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Consumer Reports Still Not Recommending iPhone 4

Consumer Reports are Overrated

I used to subscribe to them, but found their testing techniques to be rather unconvincing and results to be opinionated and lacking true objectivity. I remember in the 90's they used to diss apple products all the time - it was obvious to me then that none of them actually ever used a Mac - they were all PC users. So screw them!
 
dru` said:
:confused: What do you think losing signal or attenuation are about? You and others are screaming well against the hard data presented today. Now, even with millions of naked iPhone 4's, drops are less than 1 more than 3gs per 100 calls. Steve said they're not happy with even that number and will continue to investigate but that's the data. If you don't like your phone, don't want to try it with the free case, return it and MOVE ON.
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You can have signal attenuation and still keep the call going. Just because the signal strength decreases doesn't mean you lose the connection. That's what I meant by not being worried about attenuation. I'm not expecting to hold any phone without causing some signal loss, but total loss is a joke.

And good for him with the data. I don't exactly trust AT&T to report dropped calls accurately, merely because I don't know how they record them as a drop. I'm an engineer, and I need all the data to make a decision. When Apple or AT&T hide behind "It's proprietary", I know in engineer speak (my company does the same thing) that means that the numbers have been screwed with and we don't want you to know how.

We're all screaming against the hard data because everyone is saying it doesn't exist or that it isn't a big deal, when it really is. Just because you cannot see it or aren't affected by it, doesn't make you automatically right.

This issue occurs, and if some day you're affected by it you would be pretty pissed too.
 
Consumer Reports is not a reliable source.

1.- How much of a bribe did the magazine Consumer Reports received to talk and not to recommend of something that works?
2.- Consumer Reports is meant to say ¨Consumer¨ and not a one guy deal.
3.- Consumer Reports is just saying what ever they can, just to make a huge noise around a good product with a 0.55% of customer ¨Questions¨ through Apple Care and with a very low return rate.
4.- I recommend to readers not to trust any recommendations from ¨Consumer Reports¨ because it is not a reliable source. It is just a magazine that wants ¨Some¨ more sales of it. They do not have the specific tools to test and also it is a one man decision, taking out any other real customer reviews.

MacRumors said:



172255-consumer_reports_banner.jpg


Consumer Reports, the prominent ratings and reviews magazine, is still declining to recommend the iPhone 4 following Apple's offer of free cases for all iPhone 4 customers through September 30th. The magazine touched off a firestorm in the mainstream media earlier this week by not recommending Apple's iPhone 4 due to antenna issues despite the device topping its rankings of smartphones. The uproar lead to today's press conference at Apple's headquarters where the company addressed the antenna issues and made its offer of free cases for users.

Article Link: Consumer Reports Still Not Recommending iPhone 4
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Just wanted to join in, try to cover everything

Meh....

Apple....

Love.....

Hate.....

Fanboy.....

Consumer Reports.....

Antenna....

Steve.....

AT&T......

Android....

Bumper.....

Gizmodo....

Evo.....

Verizon......
 
grassfeeder said:
go figure, I never listen to consumer reports anyway......grandma's and 50+ yr olds do.
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+1

Long ago I used to work at Circuit City and Best Buy and people always came in with their Consumer Reports magazines and honestly most of the time that magazine recommended junk. Sadly, because it was "Consumer Reports" vs the commissioned salesguy (when I was at CCity, BBY didn't have commission) people would listen to consumer reports because they thought I was trying to sell them something that made me more money. (In reality I wanted to sell them something they wouldn't return since returns cost me money!)

Needless to say a good 80% of what that magazine recommended was the stuff that got returned. At least in the consumer electronics section.
 
mixxiah said:
I used to subscribe to them, but found their testing techniques to be rather unconvincing and results to be opinionated and lacking true objectivity. I remember in the 90's they used to diss apple products all the time - it was obvious to me then that none of them actually ever used a Mac - they were all PC users. So screw them!
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Apple products deserved being dissed in the 90's. In recent years, they given many Apple products high ratings.

I find your reasons for dissing CR to be unconvincing. :p
 
grassfeeder said:
go figure, I never listen to consumer reports anyway......grandma's and 50+ yr olds do.
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Excuse me! I'm 53 years old and way to smart to read Consumer Reports. I subscribed to their magazine for several years, and I'm sorry to say, I just can't recommend it at this point.
 
ferrous said:
Why Apple doesn't just fix the damned iPhone 4.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/17/rim-co-ceos-pull-no-punches-responding-to-apples-antenna-statem/
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Because there is nothing wrong with it. Plain and simple.

If you actually READ things you see you will see when people are able to make these bars go down they don't lose the call.

The iPhone does exactly what every other phone out there does and anyone who sells or sold cell phones in the past (me) will tell you the same thing. Like I said before, its "cool" to hate apple so people do it.
 
ferrous said:
Not happy with the case/bumper.
I can't use the craddle or my bose speakers unless I remove the case or bumper crap each time. If you ever saw those bumbers, they are cheap piece of thick rubber. :p
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If you don't like it, then return it. Everbody sing along.......
 
chrono1081 said:
Because there is nothing wrong with it. Plain and simple.

If you actually READ things you see you will see when people are able to make these bars go down they don't lose the call.

The iPhone does exactly what every other phone out there does and anyone who sells or sold cell phones in the past (me) will tell you the same thing. Like I said before, its "cool" to hate apple so people do it.
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exactly. This is a non-issue to 99% of iPhone 4 owners.

