Oak Ridge's results: the vehicles tested were all gasoline engines. Normal diesel engines are unthrottled in normal use after warm-up, which means that, even under light loads, they operate at high air flow, and throttle cannot be used to adjust fuel fix. It is possible that air filters could impact fuel consumption for modern diesel engines.

We found multiple confirmations for the conclusions of the Oakridge National Laboratory's tests. For example, Consumer Reports, in 2011, published a post on fuel economy, and listed dirty air filters under myth busters (...): "Our tests show that driving with a dirty air filter no longer has any impact on fuel economy, as it did with older engines. That's because modern engines use computers to precisely control the air/fuel ratio, depending on the amount of air coming in through the filter. Reducing airflow causes the engine to automatically reduce the amount of fuel being used. Fuel economy didn't change [...]." Offroad Adventures tested a high flow drop-in filter replacement and found no impact to mileage: "Flow capacity is 15-20 percent higher than stock, so it gives you a little over-capacity for mods. We ran the panel in the stock housing for several months and noted no change in fuel economy."

All the scientific evidence clearly points at the same conclusion: air flow in modern vehicles does not impact mileage. Everything else being equal, high flow filters with higher air flow do not improve a vehicle's flow efficiency. In fact, several studies (e.g. Fodor & Ling, "Friction reduction in an I.C. engine through improved filtration and a new lubricant additive", Lubrication engineering, 1985, vol. 41, no10, pp. 614-618; Andrews, Li, Jones, Hall, Rahman & Saydali, "The Influence of an Oil Recycler on Lubricating Oil Quality with Oil Age for a Bus Using In-Service Testing,"SAE 2000 World Congress, Paper 2000-01-0234) have shown better mileage resulting from better oil filtration. As a result, is possible that filters with higher air flow but worse filtration (these two traits often go hand in hand), which contribute to more wear and more particles in the oil, may ultimately result in worse fuel economy.

Conclusion

The choice of an air filter can materially impact air flow

Air flow does not affect fuel economy in gasoline engines

Drop-in high flow air filters have no effect on mileage in gasoline engines

But does air flow impact performance? Next we investigate the effect of clogged air filters on vehicle performance... So come back soon!

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Do Clogged Air Filters Restrict Air Flow?

2011-03-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Best Air Filters Review: Air Filter Facts
Air Filter Facts Part 4: Do clogged air filters restrict air flow?

In our previous post, we proved that different air filters can improve (or worsen) air flow when clean. But what is the impact, if any, of a clogged (or very dirty) air filter?

Our friends from Oak Ridge National Lab also investigated the impact of a clogged air filter. To simulate the appropriate level of reduced air flow, the researchers ended up stuffing shop towels (!!!) on the upstream side of the air filter's air box, or wrapping the filter itself in shop towels:

The shop towels had to be stuffed so hard to get to the right level of reduced airflow that the one of the air filters was quite damaged in the process:-) This is representative of the difficulty of getting severely restricted airflow... In the end, the study was able to restrict flow significantly:

It is worth noting that filters are typically considered clogged when pressure drop across the filter increases by 10" H2O, i.e. 2.5kPa. What this means is that the tests were run using significantly higher air flow restrictions. These are truly worst case tests.

Conclusion

Clogged air filters significantly reduce air flow

Does this very significantly reduced air flow (to the degree that it sucked a shop towel into the intake) actually worsen fuel economy? Next we investigate how air flow impacts mileage... So come back soon!

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Blu Ray Media Stores: Amazon Review

2011-03-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Stores Part 3: Amazon Review

One can find almost anything on Amazon, which is often the first resource that many online shoppers check when looking for unfamiliar items. And, sure enough, there are plenty of blank Blu Ray media on Amazon... In fact, thanks to Amazon's broad marketplace, where merchants other than Amazon itself can directly transact with consumers, we found Amazon to be an ideal place to locate unusual or rare Blu Ray media. Among other items, we were able to find numerous Japanese imports for Blu Ray media, a particularly interesting find as optical media distributed in Japan carries an excellent reputation around the world. In general, we found that, while Amazon did not always carry the best prics on the market, it had an amazingly deep inventory along with low prices for specific SKUs - but not for everything...

Site and usability
Blu Ray media can be found on the Amazon site under Computers -> Computer Accessories -> Computer Accessories (yes, twice) -> Blank Media, or under Electronics -> Accessories & Supplies -> Blank Media, for the same result. Site speed is poor, with 3.5 seconds per page average to display a right-clicked SKU. Of our wish list of 13 types of sorting and binning, Amazon provides 7 of them: you do not have a Blu Ray category, cannot select speed, single/ dual layer, printability, or quantity, cannot sort by most reviews, and need to calculate price per disk yourself. On the other hand, you can select the type (BD-R/ BD-RE), manufacturer, sort by best selling, price or manufacturer, and view user ratings on the listing pages.

Inventory and price
Amazon shows off a outstanding inventory of 292 Blue Ray media, and stocks a category record 44% of our 89 Blu Ray test media - ranking 1st of all stores surveyed, ex-aequo with MediaMegaMall. Amazon prices are on average 19.9% higher than the best price across our surveyed stores, ranking in the middle of the pack. Amazon SKU prices match the best price for 6 SKUs, for media stocked by more than one store, rating 3th after MediaMegaMall and NewEgg, much better under this criterion that for the average overprice. When we looked specifically at the 6 best media we selected for archival quality, we found that Amazon carries 3 of them, at an overprice of 18.5% over best price. We would have liked the percentage to be higher, and the prices a touch lower. Clearly, Amazon has a fairly wide range of prices, with some excellent prices and some rather poor ones. This broad set of prices (which we can also encounter at Buy.com) seems somewhat characteristic of sites with merchant marketplaces.

User reviews
Amazon is famous for its user reviews, and for their integration in the product pages. We often turn to Amazon first to check user reviews on a very wide variety of products. We were all the more disappointed to find only 392 reviews across all Blu Ray media SKUs on Amazon - a category-high number, yet somehow lower than our expectations...

Customer Service
Surprisingly for a site with the volume, loyalty and reputation of Amazon, it does not do very well in CS. Amazon gathers little more than 2,000 reviews on ResellerRatings with a low 83% rating, and a bit over 5,000 reviews on Google Shopping with a better 90% rating. It receives a mediocre 85% ConsumerPla.net predictive CS rating. This relatively poor performance is no doubt due to the presence of marketplace merchants.

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

Conclusion
Amazon is a general purpose shopping site with a large marketplace component, an amazingly broad inventory of Blu Ray media products, mediocre site speed and sorting, some of the best and worst prices at the same time, and mediocre customer service. It is definitely a good site to check for Blu Ray media, although not the most convenient or always the cheapest, and a great resource for unusual or rare media.

Next we review B&H Photo Video 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

Screening Blu Ray Media Stores

2011-03-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Stores Part 2: Screening Online Stores

The DVD reference site digitalFAQ.com has an excellent and well-maintained list of the best places to buy DVD blank media on line. When we reviewed the Blu Ray forums and the store offerings, we found out, however, that the best places to buy Blu Ray media on line were somewhat different from those from which to buy DVD media. In many cases, the Blu Ray blank media inventory of traditional CD/DVD media stores was poor, expensive, or sharply targeted at no-name or unreliable brands.We are listing below some stores that were referenced on line as being good sources, but failed our stringent requirements (:-), before listing our best picks.

These online stores did not make the cut

Adorama normally matches its excellent competitor B&H Photo move for move, and has excellent reputation among photo/ video amateurs. It practically does not have any Blu Ray media in stock. We are only mentioning it here because we researched B&H in depth.

Americal has limited inventory, a few SKUs with good to very good pricing, and a small set of rather poor store reviews.

ANTOnline has a very broad set of good store reviews, but a small Blu Ray media inventory, poor pricing, and no sorting to speak of.

CDRom2Go is often listed as a good CD or DVD media store, but its inventory of Blu Ray media is totally insufficient.

Colamco is a somewhat flawed storefront with early promise, but which disappointed us. We originally found it when searching for good pricing on some of our media selections: it showed up several times with great pricing. When exploring its inventory, however, we could never find the items we had looked up on a product search - they seem to be only reachable through Google price searches, as the categories do not reflect actual items in stock, even if they show on Google searches. The site seems heavily bugged. In addition, the ResellerRatings record is poor, and displays some worrisome CS stories.

J&R has a smallish, but not ridiculous inventory, mostly focused on lesser quality brands, poor site searching for Blu Ray media, decent sorting, and a small percentage of spindle packs. Its prices are on the high side.

Got Media's inventory of DVD media is broad and well priced. Its inventory of Blu Ray media, on the other hand, is largely limited to Verbatim, and its pricing is not exceptional in any way.

Overstock.com has a few interesting reviews, but very little Blu Ray media inventory, and pricing is poor.

PCRush is another site which we started researching with excitement, but which disappointed us. The site is popular and has good store reviews. The inventory breadth is decent, but much of it is junk media, and the quality brands rarely show in spindle packs (mostly jewel cases). Despite good pricing on a small number of SKUs, the site is expensive, and sorting is poor for Blu Ray media.

Staples has a great set of CD and DVD media reviews, although its brand selection is very narrow. It has practically no Blu Ray media inventory.

TapeResources is an excellent resource of professional audio and video supplies. its customer service is excellent, and the ResellerRatings reviews are outstanding. The Blu Ray inventory, however, is limited, there are no user reviews, and prices are high.

Tapes.com has a mediocre inventory, unexceptional prices, no useful sorting, and some significant labeling issues (for instance, one of its popular BD-R DL products is called "rewritable," which wrongly indicates a BD-RE format).

TigerDirect is the most commonly mentioned rival for NewEgg in the market of computer parts and supplies. However, TigerDirect's inventory of Blu Ray media is mediocre, its pricing is all over the map - sometimes fair, sometimes gouging,- it has very few user reviews, and its rating on ResellerRatings is poor.

Walmart has a very poor Blu Ray inventory, a few product reviews, and mediocre pricing.

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

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Best Blu Ray Media Stores Review

2011-03-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media stores
Best Blu Ray Media Stores Review Part 1: Best Online Stores Criteria

The DVD reference site digitalFAQ.com has an excellent and well-maintained list of the best places to buy DVD blank media on line. When we reviewed the Blu Ray forums and the store offerings, we found out, however, that the best places to buy Blu Ray media on line were somewhat different from those from which to buy DVD media. In many cases, the Blu Ray blank media inventory was poor, expensive, or sharply targeted at no-name or unreliable brands. So, to investigate what the best online stores for Blu Ray media were, we went on Blu Ray fan forums, scouring references to the best stores, and we ran deep product searches on Google, going to the 25th page for most common Blu Ray media. This is what we found.

What Makes For a Good Blu Ray Media Store

Broad inventory
One the first attributes we looked at was the quality of the inventory. A good online store has to have a broad inventory of Blu Ray media, typically 50 to 100 different media, hopefully more. We need to be able to have a good choice of media, in each format (BD-R LTH, BD-R, BD-R DL, BD-RE, BD-RE DL). We prefer products with spindles, because the unit cost is typically much lower. In particular, we found some online retailers with a broad inventory and some high quality brands, but where the bulk of the SKUs is packaged in jewel cases, which makes them prohibitively expensive when purchased in large numbers.

