Is Consumer Reports Still Relevent in 2011?

Image via WikipediaConsumer Reports was born 75 years ago in 1936 and it's still going strong today. In the age of the Internet where you can look up information and reviews for anything from TV's to washing machines to camera's for free, millions go to Consumer Reports for the final word on consumer goods.

The Consumer Reports website started in 1997 has grown to over 3.3 million paying subscribers in 2011. It has a larger subscriber base than the largest national newspapers. It's magazine subscribers have stayed steady and it's digital subscribers have grown at a rapid pace.

Subscribers who sign up for access to the Web site pay $26 for a year or $5.95 monthly. A smartphone app is available, and this month an iPad version was introduced.

Consumer Reports still has the most thorough testing regimen than any other testing site. No matter what the item being tested, you can be sure it's compared and test along with 10 to 15 other of it's competitors to see which one is the best with grading along with other qualities of the product. Consumer Reports has never taken advertisers or allowed it's test results to be used by manufactures who would like to to use beneficial results in advertising. The testing and it's results are only to be used by the consumers.

Recently, Consumer Reports has added surveys of its subscribers, asking them to report their experiences with products being tested. This makes the reviews much more useful to the consumer.

The best way to use the Consumers Report website.

When you need to search for information for a purchase it's usually one that comes with a hefty price tag. It may be a car, refrigerator or TV. When the item carries a large price tag it's best to do some research on the products and try to find one with the best ratings. This is where Consumer Reports shines. You can even sign up for a subscription, one month at a time. For $5.95, you can do all the research you need to do and you have 30 days to complete it. It's not a high price to pay for research for an expensive purchase and it's well worth it.

I have registered for the one month fee and gone online to check out ratings for a washer I needed to buy. I got my information and used the website for the month and then I was done with it. Only $5.95 and it helped make sure I was purchasing a washer that was well built and reliable.

Is Consumers Reports Relevant today?
For me it was convenient, relevent and an easy way to use Consumers Reports great data base of testing research. With over 3000 items tested you will definitely be able to find the item you need to know about.