I've been using my iPhone 4 for 3 weeks and I love it.
 
aristotle said:
* Samsung I9000 Galaxy S:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LROTHrTR92k

* HTC Evo Signal Attenuation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pj2YBYTbag

* Droid Incredible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaDE941PzQk

* Droid Incredible (With Network Extender in Room):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpEQH9_A5jw

* Nexus One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEIA_lMwqJA

* Nexus One vs. iPhone (start at 1:29):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvMoV4_C4aA

* Nexus One (after Google's update to correct):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2g5J4qPp54

* Nexus One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deCkjeHYT-g

* Android G1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CDaxhjUs9M


* "Major signal degradation when Nexus One is picked up" (N1 Thread on On this Problem):
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=34ae2c179184c33e&hl=en


There are plenty of counter examples for not only those phones but also the iPhone 4 by people with strong coverage who cannot make their phone fail. As SJ in Apple press conference noted, the formula they used before made it seem like there was a dramatic drop when it was already a weak signal to begin with.

Will Consumer Reports also recommend not getting these phones too or are they biased?
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Omg will everyone stop coping and pasting this crap. the issue is not the death grip but in fact that if you put your finger on one spot, you loose all signal in a lower signal area. THAT IS THE ISSUE! Not trying to cover up the entire antenna.

This is the difference.. try to see through the reality distortion field.
 
grassfeeder said:
go figure, I never listen to consumer reports anyway......grandma's and 50+ yr olds do.
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My Grandparents (and Dad) has called me countless times about what Consumer Reports has to say about the iPhone 4. Even though I tell them the issue is not as widespread as it's made out to be, they respond, "But Consumer Reports is always right."
 
chrono1081 said:
+1
Long ago I used to work at Circuit City and Best Buy and people always came in with their Consumer Reports magazines and honestly most of the time that magazine recommended junk. Sadly, because it was "Consumer Reports" vs the commissioned salesguy (when I was at CCity, BBY didn't have commission) people would listen to consumer reports because they thought I was trying to sell them something that made me more money. (In reality I wanted to sell them something they wouldn't return since returns cost me money!)
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good point but the value of Consumer Reports really isn't in the specific reviews, it's the trends in the data mining from customers about different brands that are revealed over time. It's looking at the repair rates etc. Some times it's very hard to come up with appropriate lab tests for estimates of real world performance and sometimes it comes down to personal preference and usually it's fairly obvious and one can factor that in how much to take their results in to account. I find they do pretty good with kitchen appliances. The car data is generally good. And when it comes to electronics, it's most useful in flagging the really bad apples or pointing out that the performance is roughly the same for something much less in price.

Why do you expect a customer to have a clue that you even know what you are talking about. Long gone are the days of small electronic stores with enthusiast owners that built long term relationships with customers.

There really isn't much point in dissing CR here, because they did give the iPhone 4 the highest ratings. Apple hasn't offered a permanent solution to the hardware design flaw and therefore it makes complete sense for CR not to change their recommendations. If the reader decides they can live with the flaw in trade for phone features they want to have then that's fine.
 
chrono1081 said:
No its not. It was released on July 24th. If they got it on that day they can still return it up to July 23rd.
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So the opportunity to return an iPhone 4 has passed for whom? I'm just saying, if you don't like it , return it.
 
Consumer reports should just go crawl back under their rock and keep their bad science to themselves.
 
TheAppleGeek said:
My Grandparents (and Dad) has called me countless times about what Consumer Reports has to say about the iPhone 4. Even though I tell them the issue is not as widespread as it's made out to be, they respond, "But Consumer Reports is always right."
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and that's when you point out they did give it the highest ratings,
and remind them CR is a consumer advocacy group as well as a testing group, they did their job in prodding Apple to respond and clarify to consumers what is going on. Apple did screw up, and is now willing to refund you money completely if their screw up affects your user experience to the point that the rest of what the phone is not enough.
 
chrono1081 said:
No its not. It was released on July 24th. If they got it on that day they can still return it up to July 23rd.
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 didn't sell all the iPhone 4s, 's policies has nothing to do with other retailers. AT&T starts counting from the activation of the new contract, the day it was ordered, 15 June. Their customers never had the opportunity for a full refund in the first place and most first day orders can no longer cancel their contract without a multi-hundred dollar Early Termination Fee.

So the mantra of 'just return it' is disingenuous at best since hundreds of thousands can't.

(now cue the people moving the goal posts and saying the fact that they can't return it doesn't matter...)
 
ferrous said:
Why Apple doesn't just fix the damned iPhone 4.
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Why do you think a fix exists? Or that the bumper isn't the correct fix? Are you a physics professor with some new theories? Other cell phone makers seem to just push the problem around to a different place, possibly making it worse on average (or battery life worse, or the phone a lot bigger, etc.)

If your fix is a bigger phone, Apple still sells the 3GS. Buy that instead. Problem fixed.
 
BobVB said:
AT&T starts counting from the activation of the new contract, the day it was ordered, 15 June. Their customers never had the opportunity for a full refund in the first place...
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Good thing I waited in line at an Apple store, even though like 5 AT&T stores are closer to me (and reportedly had much shorter lines). I prefer Apple's store policies. Caveat Emptor.

But I have zero reasons to want to return my i4. It gives me a signal in places my 3GS didn't.
 
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