When someone says "That PC component doesn't have good reviews at XYZ"

[UsandThem]

Many times when helping someone out with putting together a new build, they'll not like the component recommended because it has a low rating. You can try to explain it to them, but once they see all the 1 star (or egg) reviews, that is it.

Now, I have been around all kinds of different components from different manufacturers. When I am set on buying a component, I read through posts on the manufacturer support forums, the reviews of the hardware sites, and of course I will read through user reviews to see if there is a clear trend something is wrong. However, the reason why I don't put much faith into reviews on sites like Newegg is there is some people who should not only be building a computer, they probably shouldn't even use one.

Take this 1-egg gem from Newegg I saw today when deciding on a Asus z170 motherboard that is on sale for $75 after MIR:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...e=ASUS_Z170_PRO_GAMING-_-13-132-567-_-Product

Audio Issue

This review is from: ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: everything else is fine and i love it.

Cons: everything went well. I build my pc on asus z170 pro gaming with i5 6600k, asus strix 1070. It boot up and i installed win10. Everything went just fine before I realized that the I can't hear any sound from the case. i play videos and heard nothing. However, it did work if i plug in my headphone . I tired to reinstall drivers both from microsoft and asus, on use. Did I miss something here? Is it because this mobo does not provide sound output at all? i don't know, need help here.

Now, the bad thing about Newegg reviews compared to ones on Amazon, is you can't comment on their review. So, what are some of the dumbest ones you've come across?

 

[Rifter]

wow thats bad......

 

[whm1974]

I read reviews from good tech sites that are known for doing decent product reviews.

 

[Ketchup]

I love the ones (usually on Amazon) that aren't even about the product. People just like to waste their time, and that of others. In order for a review system to work, I am a strong believer in a "site has the final say" policy. If the site doesn't take the time to di that, it really lessens the value of the whole rating system, and to some degree, their site.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Huh. Well, perhaps that user had an OEM PC that had a speaker integrated. I bought a refurb Core2-era (de-)branded OEM box, to give to a friend, and was pleasantly surprised that it contained an internal speaker, connected internally to the audio output of the PC.

Also, my Foxconn NanoPCs have that.

So, it's not totally unusual, and if their previous PC had that feature, I can see why perhaps that they are missing it, but they are clearly mistaken in thinking that EVERY PC has that feature in it, or is supposed to.

 

[UsandThem]

So, it's not totally unusual, and if their previous PC had that feature, I can see why perhaps that they are missing it, but they are clearly mistaken in thinking that EVERY PC has that feature in it, or is supposed to.

Could be that, but if a person is going to build a PC, they should be able to figure something so simple out. There's so many different forums and YouTube channels that people can use. But to take the time and leave a 1 star review because they fail to hook up speakers.

I also read another review on there (can't remember what board it was) where the person left a 1-egg review because they had obvious grounding issues in their case, and the tech support suggested taking it out of the case to test it. The person wanted the tech to stay on the line while he removed everything from the case. They stated about 10 minutes later they picked up the phone, and the tech had hung up. So he felt this was rude and left a bad review.

I just get a kick out of them.

 

[Smoblikat]

Many times when helping someone out with putting together a new build, they'll not like the component recommended because it has a low rating. You can try to explain it to them, but once they see all the 1 star (or egg) reviews, that is it.

Now, I have been around all kinds of different components from different manufacturers. When I am set on buying a component, I read through posts on the manufacturer support forums, the reviews of the hardware sites, and of course I will read through user reviews to see if there is a clear trend something is wrong. However, the reason why I don't put much faith into reviews on sites like Newegg is there is some people who should not only be building a computer, they probably shouldn't even use one.

Take this 1-egg gem from Newegg I saw today when deciding on a Asus z170 motherboard that is on sale for $75 after MIR:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...e=ASUS_Z170_PRO_GAMING-_-13-132-567-_-Product



Now, the bad thing about Newegg reviews compared to ones on Amazon, is you can't comment on their review. So, what are some of the dumbest ones you've come across?

Ive seen some dumb ones, but always remember (and remind people) that the most vocal group of people are the ones who have had negative experiences. Rarely will someone take time out of their day to write a review that says the product functions exactly as advertised, most people take that as a given. Not that its particularly relevant, but how often has a cop pulled you over to thank you for driving the speed limit?

 

[whm1974]

Ive seen some dumb ones, but always remember (and remind people) that the most vocal group of people are the ones who have had negative experiences. Rarely will someone take time out of their day to write a review that says the product functions exactly as advertised, most people take that as a given. Not that its particularly relevant, but how often has a cop pulled you over to thank you for driving the speed limit?

