How much do you trust IPC UK product/service reviews here?

[grumpy_o_g]

I don't believe there's any conscious bias but that's very different from trusting them. I trust them in that I believe it's what one or two people have chosen to write about their limited experience of a product. PBO have a test of deckies in this month's mag - even the apparently quantifiable metric of of the effectiveness of the non-slip is fairly meaningless to me. The comfort of the shoes is almost irrelevant it is so dependent on the individual wearer. In some ways the most useful comments are the most subjective ones, such as whether or not the shoes feel "quality" items. This is why it's important to get to know what the style of the magazine and the contributors - it allows you to interpret the write ups better.

It's also my biggest criticism of the IPC boating mags - the write-ups seem very soulless compared to even the like of Autocar for example. I just don't seem to be able to empathise with the writer very much, even when I know the product, boat or area they are writing about.

 

[tcm]

In IPC UK's Terms & Conditions

Any commentary and other materials posted on our Website are not intended to amount to advice on which reliance should be placed. We therefore disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by any visitor to the Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

Well not much really, of course, cos er I used to do some of the product reviews for various mags, not much time or money to test the thing so yerknow, seems fine enough, perhaps a slight gag if it's something that's not easy to properly test in a new products review, like say plastic mast steps for which you'd have to install them and wait a few years for UV to get at them, and so on. So you'd have to say that they're much lighter and 50 quid each (how much?) and here's a pic and ... NEXT. Is that a recommendation? Not really - it's a mention, like lots of product reviews...