Wide Set of Suppliers
We were expecting that a broad inventory would automatically give us a lot of choice in suppliers, in particular for us to be able to get to the suppliers we like, which we have identified are quality suppliers. It turns out that some suppliers specialize in a very small number of brands, such as Verbatim, through which they carry multiple tens of SKUs. While we truly appreciate inventory depth in a given product line, we also need supplier variety. We also saw retailers with a large inventory, but where practically all of the suppliers are low-end media factoring brands, such as Kodak, Maxell, or Memorex. We do not like this pattern either: it is OK to carry a few cheap brands and SKUs, but we also need solid quality suppliers.In order to evaluate how good the inventory was for each store, we tracked 89 media which we felt were representative, and counted, for each store, how many of these media the store had in its inventory. We also specifically counted how many of the quality Blu Ray we selected here for archival grade were carried by the stores we evaluated.

Sorting
When you are going through 100 or more different SKUs, and trying to compare them two by two, looking at speed, price, printability or formats, it is not easy to deal with flat lists of media. When doing comparisons, we quickly found out that the ability to sort results quickly makes a huge difference to identifying the right media (or the lack thereof) efficiently.
A good store will give you access to blank Blu Ray media as category, then allow the user the ability to quickly select by format (BD-R, BD-RE), by capacity (standard or DL), speed, printability, quantity of media in the pack, and manufacturer. It will also allow you to sort your results by price, by best selling order, by most reviews, and by user rating. You would like to be able to see user ratings for the items not only in the product pages, but also in the category listing pages so that you don't have to open every product page to see what rating the SKU has. An extra-good store will also give you the price per disc unit, on top of the pack price, so that you do not have to use a calculator as you go, comparing unit costs.
This makes 13 different ways to sort, bin or order SKUs, which we counted for each store. We would have liked to be able to sort on unit price (as opposed to SKU price) as well, but did not find a single store that gives you the option. To evaluate how well a store performed, we counted how many types of sorts, among the ones we are looking for, the store could provide us.

Browsing speed
We often needed to view 30 to 40 pages per site, to be able to do good shopping comparisons. We quickly discovered that the speed of the site made a big difference to our shopping experience. The slowest sites could take 3.5 to sometimes 7 seconds to respond, while the speediest ones took little more than the time to reposition your fingers after a click. To get some numerical value of how well a store did, we ran 10 right-click look-ups from the category listing pages exactly consecutively, and timed how long it took for each store.

Price
Clearly, we expect good prices from a good online store. We rated online stores in two ways. For each product in our sample list of 89 SKUs which more than one store had in inventory, we kept track of which store had the lowest price, and how much higher each store's price was compared to the "best" price across the stores we tracked. Then, for each store, we counted how many products matched the best price across all stores, and, on average, how much more expensive they were (as explained above, we excluded products which only one store had in stock). We also kept track, specifically for the 6 media we selected earlier as best archival grade media, of what the store overprice was for the basket of selected media it carried.

Customer service
As we all know, online shopping is fraught with peril, although, by now, our readers buy a majority of their non-food purchases online. Selecting a good online store is a process which must rely heavily on the quality of the retailer's customer service. For this, we used store ratings from ResellerRatings and Google Shopping when they were available. In order to take into account the number of ratings or the lack thereof, we calculated a predictive Customer Support rating by lowering the rating from each by its statistical margin of error, and by averaging the two for each store. Since a low number of reviews will increase the statistical margin of error, this means that stores with few ratings receive a lower predictive CS rating.

User reviews
Nothing can replace user reviews to find out how good the media is - we need to be able to read other users' experiences, in particularly for off brands, and validate both quality and Media IDs, in particular when the media is outsourced. Sites need to provide for user reviews, but they also need to have large numbers of them. This rarely happens when the reviews are hidden in a subtle tab under the product listing. For users to be motivated to write reviews, the reviews need to be highly visible, and be readable on the product page itself. A site with a good number of user reviews has a significant leg up. For each store, we kept track of how many Blu Ray media user reviews were available on the site, if any.

Next we screen Blu Ray online stores... so come back soon!

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Air Filters: Can They Improve Air Flow?

2011-03-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Best Air Filters Review: Air Filter Facts
Air Filter Facts Part 3: Can air filters improve air flow?

In the next few posts, we will investigate if you can improve automotive mileage and performance (i.e. acceleration and torque) by swapping drop-in air filters that have higher air flow. We already know that air flow through an air filter does not impact mileage in modern cars. Because so much opinion on air filters is based on assumptions rather than facts, we should ask - can we measure meaningful differences in air flow between air filters?

Air flow differences across air filters

Fueleconomy.gov is a federal government site focused on - guess what - fuel economy. Under their aegis, the famed Oak Ridge National Laboratory published, in February 2009, a research report investigating the effect of air filter condition (i.e. air flow restriction) on fuel economy. The researchers experimented with both modern fuel-injected engines, and with older carbureted engines. They showed conclusively that some aftermarket (high flow) filters were able to provide more air flow than OEM filters, measuring a lower pressure loss across aftermarket filters than OEM filters:

These tests were done on the vehicle itself, at wide open throttle for 10 seconds. There is a clear difference between no filter, high flow aftermarket filters, and the OEM style filter, which experiences the highest pressure drop (meaning the least air flow, but also, probably, the best filtration). So, clearly, it is possible to increase air flow (and decrease pressure drop) by using a different drop-in filters. We will see later than the K&N filter is particularly successful at that. However, the differences, when compared to atmospheric pressures, are very small - so it is not clear if these will result in actual changes in mileage or performance.

Conclusion

Non-stock air filters can improve air flow

How much worse does air flow get when your air filter gets dirty? Is there a measurable difference? Next we discuss the impact of dirty air filters on air flow... So come back soon!

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Car Air Filters: What To Look For

2011-03-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

Best Air Filters Review: Air Filter Facts
Air Filter Facts Part 2: What makes for the best air filter

What makes for a good automotive air filter? To a degree, it depends upon your usage. Rural drivers in a very dusty environment will look carefully at capacity, while Friday night racing aficionados will look more at air flow. We look at criteria for an average user, who does not race, and whose environment is only moderately dusty. For our average user, we present below the most significant criteria for air filters, by decreasing order of importance.

Filtration efficiency

We already discussed here the importance of filtration, which simply cannot be overemphasized, as dust is the primary cause of engine wear: both oil and air filtration are the most critical factors to making an engine last. Lycoming, the manufacturer of aircraft engine, states in its maintenance manual: "Dust or some form of dirt is frequently the principal factor in premature piston ring, ring groove and cylinder wear. If a worn or poorly fit air filter allows as much as a tablespoon of abrasive dirt material into the cylinders, it will cause wear to the extent that an overhaul will be required. Evidence of dust or other dirt material in the induction system beyond the air filter is indicative of inadequate filter care or a damaged filter." The difference between filtration efficiency of 90%, 99%, and 99.9% is very significant:

The average capacity of all the filters surveyed in our series is 234 grams. If we assume that the life cycle of the filter is approximately 40% of its capacity (you will change it before it gets clogged), we can assume that the filter will see roughly 100 grams of dust at the intake. If the filter has 90% cumulative efficiency, what will pass through it is the amount of the first jar. If it has 99% efficiency, it will pass through the content of the second jar. With 99.9% efficiency, it will pass through the content of the third jar. Given that whatever passes through the engine goes straight into the cylinder chambers, which one would you like it to be for your car?

It is worth noting that the typical way to measure filtration efficiency is by calculating how much dust is filtered over the theoretical lifetime of the filter (i.e. until it reaches capacity), which is really measuring cumulative filtration efficiency. Why is this important? Filters get more efficient as they start accumulating dust. This means that, if you always use clean filters, your efficiency will be lower than that measured in ISO 5011 filtration tests! Amazingly, is actually better, for filtration, to have some dust in your filter. What this means is that, unless you keep your filters until they clog, your true filtration efficiency will be lower than that measured for your air filter.

We should mention, in passing, that we have frequently seen manufacturers' specs for filtration efficiency be proved wrong by third party tests. Unfortunately, it appears that we cannot trust air filter manufacturers to give us their own filters' specs unless the actual tests are conducted by third parties.

Fit

This is a frequently neglected factor. The variety of shapes and sizes across all cars is very, very broad, and there are many cases when a filter brand which performs in general well does not have perfect fit for a given car's intake. Big air filter manufacturers, such as Wix or Purolator, will often design and manufacture filters themselves for vehicles with wide distribution, but may sometimes factor out filters for less common vehicles, making fit and quality problems more likely.

As a result, it is not possible to evaluate fit on the basis of the air filter brand, since it varies by vehicle. If you are not going to actually check out the fit yourself, you are better off requesting an OEM filter for your vehicle, which is more likely to have good fit.

Capacity

The capacity of an air filter is the amount of dust that it takes to increase the resistance of the filter to air flow by 10" H2O, and is supposed to be a good measure of what it takes to clog a filter. The larger the capacity, the longer you can take before you change your air filter. Of course, larger capacity is also preferable when driving in a dusty environment, where a lot of dust may end up in your filter in a short amount of time. While we do not believe that 20-30% difference in capacity makes much of a difference to the average user, we found out that filter capacity varies by a factor of 1 to 10. We do believe that a difference of one order of magnitude makes a significant difference.

Build quality

There are many ways to build a cheaper air filter - but how much do then also cheapen build quality? What material is the frame made of? How well dimensioned is it? What is the filtration medium? How are the pleats built? A better-built filter is likely to be more expensive, although not always better performing. Given that air filters can last through tens of thousands of miles (while oil filters only last thousands of miles), some difference in price may not be significant to the overall life cycle cost of your vehicle, while filtration improvement definitely will make a difference.

Quality control

The best filter does not amount to much is quality varies enough between units that fit is not guaranteed, or that filtration is not maintained. As air filters have become commoditized, quality control and build quality have become progressively worse.

Air flow

It is the last criterion on our list, and the most controversial as well. It is the least important of all criteria, and we will discuss why. The next few sections will investigate the influence of air flow on mileage and on performance.

Next we discuss if different air filters can impact air flow... So come back soon!

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Best Blu Ray Media FAQs

2011-03-10T07:43:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media
Best Blu Ray Media Part 7: FAQs

The ratings you gave brands and products look very low. Is Blu Ray really ready? Should I wait before getting a Blu Ray burner until the Blu Ray industry has matured a bit more ?

The Blu Ray industry is as mature as the DVD industry: amazingly, DVD ratings are as bad - but there are many more of them. The intrinsic nature of optical media standards is such that, for CDs, DVDs or Blu Ray disks, there is some inherent possible incompatibility between media and burners/ players. And - the intrinsic nature of optical media buyers is such that we always want to buy cheaper media, hoping to find a great bargain, i.e. really cheap media that works perfectly. This gives an incentive for optical media brands to lower their manufacturing costs further, even at the cost of quality. Unfortunately, in optical media we have to pay more to get good quality - although it is not enough to pay more... You also need to know what to buy.

What can I use the media you selected for non-archival grade? Can I use them for my back-ups?

Non-archival grade media can be used for any purpose which does not require you to be certain that the media will be there for you months or years from now. For instance, if you want to hand out some data, music or video to a friend or associate, it is perfectly appropriate to use non-archival media, which typically costs 50% of or less than archival grade media. If you do incremental back-ups daily and whole back-ups weekly, it is fine to use non-archival media for the incrementals, since they will be tossed a week later. On the other hand, if you keep your backups for long periods of time because you intend to restore from them a month, a quarter or a year from now, you must use archival grade media. Similarly, if you archive information from your hard drive with the intention to use a Blu Ray disk to safeguard the information, using archival grade media is critical.

How do you decide what is archival grade and what is not archival grade?

