Dan Salden
Auditioning
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2000
- Messages
- 2
I read the DVD Shootout Report whenever I am in the market for a DVD player. In fact, as a result of reading the report recently, I became interested in obtaining a Panasonic DVD-RP82 (or XP30). It seems that the rest of the country has had a similar reaction! Now, used and refurbished models are selling well above the MSRP, as the "herd" mentality takes over for normal brain function (myself included).
I wonder whether this kind of reaction is really justified. The new format reports scores that appear to be analogous to scores published for comparative tests by Consumer Reports. However, CR generally indicates that final scores within X number of points do not really suggest qualitative differences. Therefore, when reviewing Shootout data, what guidelines might suggest "real" product differences (as opposed to artifacts of the particular test)? This raises a second question. What is the sampling method? How are the products obtained? Are multiple units for a given model tested? In regard to the latter, we all know that there is performance variability for any given DVD model (the very existence of refurbished models exemplifies the extreme condition here). Might not some of the tested models be on either end of the performance continuum for a given production run of a model? For instance, might this explain why in the current Shootout, the authors document performance difference among Panasonic units that were basically using the same hardware (and in the case of the RP82 and CP72, the very same hardware).
The bottom line to my questioning is that the HT buying public may be overreacting to reports--creating irrational and inflated markets for certain products.. Thanks for any input.
Dan
I wonder whether this kind of reaction is really justified. The new format reports scores that appear to be analogous to scores published for comparative tests by Consumer Reports. However, CR generally indicates that final scores within X number of points do not really suggest qualitative differences. Therefore, when reviewing Shootout data, what guidelines might suggest "real" product differences (as opposed to artifacts of the particular test)? This raises a second question. What is the sampling method? How are the products obtained? Are multiple units for a given model tested? In regard to the latter, we all know that there is performance variability for any given DVD model (the very existence of refurbished models exemplifies the extreme condition here). Might not some of the tested models be on either end of the performance continuum for a given production run of a model? For instance, might this explain why in the current Shootout, the authors document performance difference among Panasonic units that were basically using the same hardware (and in the case of the RP82 and CP72, the very same hardware).
The bottom line to my questioning is that the HT buying public may be overreacting to reports--creating irrational and inflated markets for certain products.. Thanks for any input.
Dan