Comments on: Consumer Reports – September 2008

By: st

st — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:47:16 +0000

I have to say, I have always been surprised at the level of depth, and of the length, of the reviews of Consumer Reports on this site, and also of most of the books — so much information, and all the important conclusions, were included, that I usually felt like I didn’t need to buy the magazine or the book. It was all so well covered right here. Too well covered, maybe.

By: Liz L.

Liz L. — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:44:15 +0000

This is idiotic on CR’s part. The only issues of CR I have bought in recent years have been because of your reviews.

By: Sara at On Simplicity

Sara at On Simplicity — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:11:10 +0000

I don’t know if this is common, but I’m able to access Consumer Reports online through my library. I think most people (especially students) would be amazed at the number of popular magazines and academic journals available legally online through statewide library subscriptions.

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:17:23 +0000

Agreeing with Roger here. Trent’s CR coverage nearly compelled me to purchase a subscription a few times now. I think this is going to hurt them more than help.

By: Roger

Roger — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:45:16 +0000

Hunh, that certainly does suck. And while I certainly understand your desire not to escalate matters legally with a major organization, it does seem like these reviews will be missed. (And, for what it’s worth, reading this posting and your thoughts on the articles therein was the first thing that ever made me thing about subscribing to Consumer Reports. I’m probably in the minority, but being able to see what sort of issues CR addresses, I was inspired to subscribe. Now, though, I’m more on the fence. Just my two cents.)

By: sc

sc — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:30:29 +0000

I agree that it sucks, but he’d have a hard time fighting fair use when various posts throughout this blog are littered with comments basically saying “The consumer reports posts are great! You give me all the important stuff so I don’t have to pay for a subscription!”.

Anyway.. bummer. :(

By: cio

cio — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:48:26 +0000

Trent, I will like you to be known for good original posts rather than recycling a existing magazines. People can go to public libraries and read those.

Keep up the good work.

By: Trent

Trent — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:20:38 +0000

Money Blue Book: Legal posturing is not something I have any interest in wasting my time on.

By: Money Blue Book

Money Blue Book — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 09:46:18 +0000

Trent,
Don’t let Consumer Reports bully you on this one. There is such a thing as fair use. Besides, CR is unable to legally claim a copyright claim on the ideas alone.

As a lawyer myself, I would have left the content on and invited CR to escalate so that I could gladly blog about the lawsuit. Their claims seems merit-less in my opinion.

If their case was valid, then every movie review, every book review, and every written expose on Earth would be a violation of some form. Obviously, that is not the case.

By: gr8whyte

gr8whyte — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:38:27 +0000

Wow. Bummer.

By: Cleaner

Cleaner — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:46:34 +0000

What about the Magic Eraser ?, I swear by those things as they clean sink and tiles better than anything I have ever used. Even soap scum.

By: Grant

Grant — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:59:23 +0000

A home remodel may not increase the value of your house, but it will probably help you sell it faster.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:57:12 +0000

Thank goodness CR reviews are back. I missed them

By: st

st — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:06:31 +0000

just in case….note that Comet with Bleach is a product. Don’t mix Comet with bleach, because you might keel over!

By: Mel

Mel — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:09:22 +0000

Comet is so bad for the environment and your bathroom fixtures, I can’t believe you would use it; it’s the most abrasive cleaner on the market. Try Method bathroom cleaner, it works great and wont ruin the finish on your tub/shower/sink. Plus, it smells better and you don’t have to wear 2 inch thick rubber gloves to use it.

By: Penny Squeaker

Penny Squeaker — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:36:10 +0000

Trent,

Thank you so much for bringing back the customer report. I’d love your quick reviews.

By: Battra92

Battra92 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:06:02 +0000

Trent, in checking your old post about your TV dying a slow death, well if it has a blue spot in the corner it could be just that you let a magnetic field (from an unshielded speaker or otherwise large magnet) pass near it. It’s a relatively easy fix and with the right tools (a coil of wire and some wits about you) you can do it yourself. (see online instructions for degaussing a TV)

If plugging in and holding a coil of wire isn’t your thing call some electronic repair places and tell them you need your TV degaussed (describe the symptoms and they should know what it is). If they are good and worth their salt it shouldn’t cost much at all (honestly, for the 10 minutes it takes them and no parts cost they shouldn’t charge you all that much.

Hope this saves you some money. :)

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:25:08 +0000

You can do better than just shredding credit card mail. I tear off any part with personal identification, tear it up and put it in my compost bin. It breaks down very quickly.

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:38:06 +0000

Great post! I am looking forward to future CR reviews.

Regarding the credit card junk mail, my rule of thumb is to throw away anything with a presorted standard stamp, but open (and usually shred) anything with a first class stamp. Generally, the presorted standard pieces don’t seem to have any personal information that could be used for identity theft. Is this a good way to do it, or am I wrong about the presorted standard pieces?

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:05:23 +0000

Hi Trent,

I’ve been reading for a few months and this is the first CR article that I’ve read of yours. I loved it! Keep them coming!

- Stephanie