Based on the reviews we gathered for each brand and product, we look for reviews that report archival failure, the rate of reported coasters and incompatibilities, and the DVD reviews for the brand (assuming the brand is outsourcing or manufacturing both its DVD and Blu Ray products, otherwise we do not take the DVD reviews into account). In the best case, there are lots of user reviews for the brand and the media, no reports of archival failure, low reports of coasters and incompatibilities, and the DVD ratings are high. Our predictive rating ends up very high, and we classify the media as archival grade. In the worst case, there are low numbers of user reviews, some reviews report archival failure, there are significant rates of coasters and incompatibilities, and the DVD rating is low. Our predictive rating ends up low, and the media is not archival grade. We typically expect predictive ratings in the 90s, and no reports of archival failure, in order to rate a media archival grade.

Why is Optical Quantum not rated archival grade, when its raw user rating is 94%?

Optical Quantum's raw rating is high, but it is outsourcing a Philips media whose user reviews are very variable (sometimes lower than 80%) across all the brands that outsource it. Optical Quantum's DVD rating is low (in the 70s), and it has not shown a past track record of high quality for its optical media.

You did not rate archival grade any brand that is not manufacturing its own media. Is that on purpose?

If we had found statistically valid quantitative data that shows an outsourcing brand worth an archival grade rating, we would have endorsed it, but discussed the risks you run with outsourced media: media manufacturers can change on short notice and jeopardize quality ratings. As is it, we did not find any outsourcing brand worth an archival grade rating. We do not think this is coincidental: the same property holds true in the DVD industry. We believe that, in the general case, only manufacturers can enforce enough quality standards to make sure that the media remains of high enough quality. We would love to be shown wrong by our own data:-)

Why did you rate some LTH media archival grade when their ray rating was below 80%?

LTH media use a different way to write Blu Ray media, where the burner writes digital bits on the optical media by changing reflectivity from Low to High, where regular Blu Ray media gets written from High to Low. Clearly, this requires a compatible burner and compatible players. Older burners and players, and many current audio/ video players, are not compatible with LTH. Many negative user reviews were focused on the fact that their burner or player was not LTH compatible. This is regrettable for their own use, but does not affect the integrity of LTH technology as a whole, and YOUR use of LTH technology, if you have a compatible burner. When we removed negative reviews due to LTH-incompatible hardware, we found out that some LTH media were totally archival grade. In fact, because the LTH manufacturing process is roughly the same as DVD manufacturing process and can use DVD manufacturing equipment, a high-quality DVD manufacturer can easily make the transition to high quality Blu Ray LTH manufacturing, making it more likely that LTH technology will produce high-quality media.

Should I use LTH technology?

LTH technology is an excellent technology to use for data archival and storage, IF your burners and players are LTH compatible, because it is possible to find LTH media that are archival grade and inexpensive. We do not recommend the use of LTH media for audio and video recording, because many audio/ video players, even if recently introduced, are not LTH compatible.

Where did you obtain DVD user ratings for each brand?

We gathered over 12,000 user reviews of DVD media, collated them and reviewed every single one of them!

Are you going to share your DVD data?

Yes - we are planning a long DVD media series late spring/ early summer where we will publish all of our DVD data.

Next we review and rank the best Blu Ray media stores... So come back soon!

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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Blu Ray Media: Best Products Review

2011-03-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media
Best Blu Ray Media Part 6: Best Blu Ray Media

In order to have a good comparative look at our best Blu Ray media picks across all format categories, it would be best to summarize them all across a single figure. Standardizing prices for 25GB (i.e. the capacity of a standard Blu Ray disk, and half the capacity of a DL disks) allows for direct comparison across all formats - this is what we did below. As a caveat, remember to multiply this price by two for a DL media in order to get the price per disk, since DL disks have a capacity of 50GB.

It is immediately apparent that, unless we absolutely need the larger per-disk capacity of DL disks, it is always more cost effective to purchase regular capacity disks, and that the most cost effective archival grade Blu Ray disks are Verbatim 97090 LTH (if your burner is LTH compatible), for $1.25 per disk, and TDK 49024, for $2.18 per disk.

Figure 1: Price per 25G for best media ordered by LTH/ BD-R/ BD-R DL/ BD-RE/ BD-RE DL

When looking at whether to go archival and non-archival grade, the best decisions are not the same in every format. If your burner is LTH compatible, and if your sue is data archival or back-up, it might always make sense to pick Verbatim LTH media for recordable Blu Ray media. If you need regular, non-LTH media, it is a lot more cost effective to pick non-archival quality BD-R media (as long as you are comfortable losing your data), as you are saving more than 50% of the cost of your media. It also makes some sense to pick non-archival grade BD-RE or BD-RE DL media (if losing your data is OK). On the other hand, there is not enough difference, in our eyes, between archival grade and non-archival grade media in the BD-R DL format to justify picking a non-archival media.

What we picked for ConsumerPla.net: we use Verbatim 97090 LTH for back-up, and TDK 49024 BD-R 4x for archival. We use Pioneer Blu Ray burners, which we have found to be more tolerant of media brand variations in general.

Archival Grade Conclusions

Most cost effective archival grade Blu Ray media: Verbatim 97090 BD-R LTH 2x, for about $1.25 per disk in 20 spindle packs - IF your burners are players are LTH compatible

Most cost effective archival grade BD-R media: TDK 49024 BD-R 4x speed disk in 50 spindle packs, for roughly $2.18 per disk

Most cost effective archival grade BD-R DL media: TDK 48737 BD-R DL 2x disk, for roughly $8.95 per disk

Best value proposition for archival grade BD-R DL media: TDK BD-R DL white hub inkjet printable 4x speed disk, for about $9.00 per disk

Most cost effective archival grade BD-RE Media: TDK 48738 BD-RE 2x media, for roughly $4.64 per disk

Best archival grade Blu Ray BD-RE DL media: TDK 48739 BD-RE DL 2x speed, for roughly $21.09 per disk

Non-Archival Grade Conclusions

Most cost effective non archival quality, fast (relative to LTH) LTH media: Taiyo Yuden/ JVC BD-R LTH 4x, for about $1.72 per disk in 25 spindle packs.

Most cost effective non-archival quality BD-R media: Optical Quantum OQBDR04LT-25 BD-R, 4x write speed disk in 25 spindle packs, for about $1.00 per disk. While quality is excellent right now, we are concerned that future batches of this outsourced media could have a significantly lower quality rating.

Most cost effective non-archival grade BD-R DL media: Verbatim 97335 BD-R DL 6x disk, for about $9.00 per disk

Most cost effective non-archival grade BD-RE media: Optical Quantum OQBDRE02LT-10 BD-RE 2x speed media, for roughly $3.50 per disk

Second Most cost effective non-archival grade BD-RE media: #2 Verbatim 96921 BD-RE 2x media, for roughly $4.10 per disk

Best non-archival grade Blu Ray BD-RE DL media: Taiyo Yuden JVC BV-E260CW10 BD-RE DL 2x speed disks, for about $15.90 per disk

Next we discuss criteria for the best Blu Ray media online stores... So come back soon!

The prices mentioned in this review are the best across the top ten Blu Ray media stores that we selected, which we will review shortly. It is in general possible to find a touch cheaper - but you will need to evaluate your supplier. One option, which is sometimes cost effective for high quality media, is to purchase Japanese imports directly in Japan - there are several specialized retailers for this purpose. This option comes with additional risks and longer shipping times.

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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K&N/ High Flow Air Filters: Worth it?

2011-03-07T21:31:00.000-08:00

Best Air Filters Review: Air Filter Facts
Air Filter Facts Part 1: What you need to know .

Performance air filters: K&N (aka KN or K and N), Purolator, Amsoil, AEM, Green Filters, AFE make high flow automotive air filters, K&N being the most popular choice. Do these drop-in high performance automotive air filters make a difference to your mileage or performance? Their manufacturers claim that they let more air in through the system by decreasing flow restriction in the filter itself, and therefore increase engine power along with mileage.What are the right air filters to buy for your car? Many of the net discussions over air filters today are based on opinion rather than facts. What hard data do you have to be able to make well grounded decisions?

In this thorough Best Air Filters Review, we will explore air filter facts that are truly backed with data, then discuss all of the existing comparative tests that can be found on air filters, and finally review all of the air filter brands for which we have data.

What you need to know about automotive air filters

Why air filters
Your combustion engine burns fuel (gasoline, diesel, others) with oxygen (extracted from atmospheric air) in a sealed chamber to violently expand the mixture in it and provide motion to a shaft which ultimately drives the car wheels. Dust in the air could make their way into the combustion chamber and progressively degrade the metal surfaces and damage the seals, ultimately shortening the life of the engine very significantly. This is why your car manufacturer puts in an air filter on the air intake, so that as little dust as possible can make its way into the combustion chamber.

Replacing your air filter
Air filters eventually get contaminated by dust, and need to be periodically changed, typically on a schedule specified by your car's manufacturer. If they do not get changed, they will eventually let more dust into the engine, shortening its life. They will also let less and less air in, worsening car performance. Periodically changing both oil and air filters are critical maintenance operations to prolong the life of your car.

Filtering media
Standard OEM air filters are made of paper and/or other fibers, using many pleats for filtering (AC Delco, Wix/ Napa, Purolator Classic/ PureOne). So-called performance air filters typically use foam (Jackson Racing, Racing Beat, AMSOIL previous generation), synthetic fiber (AEM, AFE Pro Dry), oiled cotton gauze (K&N, Green Filters, S&B, AFE ProGuard), or oiled cotton- synthetic mix (Airaid) as the basic filtering media. AMSOIL, previously using foam, now uses nanofiber. Wire mesh with oil bath is a technology that has practically disappeared but that may make a come-back.

Cold Air Intakes
The high flow, "performance" air filters we are discussing are supposed to be drop-in replacements for stock air filters. There is, however, one possible wrinkle on drop-in air filters for performance improvement, which involves some modifications to the air intake. Cold air intakes bring in cold air from outside the hot engine bay, through a filter, and into the combustion chamber. Because cold air is denser, everything else being equal, more air coming into the engine will theoretically enhance engine performance and mileage, although, with modern engines automatically adjusting the amount of injected fuel to the amount of air, mileage improvement may not be realized. Cold air intakes are not drop-in replacements, and we are not evaluating them in this review.

Throwaway vs. reusable
Standard air filters, made of paper or fiber-based material, are generally throw-away parts that you toss upon change-up - AC Delco is the benchmark. Cotton, synthetic or foam filters can be cleaned, water-washed, dried, then reused. Cleaning the filter typically requires an aerosol can with a cleaning substance (sold by the filter manufacturer), after which the filter is carefully reverse-washed, then dried for up to two days, and sometimes oiled (also using proprietary oil from the filter manufacturer) before it is put back in. The procedure is, in general, more delicate for foam filters than it is for cotton gauze. It is best to have two alternating filters, so that there is no need for the car to be idle while the filter is drying.

Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensors
Modern, non-carbureted, fuel-injected engines use mass flow sensors to measure the amount of air getting into the engine to automatically adjust the air/fuel mixture to optimal levels.

Cost
Standard OEM air filters are significantly cheaper than their alternatives, but reusable filters eventually make up their increased costs and more, even with the additional cost of the cleaning aerosol cans and filtering oils.

Filtration efficiency and engine wear
The seminal paper connecting engine wear and filtration efficiency, Correlating Lube Oil Filtration Efficiencies With Engine Wear, was published by the Society of Automotive Engineers in 1988, and convincingly proved that engine wear could be reduced 70% by going from 40 micron oil filters to 15 micron filters. While the research was conducted on oil filters, since particles can reach the engine through oil or air, conclusions are likely to be valid for air filters as well.

Graph 1: Filter efficiency vs. particle size (SAE tests)

The graph above shows the filtration efficiency for eight different filters. Below we see the effect that these eight filters have on engine wear. There is clear and total correlation between the filter's effectiveness at removing smaller particles and the lesser amount of wear, wear being measured in metal loss from critical engine parts.

