How reliable is Amazon reviews

[Smokey]

As a hobby, I like to check out the reviews of new TV that comes on the market, and my favorite TV review site is Televisioninfo.com whre they test out TVs in depth.

Recently they test out new 50 inch TCL TV and gave it very low score in terms of performance. They say that Colors and motions on this TV is pretty awfull. They said even the most casual viewers will notice something is amiss with this TV's color.

TCL 50FS5600 LED TV Review - Reviewed.com Televisions

Now look at reviews for the same TV from Amazon. Out of 27 reviews, 14 gave it Excellent (5 star) review, and 7 poeple gave it 4 star.

TCL 50FS5600 50-Inch 1080p 120Hz LED TV: Amazon.com Electronics

I was wondering how a TV that got such a bad "professional" review and they went as far as to say that even causual viewer (Joe six pack) will notice how bad TV is got an excellent rating from Amazon reviewers.

Something is amiss here

[Hyfi]

You cannot rely on any single site reviews. There are always the real good and real bad and you throw some of those away and key in on the middle ones from each site.

Maybe all the people who bought thru Amazon looked at price and delivery and not other press or reviews?

Just look at all the people who buy the crappy low res Visios and rave about them, but have never sat them side by side at home with a Samsung or Sony?

Food reviews are the worst. We just looked online at a seafood place that catered a party we were at Saturday night and most of the reviews were great, but then a recent bad one where someone complained it was not enough food. Maybe they should be going to the all you can eat buffet There are always people who work for one place that go online and trash competition.

In the end, you have to trust what you believe after reading the needed info from many locations. And you need to see the TV in action yourself.

[harley .guy07]

Yeah there are a lot of internet trolls out there that have too much time on there hands to go around and make bad reviews of good products or fake glowing reviews of bad ones just to mess with people. I would look every where you can find and get an overall picture of the satisfaction that people in general have for the product and also use your better judgment and go from there. there are always going to be people especially of amazon that will miss use the review section because they don't have a life that is worth doing meaningful things in

[Mr Peabody]

I suspect the Pro reviewers gave the "casual" viewer too much credit. You'd have to read the reviews of the Amazon customers to see what criteria they zero in on for their great rating. I read Amazon reviews and often times they are vague and not very detailed and sometimes don't even include performance or comparisons. It really depends though, I was recently looking at Bluetooth speakers and the reviews were pretty good. My thinking is typically Pro reviews if they mention flaws/weakness at all it's in a way you have to read between the lines, so if one comes out and pans a product I'd stay away from it.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

While I read the reviews on most Amazon products I buy(and I buy a lot from there), when it comes to televisions, speakers, and audio equipment in general, I don't pay their reviews much attention.

When it comes to speakers, televisions, and audio equipment in general, peoples personal taste are all over the map. I read reviews on there on a certain television that got rave reviews, but when put under the microscope of the professional reviews with actual test equipment(and better eyes which know what to look for), it fails miserably. TCL is a Chinese company whose sole purpose is to take current technology, dummy it down(much like Vizio does), and then undercut the competition. Their 50" 4KTV is a prime example. Came out at about $1500 dollars or so(while the competition was at $6000), and it turns out to look no better than a 1080p Plasma(it was actually worse).

[Smokey]

Just look at all the people who buy the crappy low res Visios and rave about them, but have never sat them side by side at home with a Samsung or Sony?

Actually Vizio doing pretty good as compared with other "no name" brands TV. With their E series which have local LED dimming (most others have edge LED), they are becoming TV review sites darling and they recommend Vizio (E series) TVs over name brand TVs.

The problem is that Vizio is no longer a low cost Tv alternative. Their pricing is as much as name brand TVs, and even sometimes higher

[Smokey]

TCL is a Chinese company whose sole purpose is to take current technology, dummy it down(much like Vizio does), and then undercut the competition. Their 50" 4KTV is a prime example. Came out at about $1500 dollars or so(while the competition was at $6000), and it turns out to look no better than a 1080p Plasma(it was actually worse).

Same thing can be said about another Chinese TV brand Seiki. They got alot of press when they came out with 4K TVs under $1K, but the bad reviews quickly put bucket of water on all the commotions

[Mr Peabody]

The problem with Vizio they are junk. I know several people who have fallen for the hype and lower prices to find the TV lasted almost a year then broke and at that point could only be thrown away due to no support. I'm truly amazed they are still in business.

[recoveryone]

The problem with Vizio they are junk. I know several people who have fallen for the hype and lower prices to find the TV lasted almost a year then broke and at that point could only be thrown away due to no support. I'm truly amazed they are still in business.

This can be said about every brand out there, I have 4 Vizio's in my home and none have shown a bit of an issue, the family room 55" is going on 6 years old (one of their top of the line models), I picked out a 55" Samsung Plasma for my Parents when their old 55" Mits died a year ago. I bought another 50" Plasma (Panasonic) from the people we brought a home from for one of my sons and after setting up all of these displays I don't see any major display issues in with the Vizio if any at all.

I'm not a pro installer, just used my Essential DVD set up on each unit. All are using HDMI from the cable box and BDP units. The Samsung is feed by a Samsung BDP and the Panny has a Panny BDP and the Vizio is fed from a Pioneer BD 95FD.

Now with that all said I will say that I am not able to match the visual pleasure I get from the 55" Vizio with any of the other Vizio I have in my home. They range in size of two 32" and one 39" newer models than the 55", but they are only 60hz compared to the 120hz of the 55". I get many comments from guest and neighbors that view my 55" saying how much the colors pop and give them a feeling of being immerse into the display. Now I would say this, you get what you paid for. I paid $1700 for the 55" Vizio 6 years ago and feel It does what $1700 would get me. Now the Samsung Plasma was only $500 from Costco on sale retail for $800 and the Panny retail for $900 new ( I think its 2-3 years old). All brands are suspect these days as each company out sources the actual part manufacturing and slap their brand name on the outside.

Back on topic, You get what you pay for regardless of the reviews