Consumer Reports is an independant non-profit organization. It gets 100% of its money from donations, subscriptions, and purchases of advanced reports. No money is given to them from companies for the tests. Anyone who says otherwise is just plain wrong (and as I can see in this thread they have no proof and are unwilling to give proof because they don't have it).
That said, their reports are a great guide. But that is it, it is a guide. It is not to be used as the sole decision maker. Here are some potential problems.
[*]CR does not use opinion. For example, when rating a vehicle, the looks of the vehicle are not a factor. CR will use only repeatable measurable data and a consistant formula. Thus, you get some unusual results where cars that look like sh!t are given high marks. Most people buy a car based a LOT on looks. Thus, to use CR solely as your decision maker is a very poor way of buying a vehicle. Instead, choose the vehicles that you like the looks of and then let CR help you narrow down that list to vechiles that also perform well.
[*]CR may test things that you don't care about. Suppose CR gave a large weight in their overall ratings to the noise of the dishwasher. And suppose you only run your dishwasher when you are away from the home. Thus, much of their ranking system is irrelevant to you. What you would want instead is to look at the cleaning ability and other special features of the dishwasher. In this case, they give those individual scores - use them and ignore the overall dishwasher rating. Dr Pizza showed a variant on this. They tested the ability of a vacuum to pick up fine particles, if you don't use yours for fine particles, then that part of the review is useless to you.
[*]CR may ignore tests that you do care about. I for one dislike their blender tests. Why? CR repeatedly ignores the noise of the blender. I've tried several blenders and many are far, far more noisy than others. Why do I care? Because when I was at an apartment I would always want to use the blender late at night (that is when I want a mixed drink) and my neighbors would complain about being woken up by the blender. Thus, the rating system ignored what I thought was a critical factor in my buying decision.
[*]Many people mistakenly use the CR ranking system. If ten models get 90% scores, then one of those ten models is listed at the end in place #10 and a different model gets place #1. Yet they all got the same score. If I recall correctly, this is what dishwasher rankings are like. Many models get about the exact same score (because it is the detergent that is most important not the dishwasher). Thus don't use the number rankings, look at the overall score.
[*]Price isn't a part of the ranking system. They list the price, but it is never a part of their ranking formula. Price is often important in buying a device.
So don't use the CR as a bible. Use it as a guide. They properly and repeatably test many functions of the devices. Look at the function ratings that you care about. Use those important ratings to narrow down your choices. But still remember to include your own opinion in your purchase. If you hate the way the best buy model looks, don't buy it. Buy one of the higher rated models that you personally like and that fits your budget.
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