Graph 2: filter effect in diesel engine wear (SAE tests)

Graph 3: filter effect on gas engine wear (SAE tests)

High flow car filters have their very strong supporters on many automotive forums, in particular among speed aficionados. The concept that high flow filter supporters push is that, if you can reduce the air flow constriction caused by the filter, by using filtration media which are not so constraining, you will improve engine performance and mileage. In fact, many high flow filter supporters feel that their engine is peppier and their mileage improved: "2 miles per gal better fuel economy", " more responsive to the gas pedal", "improvement in acceleration." We were not able, however, to find relevant scientific information to validate improved mileage claims, and ended up discounting them. The extra horsepower obtained from aftermarket sensor is also doubtful: "you aren't going to pick up any power from a filter swap alone," writes Jeep Magazine - many experts agree.

We had expected, when initiating this review, to quickly find conclusive research: high flow filter companies had to have commissioned independent research labs to produce studies conclusively proving higher mileage, better performance, and/ or better filtration. We were very surprised to find absolutely no research data proving the advantages of high flow filters. AMSOIL, in particular, is well known for commissioning many third party tests for its motor oils - we were shocked to find that it had not commissioned a single test, that it was willing to share, comparing the effectiveness of its air filters. We found a lot of articles, from prestigious sites such as edmunds, extolling the virtues of high flow air filters. Unfortunately, they were not supported by scientific proof.

So we kept on digging for more facts. And - we finally found a few. But the results were not quite what we expected.

Next we discuss what makes a good air filter... So come back soon!

Next>>

Blu Ray Media: Best BD-RE DL Discs Review

2011-03-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media
Best Blu Ray Media Part 5: Best BD-RE DL Discs Review

In the same manner as Blu Ray BD-R DL media was much more expensive per GigaByte than BD-R media, the same comment applies to the price of BD-RE DE media when compared to BD-RE media. Blu Ray BD-RE DL media packs 50GB of storage in rewritable media, which is twice the capacity of BD-RE media, but costs three to four times as much. Like its regular BD-RE counterpart, it is also somewhat slow, being widely available in 2x write speeds only. Unless forced to use larger capacity discs, we feel that regular BD-RE media are a much more cost effective choice.

If we do need the capacity increase of BD-RE DL media, and are willing to pay a significant premium in price per GB, by going through our picks of the most reliable brands of Blu Ray media we can obtain a short list of choices.

Table 5: Blu Ray BD-RE DL media from recommended brands easily obtainable on the net

There are many fewer choices in BD-RE DL media than in other Blu ray formats. When looking for non-archival grade media, the most cost effective choice is Taiyo Yuden JVC BV-E260CW10 BD-RE DL 2x speed discs, for $15.90 per disc, in 10 spindle packs. When looking for archival grade media, the most cost effective choice (in a manner of speaking) is TDK 48739 BD-RE DL 2x speed, for $21.09 per disc in 50 spindle packs -which means the spindle cost is a whopping $1054.50... It is important to note that, while we found Sony to be archival grade, the exception in the Sony line was the BD-RE DL format, often or always outsourced to Panasonic, which we found to have too few write cycles (sometimes dying out at 20-30 cycles).

Conclusions

Best non-archival grade Blu Ray BD-RE DL media: Taiyo Yuden JVC BV-E260CW10 BD-RE DL 2x speed discs, for $15.90 per disc

Best archival grade Blu Ray BD-RE DL media: TDK 48739 BD-RE DL 2x speed, for $21.09 per disc

Next we review all Blu Ray media recommendations... So come back soon!

The prices mentioned in this review are the best across the top ten Blu Ray media stores that we selected, which we will review shortly. It is in general possible to find a touch cheaper - but you will need to evaluate your supplier. One option, which is sometimes cost effective for high quality media, is to purchase Japanese imports directly in Japan - there are several specialized retailers for this purpose. This option comes with additional risks and longer shipping times.

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

<<Previous Next>>

Blu Ray Media: Best BD-RE Discs Review

2011-03-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media
Best Blu Ray Media Part 4: Best BD-RE Discs Review

Rewritable Blu Ray media, or BD-RE discs, are an interesting concept for data storage, than can be primarily used for two purposes: back-ups and drive images, and collections. For the case of back-ups and images, rather than burning data once and keeping the archive until you don't need it, you could keep two sets of archives: (a) a "permanent" one, that you keep for long periods of time, which is a snapshot, say, every two weeks, and (b) a rotating set of, for instance, 14, where you image one every day, which you will over-write 2 weeks later. For the rotating set, you use BD-RE media.

Collections are an even more clear-cut business case: rather than re-burning your collection every time you want a back up, you can copy the increase (for instance your latest pictures), or even re-write the whole collection again, using another rotating set like in the previous instance. Financially the choice can pay off, since BD-RE media is approximately twice as expensive as BD-R media. If you use it more than twice, you have justified the purchase.

The main drawback of the BD-RE process for non-permanent backups is that, since you cannot label it permanently, you need to be meticulous in your back-up processes, otherwise you run of the risk of erasing valuable data. A second drawback is that BD-RE media are slower, and only available in 2x speed. These two drawbacks are big enough, we think, that we do not use BD-RE media in our back-up processes, to limit the risk of human error. However, we do use BD-RE media for portable, temporary storage, and for general data archival.

Limiting the choice of BD-RE media to our picks for the most reliable brands of Blu Ray media, we can come up with a short list, based on our selection of archival grade and non-archival grade media.

Table 4: Blu Ray BD-RE media from recommended brands easily obtainable on the net

The most cost effective non-archival grade BD-RE media is Optical Quantum OQBDRE02LT-10 BD-RE 2x speed media, for $3.50 per disc in 10 spindle packs. We have already expressed our thoughts on the impressive quality of Optical Quantum, but also our concerns about it. The next non-archival grade choice is Verbatim 96921 BD-RE 2x media, for $4.10 per disc in 10 spindle packs.

If you need archival archival grade media, your first choice is TDK 48738 BD-RE 2x media, for $4.44 per disc in 50 spindle packs. If you want a different brand, your next archival grade choice is Sony BNE-25RH or BNE-25AHE BD-RE 2x speed for a hefty $8.30 per disc in a single jewel case pack.

Conclusions

Most cost effective non-archival grade BD-RE media: #1 Optical Quantum OQBDRE02LT-10 BD-RE 2x speed media, for roughly $3.50 per disc

Most cost effective non-archival grade BD-RE media: #2 Verbatim 96921 BD-RE 2x media, for roughly $4.10 per disc

Most cost effective archival grade BD-RE Media: TDK 48738 BD-RE 2x media, for roughly $4.64 per disc

Next we recommend rewritable Blu Ray discs, or BD-RE media... So come back soon!

The prices mentioned in this review are the best across the top ten Blu Ray media stores that we selected, which we will review shortly. It is in general possible to find a touch cheaper - but you will need to evaluate your supplier. One option, which is sometimes cost effective for high quality media, is to purchase Japanese imports directly in Japan - there are several specialized retailers for this purpose. This option comes with additional risks and longer shipping times.

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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Blu Ray Media: Best BD-R DL Discs Review

2011-03-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media
Best Blu Ray Media Part 3: Best BD-R DL Discs Review

BD-R DL Blu Ray discs carry double capacity (50GB) compared to regular size Blu Ray discs, thanks to a dual layer of data (DL = Dual Layer) on the media. Players and Burners need to be explicitly compatible with DL discs to be able to use them. At this time, it is never cost effective to use BD-R DL discs, when compared with regular BD-R discs. However, when limited by the inherent capacity of a regular BD-R disc, in particular for streaming media, it is not always possible to pick BD-R. In this case, be prepared to pay a premium.

We have already selected our picks for the most reliable brands of Blu Ray media, and separated them between archival and non archival grades. By restricting our choices to them, we can come up with a short list of choices, ordered by price.

Table 3: Blu Ray BD-R DL media from recommended brands easily obtainable on the net

The first reaction we had when looking at BD-R DL format prices was sticker shock. Where our recommended archival quality BD-R discs go for $2.18 per disc for 25GB, the lowest price for a BD-R DL disc from one of our recommended brands was $8.95 per disc for 50GB, i.e. more than double per GigaByte. Interestingly, in a BD-R DL format, there is no premium associated with archival grade by our standards, although the premium was significant in the BD-R format.

If your needs are not archival grade, the most cost effective choice is Verbatim 97335 BD-R DL 6x disc, for $9.00 per disc in 10 spindle packs. While the 6x speed is valuable, unless you truly trust the media, it might be worth going for the less expensive archival grade 4x TDK product mentioned below, which is also white hub inkjet printable (the Verbatim product is not).

The most cost effective media in BD-R DL format is archival grade: the TDK 48737 BD-R DL 2x disc comes for $8.95 per disc in 25 spindle packs. For only $0.05 more per disc, you can get a TDK BD-R DL white hub inkjet printable disc, with twice the speed (4x), - a very valuable upgrade in our eyes. The next best archival quality product is Sony's BD-R DL 4x white hub inkjet printable media, for $11 per disc, in 10 spindle packs.

Conclusion

Most cost effective non-archival grade BD-R DL media: Verbatim 97335 BD-R DL 6x disc, for roughly $9.00 per disc

Most cost effective archival grade BD-R DL media: TDK 48737 BD-R DL 2x disc, for roughly $8.95 per disc

Best value proposition for archival grade BD-R DL media: TDK BD-R DL white hub inkjet printable 4x speed disc, for roughly $9.00 per disc

Operating Systems Market Share February 2011

2011-03-01T08:35:00.000-08:00

February 2011 statistics for OS market share on ConsumerPla.net

Our OS market share statistics appear to be more reflective of the global marketplace than our browser statistics, when you compare it to NetApplications' reported OS market share data. Windows dominates, as expected, with almost 80% of the platforms, followed by the MacOS with approximately 14% and Unix (including Linux) with almost 5.5%. It is interesting to note that over 2.5% of traffic derives from Apple mobile devices. That we can see almost no mobile traffic outside of these Apple devices is a testimony to Apple's quasi hegemony in the mobile market. Where is Android?

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

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Browser Market Share February 2011

2011-03-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

How much market share goes to Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari or Opera? What platform to develop to, or which one should you adopt? Product and marketing decisions often depend upon our perception and understanding of market share for browsers and operating systems (OSs). To contribute to our combined global knowledge, we have decided to share browser and OS statistics for the ConsumerPla.net site to the community.

February 2011 browser market share for ConsumerPla.net

Our February market share statistics show what we find a somewhat skewed distribution. It appears to us that Firefox is over-represented compared to Internet Explorer (IE), possibly due to our recent series on Blu Ray media, which could have attracted a higher percentage of high-tech users. As a comment, however, we have seen Firefox' share of our pageviews go up all through 2010, and IE go down. Safari, at 12%, is probably close to representing the regular Apple audience. We are surprised by a relatively high percentage - 0.3%, still very low, of course, in an absolute sense- for Chromeframe (an IE add-on which makes IE behave like Chrome). On our site, Chrome is still behind Safari. All in all, we do not map well to the stats provided by NetApplications.

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

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Consumer Reports 2011 Best Automakers

2011-03-01T05:28:00.000-08:00

ConsumerReports just published its 2011 car ratings report (you need to be a subscriber to have access to the car-by-car rating data). Consumer Reports publishes every year what has become the most influential set of ratings in North America, obtained by compiling reliability and car feedback data from hundreds of thousands of its subscribers, this year for 1.3M vehicles, along with Consumer reports' own extensive road test scores. Consumer Reports also selects ten favorites across ten different categories.

