The laptop quest exposes weaknesses in online vendors and suggests real-world retailers will be with us forever.
Manufacturer websites on my shortlist all have good spec sheets, but don’t answer important questions:
– How hot does it get on your lap?
– How annoying is the fan and how often does it cut in?
– How bright is the screen?
– How quickly does it boot up?
– Are keyboard and trackpoint ergonomics good?
– What’s the battery life like a) now, with screen on full brightness and b) after a year?
– Does it stop you viewing multiregion DVDs?
You look to online user reviews to answer these type questions – but few new products have them. And when they do, they’re either obviously written by their product manager (Fantastic!), or a competitor (Terrible!), or by people enraged by a probably rare quality defect.
That’s in part because if the product works, you don’t use precious time telling the world.
But if there’s a problem with the product, and you’re either public spirited or vengeful, you may post – so where are these negative posts? My experience with CNet & Amazon is that’s because negative posts can be suppressed or delayed, probably for legal reasons.
So online reviews are great for books, but I wouldn’t trust them for anything else.
That’s why people continue to buy big-ticket items from real retailers.