That would be highly unlikely to happen. But you are you right, those who have negative experiences are far more likely to complain then those who got what they expected.

 

[Ancalagon44]

I see reviews on Amazon where the buyer has given the product a lower review because of the interactions with the seller.

Like, 2 stars, product is brilliant but the seller did not ship the item as soon as I paid, which was on the 1st of January at 2AM. Seller only shipped it on the 1st of January at 8AM, therefore 2 stars.

 

[UsandThem]

I see reviews on Amazon where the buyer has given the product a lower review because of the interactions with the seller.

Like, 2 stars, product is brilliant but the seller did not ship the item as soon as I paid, which was on the 1st of January at 2AM. Seller only shipped it on the 1st of January at 8AM, therefore 2 stars.

Very true. I see a ton of those kind of reviews since I mostly shop on Amazon.

You also have the ones on there that leave one star reviews on a high-demand/low stock/over MSRP item sold by 3rd party sellers. Like when a new video card launches, new console, or a niche item like the Nintendo Classic.

 

[aigomorla]

well reading all the DOA's and Failed after X days rants along with terrible customer support, i would stay away from that board. However i would stay away from ASUS unless u intend to get ROG with ROG support.

But yeah some of the rants are funny, but it still has too many DOA rants... (Dead on Arrival)

 

[UsandThem]

well reading all the DOA's and Failed after X days rants along with terrible customer support, i would stay away from that board. However i would stay away from ASUS unless u intend to get ROG with ROG support.

But yeah some of the rants are funny, but it still has too many DOA rants... (Dead on Arrival)

True. I did see a common trend on that board. They also have the regular Asus Z170 PRO on sale for $85 after MIR right now, so I just have decide if I've had enough of my BIOS issues on my Gigabyte board before pulling the trigger on a new board. I have several more days of trouble-shooting and forum reading before giving up. I might even just downgrade my BIOS and give up the manual fan tuning to get the stability back. It looks like the Z170 PRO has much better user reviews (and hardware site reviews), and I don't need anything real fancy (ALC1150 audio, M.2 slot, and clearance for my Noctua cooler). Just a decent board with decent updates.

I did see another 1-egg review on another motherboard on there because....wait for it.....the person installed windows 10 regularly (AHCI) with two drives. No problems. However, after they did this, they decided to go into their BIOS and change it to RAID 0 , and Windows wouldn't boot.

 

[whm1974]

True. I did see a common trend on that board. They also have the regular Asus Z170 PRO on sale for $85 after MIR right now, so I just have decide if I've had enough of my BIOS issues on my Gigabyte board before pulling the trigger on a new board. I have several more days of trouble-shooting and forum reading before giving up. I might even just downgrade my BIOS and give up the manual fan tuning to get the stability back. It looks like the Z170 PRO has much better user reviews (and hardware site reviews), and I don't need anything real fancy (ALC1150 audio, M.2 slot, and clearance for my Noctua cooler). Just a decent board with decent updates.

I did see another 1-egg review on another motherboard on there because....wait for it.....the person installed windows 10 regularly (AHCI) with two drives. No problems. However, after they did this, they decided to go into their BIOS and change it to RAID 0 , and Windows wouldn't boot.

Good grief, I have never messed with RAID and I know better than that. Do people even bother to do research anymore?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Good grief, I have never messed with RAID and I know better than that. Do people even bother to do research anymore?

Most people do. In fact, a lot of people are so risk-averse and scared of their computers that they'll research themselves into being afraid to do anything at all.

But there's always a That Guy™. You know Him™. The one who wants a 50% overclock so he sets his vCore to +.50. Or who says you should get a hard drive because SSDs are a waste of money. The Guy™ who insists his grandma build a Facebook PC with a GTX 1080 in it, because you need a video card for "good graphics."

Thank god he's wasting his money on computers and not cars. *shudder*

 

[whm1974]

Most people do. In fact, a lot of people are so risk-averse and scared of their computers that they'll research themselves into being afraid to do anything at all.

But there's always a That Guy™. You know Him™. The one who wants a 50% overclock so he sets his vCore to +.50. Or who says you should get a hard drive because SSDs are a waste of money. The Guy™ who insists his grandma build a Facebook PC with a GTX 1080 in it, because you need a video card for "good graphics."