As part of its rating report, Consumer Reports rates the automakers themselves, by averaging their individual car ratings across the brand (here is a second post by Consumer Reports on the same topic). There are two interesting dimensions to look at: the road tests, which are fairly representative of the success of the design - they gather performance, safety, fuel economy, comfort, and convenience,- and the reliability ratings, which are what Consumer Reports is most well known for.

We had already reviewed the car reliability survey report, published in November 2010, here. This new edition of the Consumer Reports car ratings assembles the previous reliability report with Consumer Reports new 2011 car road test ratings. As usual, the results this year are interesting.

Stability at the top for Japan

The three best automakers, like last year and the year before, are Honda, Toyota, and Subaru, with Honda being the most reliable, and Subaru having the best road tests. Toyota took some hits in reliability, but remains close to the top, and carries 3 car category winners. Not far from the top 3 is Volvo, sold by Ford last year to Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely, slightly behind in both reliability and road tests. Ford, most improved this year in road tests (from 66 to 70) is practically even with Volvo in reliability, but still several points behind in road test results.

Following roughly 7 points behind in reliability are Hyundai, Mazda, and Nissan, all of them roughly even with Toyota and Honda in road tests. Nissan is going down, while Hyundai is going up fast in both directions.

Another 10 points behind in reliability we find Volkswagen and GM, followed by Mercedes 5 reliability points behind, then by BMW 5 reliability points further. Chrysler, roughly equal to BMW in reliability, is 15 points behind GM in road tests and 20 to 25 points behind Mercedes and BMW.

US car manufacturers are catching up - except for Chrysler

How are the domestic manufacturers doing? Ford had climbed up several ranks in reliability in late 2010, and is now showing good progress in road tests as well, being 2011's most improved brand on road tests as its score grows from 66 to 70. It is not very far behind from the top three, and could conceivably catch up in the next 2 to 3 years if progress continues. GM had also progressed significantly in reliability last year, and now improves in road tests as well, going from 64 to 67. It also gains a category pick with the Chevy Avalanche, in pickups, but was slammed on the Chevy Volt. GM had not invested enough in new product development in the two years prior to bankruptcy, so the past two years saw poor product line renewal from GM. We should expect the next two years, then, to show many new models, and GM could be poised for a radical step forward in road test results.

Chrysler, on the other hand, is last by a very wide margin in road tests, and last in reliability as well with BMW, although not far behind Mercedes. Chrysler suffered from the same problem as GM in the past 3 years, and should show very significant product line renewal in the next two years, but its reliability and road test data are so poor today that there is a very long way to go. Consumer Reports, however, states that the first vehicles coming out are showing some promise.

"Luxury" European cars are starting to lag

Both Volkswagen and BMW score well in road tests, behind Subaru, but even or ahead of Honda and Toyota. However... BMW is last in reliability across all manufacturers, even with Chrysler. Mercedes-Benz is behind all players except Chrysler and BMW in reliability, and behind all players except the Big Three in road tests. It dropped from year to year, both in reliability and road test ratings - the only manufacturer to do so. How long can it keep its luxury brand image? Volkswagen would do better without its flagship Audi, which, when rated alone in reliability, is only barely ahead of Chrysler. Unfortunately for VW's Fahrvergnügen, Consumer Reports indicates that its new Jetta sedan's road tests are definitely worsening, a bad sign for the brand.

Toyota remains on top of the best picks

Despite a rough 2010 year and multiple product recalls, Toyota's product line appears to remain the deepest in the field, collecting three best picks, more than any other automaker, with the RAV4 in small pickups, the Prius in green cars, and the Sienna in family haulers.

Hyundai is getting up with the best of them

Not only have Korean brand Hyundai and its sub-brand Kia successfully gained multiple spots in reliability,but they are the only manufacturer apart from Toyota and Nissan to score more than one category pick, with the Kia Sorrento in family SUVs and the Hyundai Elantra in small cars.

Want to read more about it? Try the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, CNET, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, AP, Detroit free Press #1, Detroit free Press #2, Detroit Free Press #3, the Car Connection, Edmunds, CBS MoneyWatch, NPR, New York Times, CNN Money, USA Today, cars.com, autoblog, Gearlog, or the LA Times.

Car Blog: Consumer Reports releases 2011 annual auto issue in print, online

Consumer Reports 2011 automakers report card

Consumer Reports Top 10 picks
Consumer Reports 2011: best and worst cars

Pyrex Liquid Measuring Cup: Cool Gear

2011-02-28T10:15:00.001-08:00

What is the best liquid measuring cup in the kitchen? The right measuring cup has many attributes: easy to handle and to store, easy to read, easy to clean, precise, long lasting markings, can go to the microwave or the freezer without damage, hard to break... We are putting together a full length review to determine the answer - but, so far, the iconic Pyrex measuring cup does not disappoint, collecting excellent user ratings and very few pans. We collected more than 200 user reviews on Pyrex measuring cups. What do users say?

Durable and well made

Pyrex tempered soda-lime glass has excellent resistance to stress shattering and good resistance to thermal stress. Users are pleased with durability: "a great product that will last forever, some of my pieces are over 25-30 years old", "This thing is made to last", "durable", "it's durable", "well made product", "durable and hard wearing", "Made from a heavyweight glass, these are very sturdy. I would have gone as far as to say 'virtually indestructible', but my wife somehow dropped ours and shattered it a couple of weeks ago. As soon as it happened, I was here ordering a replacement","well constructed", "this thing is made to last", "made very, very well", "durable, long-lasting, thick-glassed measuring cup. I've had it for years", "they are very durable", " and has a high tolerance for temperature", "thick, sturdy glass [...] made in USA", "I've dropped it a few times in the sink without any damage. It's sturdy Pyrex you can expect to use for years", "measuring cup is made very well","very durable, won't crack when hot."

While tempered soda-lime glass is durable, it can break, and will break if exposed to strong temperature contrasts: "exploded in my microwave yesterday."

Easy to measure and read

The first duty of a measuring cup is to measure. Users report, in general, that Pyrex cups measure well, and that the measure is easy to read: "measures great", "easy to read while you are measuring liquids", "thick walled with red letters that are easy to read","measures liquids accurately", "accurate","clear markings", "the markings are clear and haven't worn off","measurements are accurate", "easy to read markings", "well marked", "thick walled with red letters that are easy to read", "I have had one many years and I can still see the numbers"," red lines are rather easy to see", "measure quantities in either cups or milliliters; this is great for recipes that have measurements in either type of unit","I've had it for years, and the writing hasn't come off. The writing is easy to read", "lots of measurements (metric and imperial) on the side","accurate measurements, easy to read", "label is very clear","measurements are easy to read forwards, backwards, upside down (wait, what?) and in any other way you can think of","red measurement markings are well defined and easy to read. They also don't fade over time"

A small number of users complain of having the imperial measurements on the counterclockwise side of the handle, while the metric measurements are on the clockwise side: " made for lefties: the handle is positioned so that if you hold the handle by your left hand you get metric measurements instead of English", "I am a right-handed American who uses Cups as a measuring unit. When I am pouring something into the measuring cup, I hold the cup in my left hand and pour with my dominant right hand. That means that the scale I need is on the opposite side of the cup." Other users disagree.

Another few users complain of inexact measures, while others disagree:
- "this is a great cup, except for one little thing: the measurements are wrong! 1 cup, according to this measuring cup, is actually closer to 7/8 cup. I have compared it to older PYREX measuring cups (2 cup and 4 cup sizes), as well as to a variety of other measuring cups. The other measuring cups are all consistent, both Pyrex and non-Pyrex. But the measurements provided by this 1-cup Pyrex cup are consistently too low."
- "this Pyrex Prepware 1-Cup Measuring Cup is a joy to work with. The measurements are dead on. I cross checked each measurement with 6 other measuring cups and spoons from various other makers and rest assured the Pyrex Prepware 1-Cup Measuring Cup is very accurate. If you want to measure things whether to cook, bake, or if you just like to measure things as a hobby like I do, this is the product."

Microwave-safe

Users report that Pyrex measuring cups can be used in the microwave oven: "great to use in the microwave for melting butter, chocolate, etc", "Sometimes I will microwave in it, and it is fine for that as well","microwave safe", "[go] in the microwave", "can go from microwave to the fridge and everywhere in between", "microwavable."

Easy to clean and dishwasher safe

Numerous users reviews report that Pyrex measuring cups are truly dishwasher safe, with not a single dishwashing issue reported (as opposed to older models of Pyrex cups, where there are reports of washed-out markings). Users rate the cups easy to clean: "dishwasher safe and very easy to clean", "will not stain", "easy to clean", "go in the dishwasher fine", "easy to wash", "dishwasher safe and very easy to clean. Will not stain", "glass is easy to clean","I had searched high and low for a microwaveable and dishwasher safe measuring cup. The only cups I found were only one or the other but not both. This cup is both. Very useful. We use it daily","does real well in the dishwasher."

Advantage of glass again plastic

Many user reviews focus on the advantage of Pyrex measuring cups against plastic measuring cups. They outline the advantages of using glass to measure oily substances, the easier clean-up, the ability to heat liquids inside the cup, and the fact that glass provides a neutral, clean surface while plastic can leach chemical substances: "[it] is GLASS and is definitely higher grade than most measuring cups", "measuring oil in a plastic measuring cup is not a good idea, most of the oil will stick to the sides, not with the Pyrex glass","Since it's glass it's extremely easy to clean","Because it's glass, I warm up liquids in it in the microwave", "Have you ever tried to measure a cup of oil in a plastic measuring cup? Sure, it works, but I hope you have half an hour or so to get the oil off the plastic. It's an annoying waste of time and gallons of running water", "the gold standard of measuring cups. All that other plastic stuff in my kitchen is junk compared to it", "The reason for the review is comparing with the plastic ones, glass ones are far better. #1 - It's easy to clean. Even if you use it to measure oil, glass cleans a lot better afterwards. #2 - The glass is very thick, you can call it heavy duty. Bumping it on the counter or against pans, it won't just break. #3 - The handle holds comfortably & the cup has a pouring mouth", "I like glass it is pure does not hold stains and it does not give off any gases", "Cleans up easier & quicker than the plastic ones. Nothing seems to stick to it","safe from chemical worries like plastics and odor and stain resistant","If I am measuring solids then I use a stainless steel or plastic set but if I am measuring liquids then glass is the only way to go, especially when I need to heat up in the microwave","I love how this measuring cup is made out of glass (unlike my other one, which was made out of plastic). Now I could put oil and other solutions without hesitation", "since it is not made of plastic, it will not disintegrate over time and leave microscopic particles of of plastic and chemicals in your food like plastic cups will."

Easy to hold and pour

Most reviewers are pleased with the handle and with the way the measuring cups pour: "pours great", "has a spout and a handle for easier pouring","lip works perfectly well in my applications. ", "I like this measuring cup because of this comfortable handle and pouring mouth", "easy to hold","it pours very well, comfortable to handle", "spout and a handle for easier pouring", "handle is comfortable", "good handle and spout",""handle is quite comfortable"

Some users, however, are unhappy with the spout. There are some who suggest Anchor Hocking cups as having better spouts, while others suggest that both brands are equally poor:
"I got this to replace a similar Anchor Hocking 1-quart measuring cup, because that one pours so poorly. Unfortunately this one is no better", "the pouring lip is too narrow and too shallow. You have to pour very slowly to prevent spilling liquids. Anchor Hocking makes one that has better markings, is easier to read, and has a wider and deeper pouring spout. It is also less expensive", "does not pour well", "this measuring cup doesn't pour well at all", "pouring anything more viscous than water out of the spout creates, at best, unpredictable results. Sometimes I can pour perfectly (if slowly) and sometimes the contents just run down the side and come off the bottom of the cup."

