Hi,
Does anyone in Ozbargain land have choice online subscription, I let mine lapse. Now need a new freestanding oven and wondering what the results of their review:
https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-living/kitchen/ovens/revi…
Which has just been released!
Thanks
thanks, so the smeg was crap!
Similar scores to similarly priced Fish & Pay; slightly lower for 'cooktop performance'; somewhat lower (ever-subjective) 'ease of use' scores.
75% overall rating; 79% for the F & P.
Natsky, if you're aware of the English slang/abbreviation (and unless you're speciality is a particularly spicy bechamel sauce) you might be reluctant to actually cook with smeg…
yuck on so many levels, would rather a red dwarf reference Tas……is it spicy? I'm quite reluctant to actually cook at all, with anything.
Apologies…
I'd also like to take this opportunity to stress my ignorance as to 'its' taste, or, even 'its' presence - anywhere/ever in the vague vicinity of my magnificence.
Happy oven shopping, natsky!
"+" 1 for maintaining an above average level of hygiene.
Nah - no conscious thought required on my side. Independent thinker. Will dance under a waterfall without any persuasion from me.
I will think of you everytime I use the wok burner. Thanks for your help, it was kind of you.
Hi natski. I had a Choice subscription for a number of years. I had noticed a couple of reviews of appliances I was very familiar with and have to say that their testing criteria wasn't very applicable to day to day usage. Then, last year my wife needed a new iron. After checking out the Choice iron review, I was all set to proceed to the shops to purchase their recommendation, when at the last minute I checked the Product Review website. Choices recommendation received a big thumbs down from real life users. Some of their reviews would be accurate summations of an appliances fitness for purpose, but I know that others definitely are not. I would prefer to accept the experience of a number of users over a period of time than a laboratory test. I canceled my Choice subscription.
I gave up my Choice subscription for the same reason. The member comments on the website are still free to view and my local library has Choice magazines free to borrow.
Agreed. I was disappointed with quite a few of the recommendations I've followed through on.
I too have become - 'ambivalent' is probably the kindest word - about Choice's testing of various gear - certainly as regards the setting of some parameters, level of diverse assessment and general rigour (or maybe lack thereof) applied to the subjective components, and weighting of results to reach final conclusions.
The magazine is not as it once was. On certain items, testing used to be far more involved, objective, and detailed. Wonderfully so.
Then they 'dumbed' things down - a lot.
I can remember roughly when the 'rot', as I see it, set in, and it does go back a long way..
I can remember a (very lacking in detail) test on VCR's, that by way of ease-of-use weighting gave the top recommendation to a VCR with the equal-lowest picture quality…
That aside - on some of the more utilitarian stuff - maybe in this instance, freestanding ovens - potentially still a useful guide in an 'overview' kinda-way.
Always and ultimately (natski), apply your own nouse - in good measure - to your purchase. (Maybe even buy something named 'Smeg', if you're still ok with the name…)
Can't take their recommended list as gospel
You need to read how they tested and the weighting of the results
Example - they usually heavily weight for power usage on any electric device
personally I don't care how much power my vacuum (say) uses in the 30 minutes a week it runs so I ignore that
Ditto - ease of use - some people are old short sighted and technophobic where as I am not - this is just opinion (IMO - LOL!)
If you read the table they provide you get scores in the individual categories
Read through those and the "How we tested" to pick your own winner and the results become muchmore useful
particularly for items that last a long time - e.g. ovens - which are hard to stress test yourself
For what it is worth - Choice are about more than just reviews
They are advocates for consumers and keep the bastards honest for us all
I have questioned the value of the subscription for reviews - but renew repeatedly due to advocacy
HTH :)
I cancelled my choice subscription many years ago. Their reviewers aren't qualified to judge any of the products they review.
Yes I usually like to read user reviews online. But as stated, the library has choice magazines.
Tested seven, recommended two:
Fisher and Paykel OR9SDBGFX3
$3699
&
Westinghouse WFE914SA
$2299
Both, and all the others, have multiple good - and bad - points.
Significant investment. Big differences in price.
Significant amount of detail to read.
It might be worth your while to invest in a subscription.