Thank god he's wasting his money on computers and not cars. *shudder*

I ran across a guy on another forum somewhere a few years ago where he wanted to run a 32-bit Linux distro on a system with 16 GB of memory because he thought that 64-bit versions were unstable. He also want to use PAE to access the more then 4 GB of his memory he had.

 

[Pick2]

I was researching KVM switches on the Egg , with a lot of complaints about " 10 Seconds to switch - this KVM is so slow ! "
It's not the switch , It's your OS Dummy !
I've known people who are always at the center of a Vortex of problems and trouble ... but it's " Alway Sombody Else's Fault ! "

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I ran across a guy on another forum somewhere a few years ago where he wanted to run a 32-bit Linux distro on a system with 16 GB of memory because he thought that 64-bit versions were unstable. He also want to use PAE to access the more then 4 GB of his memory he had.

That's pretty epic.

Also exactly the kind of "knowledge" you'd have if you stopped with Windows XP-64.

 

[whm1974]

That's pretty epic.

Also exactly the kind of "knowledge" you'd have if you stopped with Windows XP-64.

Yeah back then it made sense. Back in 2006 when I went from a AthlonXP 2500+ to a Pentium D 930 and add another gig of ram for 2GB total, Most 64-bit versions of Linux distros weren't ready and with only 2GB it didn't make sense to go 64-bits anyway. But that was back then.

 

[VirtualLarry]

But there's always a That Guy™. You know Him™. The one who wants a 50% overclock so he sets his vCore to +.50. Or who says you should get a hard drive because SSDs are a waste of money. The Guy™ who insists his grandma build a Facebook PC with a GTX 1080 in it, because you need a video card for "good graphics."

LOL. I used to be "That Guy".

 

[UsandThem]

Here's a 1-star review left by for the Noctua NH-D14 by a member here (hasn't logged in for a long time though) because it came with a 3-pin fan, and he decided Noctua should give him a free 4-pin fan instead. He boasted in his thread about leaving the negative review, and I just thought to myself "What an idiot. The specs say it comes with a 3-pin fan!".

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/advantages-to-three-pin-vs-four-pin-fans.2470401/#post-38179216

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...iewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002VKVZ1A#R1IPJJ6T6HB4S3

Inferior performance at a high price & Noctua customer service are D-Bags

His title even sounds like a 12 year old throwing a hissy fit.

 

[francisw19]

Here's a 1-star review left by for the Noctua NH-D14 by a member here (hasn't logged in for a long time though) because it came with a 3-pin fan, and he decided Noctua should give him a free 4-pin fan instead. He boasted in his thread about leaving the negative review, and I just thought to myself "What an idiot. The specs say it comes with a 3-pin fan!".

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/advantages-to-three-pin-vs-four-pin-fans.2470401/#post-38179216

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-...iewpnt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002VKVZ1A#R1IPJJ6T6HB4S3



His title even sounds like a 12 year old throwing a hissy fit.

Good grief, the guy sounds like a total knob...I guess he never figured out you can still control a 3-pin fan LOL!

 

[Chapbass]

My favorite is this:

https://www.newegg.com/Desktop-Internal-Hard-Drives/SubCategory/ID-14?Tid=167523

Notice how almost no drives have 5 eggs? And the only ones that do are typically high end? Its because everyone always complains that "They sold me a 1TB drive and its only 931GB! This drive is defective!!!!!!!!!" Theres always a few of them.

To be fair, failure rates of HDD's can vary wildly, but still. Great to see those types of reviews.

 

[piasabird]

Order Hard Drives separately would be my reccomendation. If you get a hard drive in a box of parts it will probably move around too much. It will have more padding if it is shipped separately.

 

[Azuma Hazuki]

@aigomorla: I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, but in the 16 years I've been building PCs, Asus has never, ever, not once, given me trouble. They're my go-to for almost all builds for my customers and I've never had one die before half a decade is out either.

 

[aigomorla]

@aigomorla: I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, but in the 16 years I've been building PCs, Asus has never, ever, not once, given me trouble. They're my go-to for almost all builds for my customers and I've never had one die before half a decade is out either.

they have given me a lot of headaches unless i went though my personalized channels.

Basically if you didnt have ROG gear you were toss'd in the commoner pile and had to go though commoner RMA's which always required you to send in first.

If you had ROG gear, they would give u advance RMA, and tech support was less scriptish.

If you had personalized channels, they just gave you a replacement with no questions asked lol....
Man the advantages of being a hardware reviewer / tester ... :T