After examining pouring complains, we suspect that pouring issues, when they happen, occur primarily for viscous liquids other than water. Other users agree with us: "if you google teapot effect, or coanda pouring, this is actually a very old, well known problem, with a few known solutions, one of which is to pour your fluid against a stirring rod, or spoon."

Similarly, few users prefer a closed handle, but others prefer the modern open handle, which also allows stacking: "my only complaint is the 'open' handle. I have trouble holding on to the cup when it's soapy. A 'closed' handle (welded on both sides) would be easier to hold on to. A benefit of the 'open' handle is the ability to stack the cups", "the way the handle is designed is awful. On the current design, you can't get a firm, solid grip because the handle only goes half way down. The old version's handle was like you would find on a coffee cup - the top and tip were attached to the cup part. You knew you had a good grip. Also, if your hand is not completely dry and clean, the cup can very easily slip out of your hand", "one reviewer writes that the handle isn't good enough but I have no complaints in this department. It's sturdy; but if you really want a closed handle that is welded on both sides you will have to look elsewhere."

Comparing old models with new

Few users complain that new models are somehow inferior to the old ones. Others, however, provide specific reasons why they prefer the new models to the old ones:
- "My original is tall and slender, with thick glass. The new version is short, wide and the glass is thinner. I don't know if this makes a difference, but my problem is thus: When pouring liquid, my new Measuring Cup DRIPS."
- "When my wife accidentally broke her old Pyrex 2-Cup measuring cup which she's had for at least ... 18 years [I replaced it for her] ... to my and especially her great surprise, this new exact replacement was better marked and thus easier to read and had an extremely cool light-green hue to it!!! It was truly better than the original it replaced!!!", "I replaced an older cup of this type with the new model. The measurements are much easier to read, and I like the handle better as it is open at the bottom, which, I think, makes it easier to use."
- "After 30 years of using the same Pyrex measuring cup, the markings were starting to wear and we had scratched the interior, so we decided to replace it with another Pyrex measuring cup [...] The design of the cup has changed little in 30 years. If anything, it is a little heavier. We are very pleased with it. "
- "I've had these Pyrex cups in three sizes (not the same ones, though they are very sturdy) for nearly forty years. I didn't check the other reviewer's comment about the handle, but -- in the old days the handle was closed on the bottom; when they redesigned the handle it allowed these cups to stack, as you mention, which was a very good thing. The other improvement made to these over time is the red markings; they were not dishwasher-hardy, back then, and everyone I knew had a Pyrex quart bowl with the markings entirely washed off. Still handy but not for measuring. "

Made in USA

Many users remark on the fact that Pyrex measuring cups are made in the USA.

Tips

Several users comment on the need for different measuring tools for dry and wet measures: "for measuring dry ingredients, you want a cup that fills to the top so you can scrape off the excess", "this is a liquid measuring cup. Why would you need this? Because using dry measuring cups to measure liquids (which are meant to be leveled off at the very top with a knife) almost guarantees spillage. This cup prevents that. Conversely, you can't level off dry ingredients in this, so only use it for liquids."

Multiple users comment upon the specific limitations of Pyrex glass, in particular upon the fact that it must not be used on the stove top: "this is both top and bottom dishwasher safe, microwave safe, and even oven safe, but not stove top safe."

The cups come in multiple sizes, and many users report that they own all, or many, sizes. Some indicate a preference for one size: "the 2-cup size is a nice balance; smaller and and easier to handle than the 4-cup, but more useful than the 1-cup size (especially when cooking for more than two)."

Statistics and user ratings

We gathered over 200 reviews from Amazon and Macy's on multiple sizes of Pyrex measuring cups. User ratings were an excellent 87%, giving us a 5% margin of error at 95% certainty.

Rumors and concerns

Internet rumors have circulated over the past several years, about Pyrex being manufactured in China, and about Pyrex having recently switched glass formulation from borosilicate glass to cheaper soda-lime glass. They have been largely, if not totally, debunked, although all US Pyrex products have indeed been made of tempered soda-lime glass since the 1980s.

More serious are recent allegations that Pyrex baking glass has been subject to sudden explosions. There are multiple reports over the net. Consumer Reports recently published some tests and showed that tempered soda-lime glass can shatter when used in contravention to the manufacturer's instructions, while some borosilicate dishes may not shatter, and requested consumer agencies to investigate these reports. To be clear, tempered glass products, in general, will shatter when subjected to violent temperature differences, such as when you take a baking dish out of a hot oven and put it in or on cold water. There still may be some issues affecting Pyrex baking dishes - although at this stage we are somewhat doubtful. In any case, these reports only minimally affect measuring cups, which are not, in general, subjected to wide temperature changes.

Conclusion: "recommended for use by ConsumerPla.net"

Pyrex measuring cups are a kitchen icon, with a high reputation for durability, and very strong advantages over plastic measuring implements. They are easy to wash, dishwasher-safe and microwave-safe, and use highly visible markings. Most people consider Pyrex cups to hold well and pour well. The Pyrex web site is abominable and does not give you any way to peruse the different models available, so following are a few links. Pyrex measuring cups come in 1-cup, 2-cup, 4-cup and 8-cup sizes. Other Pyrex measuring cup models allow you to view measuring numbers from above, or provide a cup with a silicone bottom ring and/or a plastic lid, although they do not meet with universal user approval. We have no hesitation endorsing standard Pyrex measuring cups as excellent liquid measuring tools for general use in the kitchen.

Some more user comments: "I have owned this measuring cup for quite a few years and it is my favorite", "pretty much a requirement for anyone who cooks or bakes","accurate and durable", "you can't ask much more from a measuring cup", "If you can only own one measuring cup set, then this would be the one to get", "We've had one of these Pyrex measuring cups for years and love it. Other measuring cups don't even compare!", "durable and practical, "I use this cup for everything [...] this is just a must-have for your kitchen","A real simple item, but this one gets everything right at the reasonable price. Good buy","really nothing that could be improved upon, just a great, solid product", "Fantastic measuring cup [...] worth every cent! "

Blu Ray Media: Best BD-R Discs Review

2011-02-25T06:54:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media
Best Blu Ray Media Part 2: Best BD-R Discs Review

Run of the mill Blu Ray BD-R discs represent the bulk of Blu Ray blank media purchases. While, for archival quality, they are 75% more expensive (or more) than budget LTH discs, they enjoy broad -although not perfect- compatibility across players and burners. There is a big difference in price between non-archival quality and archival quality Blu Ray media, so differentiating between the two is critical. As we already selected our picks of the most reliable brands of Blu Ray media, by restricting our choices to them, we can produce a short list of trustworthy products ordered by price.

Table 2: Blu Ray BD-R media from recommended brands easily obtainable on the net

In previous articles, we discussed at length archival quality and reliability for the primary brands of generally available Blu Ray media. The results are summarized here. We eliminated many brands from the mix for poor quality, and summarized what remains in Table 2. What are the conclusions of our statistical analysis for run-of-the-mill, non-LTH BD-R Blu Ray media?

The most cost effective BD-R media in Table 2 is Optical Quantum's OQBDR04LT-25 BD-R, 4x write speed disc in 25 spindle packs, for $1.00 per disc, for any non-archival quality use. As we discussed in our review of Optical Quantum, the brand outsources media with a Philips MID (itself manufactured by Moser Baer of India), which have shown to have very high variability in quality. While, so far, Optical Quantum's Blu ray products have had excellent reviews and ratings, we are concerned that this could be at the mercy of a bad batch of new media, which, we believe, could happen any time given the variability of its outsourced media. For an extra $0.20, the same disc is available in white hub inkjet printable. Given the price of the non-printable base model, if you have an LTH compatible burner, and use Blu Ray for data archival, it is probably worth it to look at archival quality LTH Media,, available from Verbatim for $1.25 per disc.

When you need archival quality in standard BD-R media, the most cost effective choice is TDK 49024 BD-R 4x speed disc in 50 spindle packs, for $2.18 per disc. This is the main battle horse we use at ConsumerPla.net for Blu Ray archival. The same disc can be obtained in white hub inkjet printable for a hefty $3.79 per disc (TDK 49025). The next best choice for archival quality BD-R is the basically the same disc, but in 6x speed, for $2.36: TDK 61694 BD-R, 6x write speed in 50 spindle packs. If you want to switch brands, the first non-TDK choice is Sony BD-R 4x speed, white hub inkjet printable, for $4.00 per disc. As we mentioned earlier, if your needs are for data archival, and if your burner is compatible with LTH, another cost effective option might be Verbatim LTH media, for $1.25 per disc.

Conclusions

Most cost effective non-archival quality BD-R media: Optical Quantum OQBDR04LT-25 BD-R, 4x write speed disc in 25 spindle packs, for $1.00 per disc. While quality is excellent right now, we are concerned that future batches of this outsourced media could have a significantly lower quality rating.

Most cost effective archival quality BD-R media: TDK 49024 BD-R 4x speed disc in 50 spindle packs, for $2.18 per disc at this time.
Most cost effective fast archival quality BD-R media: TDK 61694 BD-R 6x speed disc in 50 spindle packs, for $2.36 per disc at this time.

Next we recommend Blu Ray dual layer high capacity (50GB) discs, or BD-R DL media... So come back soon!

The prices mentioned in this review are the best across the top ten Blu Ray media stores that we selected, which we will review shortly. It is in general possible to find a touch cheaper - but you will need to evaluate your supplier. One option, which is sometimes cost effective for high quality media, is to purchase Japanese imports directly in Japan - there are several specialized retailers for this purpose. This option comes with additional risks and longer shipping times.

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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Blu Ray Media: Best BD-R LTH Discs Review

2011-02-24T07:22:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media
Best Blu Ray Media Part 1: Best BD-R LTH Discs Review

Table 1: Blu Ray LTH media from recommended brands easily obtainable on the net

We already rated Verbatim LTH and Taiyo Yuden/ JVC. In these posts, we concluded that:

Vermatin LTH is archival quality
Taiyo Yuden./ JVC does not have enough reviews at this time to be rated archival quality yet, but we recommend it for non-archival quality uses
Make sure that your player/ burner is LTH compatible before purchasing LTH media

When looking at the LTH products easily obtainable on the US market, it becomes clear that, at $1.25 per disc in 20 spindle packs, Verbatim 97090 BD-R LTH media is the best priced media in the category. It is, in fact, the best priced media among all of our recommended brands. It is a clear choice for the most cost effective recommended Blu Ray media. Its one drawback is that it is relatively slow at 2x. If you want a printable version of the same disc, the Verbatim 97331, for $1.72 per disc, provides white hub printable discs at a hefty premium.

If we want faster media, and your use does not require archival quality, the next best is Taiyo Yuden/ JVC, at 4x speed, for $1.72 per disc in 25 spindle packs. Since the JVC disc is also white printable (it is not clear if it is hub printable though), it might be a better choice than the Verbatim 97331, since it provides a printable alternative that is 6x for only $0.04 per disc more than the Verbatim, which is only 2x.

If, on the other hand, you need archival quality AND faster media, then your only choice in LTH media are the Verbatim BD-R LTH 4x discs in 25 spindle packs, for $3.33 per disc. Given the very high price per disc for this version, a better choice is to pick non-LTH media.

Conclusions

Most cost effective archival quality LTH media: Verbatim 97090 BD-R LTH 2x, for roughly $1.25 per disc in 20 spindle packs - IF your burners are players are LTH compatible

Most cost effective non archival quality, faster LTH media: Taiyo Yuden/ JVC BD-R LTH 4x, for roughly $1.72 per disc in 25 spindle packs.

