Re: Why magazine equipment reviews suck

From: Larry Curcio (lcurcio_at_verizon.net)
Date: 10/30/04 

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 13:08:24 GMT

These replies seem to speak to the example, and not to
the principle. Ed Ting has given less than favorable
reviews, and sometimes he has got away with it
(e.g.; his review of the ETX90), but other times he
received intense pressure and vilification - and his
income isn't even dependent on scope manufacturers.
Think of the pressure that magazines are under.

Another case in point is the current S&T review of
the 8" Orion dob. A very gentle review - so gentle
that you have to read between the lines to realize
they didn't like the thing at all. Like... here's how to
warp the base so that you can move the scope. This
is a handy substitute for a finder dew shield. You don't
really need a good primary mirror... this is a dob, after
all.

That said, the point was just common sense. The
passion was arguably misplaced.

"clyde crewey" <clydec@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message

> First, there have been reviews comparing the ED80 with other well
> known scopes. Ed Ting in Sky and Telescope (against a TV76) and Tom
> Trusock on Cloudynights did some extensive comparing and contrasting,
> especially Tom.