My gripe with them is that they usually do a good job of describing
what features what models have (which is useful), but they often don't
explain the advantage/disadvantage of having/lacking a certain
feature.

For example, they will rate lawnmowers and they will tell you which
ones have big rear wheels. But they won't tell you why you would want
to have big rear wheels (why would you?).

Or they will rate refrigerators and tell you which have humidity
controls on the drawers. They won't tell you how well they actually
control humidity, nor will they tell you whether this really makes
much difference. (much difference in what, besides humidity, I don't
even know).

Now I just made up those examples and they may not be true, but they
illustrate the idea.

It reminds me a lot of the help files for most software. If you know
what you want to do, and what it's called, they will usually tell you
how to do it. But if you just know what you want to accomplish, you
are often on your own figuring out what feature or combination of
features to use. If you just read through the help file, you get the
same deal as with CR. You will learn how to apply dithering to your
photos, for example, but get no explanation as to when you would want
to do this and what to expect.

Often I find the personal reviews of items on Amazon more helpful.
But it's a pain wading through all the obvious crap and noise to find
the helpful, informed comments. (Kind of like reading Usenet!)

Still, I guess I get just enough useful info from CR to keep my
subscription.

Paul F.