Most cost effective archival quality Blu Ray media overall: Verbatim 97090 BD-R LTH 2x, for roughly $1.25 per disc in 20 spindle packs - IF your burners are players are LTH compatible

Next we recommend discs for traditional BD-R media... So come back soon!

The prices mentioned in this review are the best across the top ten Blu Ray media stores that we selected, which we will review shortly. It is in general possible to find a touch cheaper - but you will need to evaluate your supplier. One option, which is sometimes cost effective for high quality media, is to purchase Japanese imports directly in Japan - there are several specialized retailers for this purpose. This option comes with additional risks and longer shipping times.

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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Zip-It Drain Cleaner: Cool Gear

2011-02-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

Zip-It/ Cobra Drain Cleaner: a fast and simple way to clean a drain without the need for any other tool

How do you fix a clogged sink or tub drain? Chemicals, Snake, Auger? Call a plumber? This problem must be the most common, and one of the most unpleasant, plumbing problems that we all encounter in our everyday life. In an upcoming guide, we will explore the different product options to clearing a sink drain. Without needing to go through all possible scenarios, however, we can already say that, to us, the first option after trying a plunger is the Zip-it Drain Cleaner, a simple, inexpensive, and easy to use device with very high user satisfaction ratings.

The Zip-It Drain Cleaner, also called the Cobra drain cleaner from its manufacturer's name Cobra Products Company, is available for $2 to $4 in most brick-and-mortar hardware stores, and in large numbers of online stores. It is a 17-inch plastic strip, with soft teeth on both sides, and a finger hold, which is rigid enough to be inserted into a sink drain hole, yet flexible enough to follow the tight curves of the P-trap below the sink.

Using a Zip-It Drain Cleaner

Because of its design, the Zip-It Drain Cleaner may only clear clogs if they are in the first 17 inches of piping:-) It turns out, however, that most drain clogs happen in the first foot and a half from the drain, based on the very high percentage of satisfied user reviews.What do users say about the Zip-It Drain Cleaner?

Successful at cleaning sink and tub drains

We found more than 150 user reviews for the Zip-It drain cleaner. Of the lot, 88% of the reviews indicated success at unclogging drains, and were very positive, not to say raving: "these work great!", "such an easy way to clean out clogged drains without expensive and harmful chemicals","after about 20 minutes of work all three drains were perfectly free flowing again. I was so pleased I quickly bought more to have a stock on hand just in case!", "one of those things that looks like it would never work [...] it worked very well on my bathroom drains, even those that have the stopper pretty much permanently attached. With some creativity you can get it down the drain and back out again without breaking any of the plastic tines", "so simple it's amazing! [...] In only 5 minutes I [...] completely pulled EVERYTHING out using only a quarter of it length. I ran the water and to my bath tub drain answered with the whirl wind I thought I would never see again.Just to be sure I plunged the Zip-It tool in it's entirety (the way you check your oil) and it was clean as a whistle. GET THIS PEOPLE. I wished I had found it sooner", " cheap, easy and it works!I have used these for years (sink drains only) and they've worked every time", "especially in showers used by girls with long hair, this is SO helpful in clearing drains--no more standing in ankle deep water in your shower!", "best 1.99$ I ever spent! Seriously, this thing is amazing. I ended up having to take the plug out of the sink to get the enormous glob of hair out of the drain (easy), but it worked very well", "this one is the best! Since we started using this, the drains were clear and no more slow clearing of water!!!! I completely recommend this product", "works like a champ! Zipped three drains this morning. As said just insert down the drain, jiggle twist, turn and pull. Wear the rubber gloves. Drains running smooth", "worked great for my sink clog! [...] It was easy to use, just took some pulling and jiggling to pull it out at times, but nothing difficult. I inserted it down about 5 times at different entry points around the drain to make sure I had everything and it pulled up a decent amount of hair (yuk) [...] After about 5 minutes of work the sink drained perfectly with no chemicals or big to-do", "awesome little gadget! Easy and effective for unclogging a slow-running bathroom sink drain! It took me longer to open the package than it did to unclog the drain. Highly recommended", "my drains work again: Excellent tool! [...] the teeth that pull out the hair/gunk haven't broken or bent, and it definitely cleaned out my drain", "does the job! : I purchased this hoping it would fix the drain clog in my bathtub. [...] I pushed the Zip It into the drain and pulled out a ton of hair!It only took two or three minutes to clean the drain and then clean the tool. I'm very pleased with the results. Highly recommended!", "pretty useful! This worked great in one my tubs, and nothing on my other tub. It's great how you can just throw it away and you're done. My plumber's snake is so gross after using it, I want to throw up. If you have a clog and want a cheap way of cleaning it with out calling a plumber give this a try", "great for hair clogs! These are the best, most eco-friend hair clog removers around. Before you dump those chemicals down your drain, give one of these a go. They work like a charm", "awesome! This product is awesome...I was impressed by how easy it was to use this. It gets the job done", "clever and effective", "it works ... cheaper than a plumber and safer than chemicals."

Some of the user reviews tell us entertaining stories:
- "you just push it down the drain and pull it back up. My bathroom sink was really slow at draining, I stuck this down there and pulled up quite a bit of hair. I figured while I was at it and I wish I would have took video of it was my bathtub drain. I never thought I had any drain flow problems with it until I used this nifty tool. I put it down the drain and I swear I pulled up what looked about as long as a full grown cats tail and as big around as one too. I did it about three more times and got so much hair out. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone that is looking to clear out their drain."
- "it fixed the hair clog problem on my wife's sink in less than 5 minutes. I was so happy with the result that I proceeded to use the Zip it on the other sink in the master bath, in addition to the sink in my daughter's bathroom and the bathtub drain in our spare bathroom. What a difference Zip it made, with no chemicals used in the process. I would definitely recommend using this product"
- "more than pleased! [...] I removed a huge amount of material from my tub (my boyflame and I both have long, long hair), and a less impressive haul from the bathroom sink[...] . The sink and tub ran a lot smoother afterwards. Try this before more expensive options. It is safer for the environment and effective for many types of clogs. I would pay at least $20 for this even though it's just a cut plastic strip. The design is pretty damn good."
- "neat drain cleaning tool! Our shower drain never drained properly ever since we moved in our new house. The builder did not look into this and after 4 years(!) After we ordered this simple drain tool, my husband went to work right away. He inserted the long plastic tool and twisted it several times. What he pulled out was a ball of hair which was stuck to a plumber's putty! Now the shower drains perfectly! Even if there wasn't a plumbers putty in the drain, this gadget really pulls up hair (remember to twist it)."

We even have a building contractor giving us his thoughts: "great little product! I'm not just some handyman, not that there is anything wrong with being a handyman. I'm a full on contractor and yes, I often let things go in my own home because I can't be satisfied with little fixes. I always want to tear out the whole thing and do it right. I want to remodel our bathroom and one little nagging thing about it is the poorly draining sink. And yes, constantly pouring caustic drain cleaner down pipes is bad for them, but I've been doing it. So I got one of these (despite the fact that I could probably make something similar - but heck time is money) and it worked like a charm. Pulled out the expected slimy wad of hair, and also part of a chop stick and some broken glass. Second run came up with nothing and the sink drains perfectly. I haven't tried it on the shower yet - which might be trickier - but that doesn't actually have any drain problems. Totally worth it. Buy it!"

On the other hand, 12% of the user reviews are negative and describe unsuccessful outcomes. Several of them indicate that the clog was too low for the Zip-It to be effective: "did not work for me. I think if they make this item longer in size it might have helped","useless. The drain in my bathtub is clogged and remains so after using this product. I did nothing for me. It is too short, does not reach the clog down the tube", "does not work in every case. Zip It may not work for bathtub drains.
Zip It does not work for deep clogs (even in a sink).[...] Zip It will not work if the clog is something the little spikes cannot catch (like something too soapy or greasy, "the reality is, it doesn't go all the way in my bath tub drain, only 1/3 of it got in. And it didn't remove a thing", "Zip-it probably is only good when U-tube is near the bottom of the wash basin. If it's located further down, Zipit can't reach it."

Some negative reviews mention that the clog is worse after using Zip-It. We imagine that this might be due to a clog being right around the end of the Zip-It length: "does not work. This was the first drain cleaning tool I tried,and I can tell you for sure...it does not work at all! It made the clog 10 times worse. Couldn't use the sink at all!! It went form a slow draining sink to a completely NON-DRAINING, unusable sink. Now its stuck in there and no clog removed", "this actually made my drain problem even worse. Instead of just a slowly draining sink,I think the Cobra jammed the clog down the pipe and completely stopped up the drain so it didn't drain at all."

Reusable

While the product is sold as a use-once, throw-away item, several users report success at reusing it multiple times: "you don't have to throw them away after one use either. Just wipe them clean. We use these 3-5 times each and they work like a charm. Great value...", "so cheap and can be used several times", "I reused one of these on my two bathroom sinks and the master bathroom tub drain", "I don't dispose of them after each use, I use them several times before they get bent and need to be disposed of", " it says on the package to throw the tool away after you use it but I just took toilet tissue and cleaned it off pulling in the direction of the spikes, not against them. It cleaned off nicely and I can use it again and again, "my live-in plumber! AMAZING.....I bought this item because all of a sudden, the water in my tub would not go down. I purchased the Zip-IT, brought it home, stuck it down the drain, pulled it out, and there was a rag attached to the zip it!!! Yes a rag had gone down my drain (without my knowledge), and the Zip-It cleared my drain!! Amazing!!!!", "

Usage Tips

What is pulled out by the Zip-It tool is not appetizing to say the least, and many users mention the need for gloves: "before you begin folks, you should probably wear some goggles and dish washing gloves. Also enlist some needle nose pliers to pull out the hell that this tool surfaces", "make sure you have gloves or paper towels handy to grab the nasty gunk that will come out of the drain", "I put on some rubber gloves thanks to another reviewer's advice and got after it... Glad I had the gloves on to help pull stuff off the tool and away from the drain as I worked."

Several users mention that pulling out the tool must be done with care so as not to damage the plastic teeth. Users suggest twisting as you pull for an easier time: "the teeth get hung up a bit on the drain plug rigging as you try to take it out but I found that if you twist it as you remove it retains the hair and clears the metal bit by bit", "it does have very sharp edges, so be aware [...] Just be patient and don't freak out if it gets stuck", "they are fragile, but only when used carelessly. I broke some of the teeth off when I became too enthusiastic."

User's manual

A user review gives an improved manual for use:
"PREPARATION:
1) Put on some gloves
2) Get a bag, such as a left-over plastic bag from the market
3) Have some paper towels handy
USAGE:
1) If you are like me and don't know how to remove the adjustable sink plug (not sure what they are called), this tool fits fine along the side
2) Stick it all the way down the drain and SLOWLY work it up. If you pull too fast it will fling "stuff" all over
3) Repeat several times going around all sides of the adjustable sink plug
4) Use the paper towels to wipe off excess grim from the Zip-It and your sink
5) Put the water on full-blast and if it doesn't flow down the drain easily, then do it a few more times
This was easy.
This was quick.
I rinsed the Zip-it off and stored in the garage for next time. One Zip-It = multiple uses.
Worth it!"

Videos

They show excellent success, but they can be quite gross...

Statistics

We collected 169 user reviews from multiple sources: Amazon Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool
, Amazon Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool 12-Pack, Sears Zip-It Drain Cleaner, Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool - Reviews | RateItAll, Cobra Zip-It Reviews | Buzzillions.com, COBRA Zip-it Drain Cleaner #2 Reviews | Buzzillions.com, Cool Tools: Zip-It Drain Cleaner, Cobra Products 400 Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool Review - InfoBarrel, Family Handyman Unclog Drains with the Cobra Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool. We found an excellent 88% user approval rating, with a 5% margin of error at 95% certainty. This is a particularly good result, given the fact that, from the tool's design, we know, before using it that it will only work with clogs that are close the the drain.

Conclusion: "Recommended by ConsumerPla.net"

The Zip-It drain cleaner is a very simple, inexpensive drain cleaning cool that has a high likelihood of resolving drain clogs when the clog is within a foot and a half of the drain, and that enjoys excellent user reviews. It is usable even by those with absolutely no affinities with tools. While it is advertised as a throw-away tool, many users report being able to use it multiple times. Given its very low $2-$4 unit price, ordering it online often results in proportionally high shipping costs. We recommend you purchase it in a local brick-and-mortar store, or online in a multiple-unit pack such as this one. We have no reservation in endorsing the Zip-It drain cleaner.

Find out more about ConsumerPla.net's reviews, rating system, and statistical analysis here.

Best Blu Ray Media Brands: Review

2011-02-22T06:10:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media brands
Best Blu Ray Media Brands Part 19: Best Brands Review

We can collate most of the information we gathered in our brand-by-brand analysis in a single easy-to-read chart.

Figure 1: Blu Ray Blank Media Brands Ordered By Increasing Predicted Quality

All brands are ordered by increasing predictive quality rating, although we used our corrected rating for Verbatim LTH (we took out negative reviews caused to non-LTH readers or burners). The line above shows statistical significance, which indicates if the review sample size is enough to give statistically valid results. We can clearly see a two-tiered quality structure. Below 80% predictive quality rating are all the brands which we believe should not be considered today. All of our recommended brands have a predictive quality rating over 80%.Those brands on the right with low statistical significance have the potential to see their predictive quality rating go up, and may be considered archival quality when enough additional user reviews are published.

Brands to avoid:

Memorex: data loss
Ritek: data loss
Panasonic: rewritable discs do not rewrite more than 20-30 cycles, may improve with time and become archival quality
Kodak: poor overall quality
Merax: poor overall quality
Maxell: poor overall quality
VinPower: poor overall quality

Recommended at this time: non archival quality brands with other uses

#7 Verbatim non-premium: a small percentage of data loss, media and rating may improve with time
#6 Verbatim DataLifePlus: likely archival quality, not enough reviews, rating may improve in time
#5: Taiyo Yuden/ JVC: likely archival quality, not enough reviews, rating may improve in time
#4: Optical Quantum: excellent reviews, poor DVD media record, outsourced media of high variability, rating may get worse with time - watch user reviews carefully

Recommended at this time: archival quality brands

#3 Sony: all formats except BD-RE DL, sometimes outsourced to Panasonic
#2 Verbatim LTH: excellent media ONLY IF your players and burners are LTH compatible
#1 TDK: all formats, excellent coatings, no reservations

Best overall Blu Ray media brand: TDK

Next, we enter our Blu Ray Media Guide section on the recommended media themselves, and discuss recommended models for BD-R LTH media... So come back soon!

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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Blu Ray Media: VinPower Review

2011-02-21T05:52:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media brands
Best Blu Ray Media Brands Part 18: VinPower Media/ Discs Review

Taiwanese manufacturer VinPower carries two product lines, a higher end line under the Optical Quantum brand (already reviewed), and a lower-end line under its own corporate name, Vinpower. Both Optical Quantum and VinPower have poor quality ratings in the DVD media market. In fact, Optical Quantum scores slightly lower than VinPower for DVD products, although the difference is not statistically significant given the comparatively low number of user reviews for both product lines in the DVD blank media market. Both Optical Quantum and VinPower factor Philips Blu Ray media, which has an 83% overall rating, but a very high variability in quality, going from a low of 67% to a high of 93%. We reviewed this outsourced Philips media, and concluded that it was not archival quality, and that we could not recommend it independently of the brand that outsources it. We had a big surprise when we reviewed Optical Quantum, as it scored a very high uncorrected 93% approval rating, despite the much lower rating of the media it outsources. We were expecting VinPower to score at the same level, but were disappointed in that regard.

We found VinPower Blu Ray media in quantity in BD-R formats, with a total of 45 reviews, scoring an uncorrected approval level of 78%, very low for the Blu Ray media market. As VinPower outsources the same media as Optical Quantum, and as both brands had a statistically significant number of user reviews, we expected the approval rating to be equivalent. In fact, they are widely different. While some of the difference may be due to a statistical fluke, some of it must be due to very high media variability by batch, putting in doubt the future ratings for Optical Quantum.

To create our predictive quality rating for VinPower Blu Ray media, following our standard process, we compounded the uncorrected satisfaction rating with the brand's DVD rating of 79% (independently of Optical Quantum). Because of the number of reviews was not high enough to give us a margin of error of 5% or less, we downgraded the resulting rating by 6% for statistical sample size correction, to ensure that the final number would be within 5% of the lowest limit of the statistical margin of error. The final predictive quality rating for VinPower Blu Ray media was 70%, a very low number. We expect this rating to trend up by up to 5%, as the number of user reviews increases. The predictive quality rating is simply too low for us to be able to recommend VinPower for any data storage use, despite the very good score for VinPower's sister brand, Optical Quantum.

Conclusions

VinPower's Blu Ray media predictive quality rating is 70%, a poor rating in the Blu Ray media industry.
VinPower's outsourced media (Philips) is not of archival quality, its average reliability across all brands that factor it is significantly higher than Vinpower's, and its variability is high.
For these reasons, we cannot recommend Vinpower for archival purposes, or for any other data storage use. We believe that there are significantly better choices at relatively similar price points.

Next we compare all major brands of Blu Ray media... So come back soon!

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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Blu Ray Media: Verbatim DataLifePlus Review

2011-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media brands
Best Blu Ray Media Brands Part 17: Verbatim DataLifePlus Media/ Discs Review

Verbatim carries three different product lines in the Blu Ray market. The low-priced Verbatim LTH line scored high but did not find good compatibility in the audio/video world, while the non-premium Verbatim line suffered from some degree of archival failure. In this review, we look at the Verbatim DataLifePlus product line, focused on professional use, which is priced higher than either of the other two. Verbatim, a Mitsubishi brand, has always carried an outstanding reputation in the US for quality optical media in the past 10 years, but cut some corners in 2010 by outsourcing some of its blank DVD media value offerings to CMC Magnetics, a low cost, typically low quality manufacturer. CMC Magnetics is widely considered inferior for optical storage. The Verbatim DataLifePLus DVD line, however, kept its high quality and remained manufactured by the home team.

We had no difficulty finding 4 products under the Verbatim DataLifePlus label, well represented on the market, all in BD-R or BD-R DL formats. Because of their higher price, however, we only found 3 reviews on them. To create our predictive quality rating for Verbatim Blu Ray DataLifePlus media, following our standard process, we compounded the uncorrected satisfaction rating with the product line's DVD rating of 91% ( specifically for Verbatim DataLifePlus DVD rating). Because of the low number of reviews, we had to downgrade the resulting rating by 9% for statistical sample size correction, to ensure that the final number would be within 5% of the lowest limit of the statistical margin of error. The final predictive quality rating for Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media was 84%. We expect this rating to trend up by up to 10%, as the number of user reviews increases. Because of the low number of user reviews so far, we cannot endorse the use of Verbatim DataLifePlus Blu Ray media yet. Although we believe them to be archival quality, we can't prove it yet. Based on the performance of the brand in other Blu Ray product lines, and in the DVD market, we consider them satisfactory for any use that does not require archival quality.

Conclusions

Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media predictive quality rating is 84%, due to a low number of existing user reviews.
We expect this rating to go up by up to 10% as user reviews increase.
Because of the low number of existing user reviews, we cannot yet recommend Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media for archival quality uses, although we believe the product line to be archival quality - we just can't prove it yet.
We consider Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media well qualified for any use that does not carry archival quality as a requirement.

Next we review VinPower blank Blu Ray media... So come back soon!

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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Blu Ray Media: Verbatim Non Premium Review

2011-02-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

Blu Ray blank media guide : Best Blu Ray media brands
Best Blu Ray Media Brands Part 16: Verbatim Non-Premium Discs Review

Verbatim carries three different product lines in the Blu Ray market. Verbatim LTH technology scores high and benefits from Verbatim's DVD manufacturing experience, but does not have as much compatibility with all players and burners - we already discussed it here. Verbatim DataLifePlus product line, focused on professional use, is priced higher, and, at least in the DVD space, offers higher quality according to our DVD stats. This review focuses on Verbatim's standard offering. While Verbatim, a Mitsubishi brand, has had an outstanding reputation in the US for quality optical media in the past 10 years, this reputation took a hit in 2010 when regular Verbatim DVD discs appeared with the dreaded CMC MID. CMC Magnetics is a low cost, typically low quality manufacturer, widely considered inferior for optical storage. As a result, optical media storage experts started recommending using AZO-branded Verbatim products only (AZO is the high quality dye used by Verbatim itself in its own DVD manufacturing operations).

As a consequence of this radical shift in Verbatim's quality practices in 2010, we were not sure of what to expect when we started researching Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray lines. We found a dozen non-premium products from Verbatim, well distributed across the US, with an high average rating of 92%, and a large overall number of reviews, for a total of 153. Getting that many user reviews for a single product line was excellent, as it allowed us to get very good statistical information. The uncorrected rating itself was also excellent. We were however dismayed to find, in the lot, 3 reviews (2%) mentioning archival failure and data loss. Archival failure is the worst possible failure mode, since it cannot be seen at burn time, and results in possible data loss, which is potentially much more costly than the cost of the discs themselves. We found early archival failure in only three brands: Memorex, Ritek, and Verbatim. Both Memorex and Ritek's archival failures were linked to the Ritek media fiasco of late 2009-2010. Verbatim's data losses are unexpected, because of the company;'s high reputation, and rightfully worrisome, even in small amounts. When potential data loss is at stake, it does not really matter if the likelihood is 2%, 5% or 10%, as the downside is too great: what if it hits you?

To create our predictive quality rating for Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media, following our standard process,we compounded the satisfaction rating with the brand's DVD rating of 87% (a worst case, since non-AZO branded DVD media from Verbatim actually scores 89%). We subtracted 4x the incidence of archival failures. There was a -1% statistical sample size correction, to ensure that the final number would be within 5% of the lowest limit of the statistical margin of error. The final predictive quality rating for Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media was 83%. While not outstanding, it is nonetheless respectable. Unfortunately, it includes a small percentage of archival failures. At this time, and until the percentage of archival failures becomes so small that it is practically impossible to see it happen to you, we cannot recommend Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media for archival quality. This is truly unfortunate, as Verbatim non-premium line is also reasonably priced, and would have been our recommendation for cost effective non-LTH storage.

Conclusions

Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media predictive quality rating is 83%, good, but a bit disappointing for Verbatim.
There are some isolated reports of archival failure on Verbatim Blu Ray non-premium media, for 2% incidence of data loss. While the likelihood is small, the downside is enormous, and we cannot recommend Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media for archival quality uses.
We consider Verbatim non-premium Blu Ray media adequate for non-archival quality uses, as long as data loss is not an issue.

Next we review Verbatim blank Blu Ray DataLifePlus premium media... So come back soon!

To understand Blu Ray lingo, check our lexicon of Blu Ray vocabulary. Our Blu Ray brand predictive quality rating process is explained here. Our statistical analysis practices are described here, which is also where we discuss ConsumerPla.net's predictive quality rating.

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