matto said:
are you seriously suggesting people have nothing better to do than post false reports about a random DVR which they don't own!?
that's some deep denial.
the only people who would take the time to register and post comments and ratings are people who have been affected strongly by the product- either positively or negatively.
the "outside agitator" theory really is absurd.
Not saying this is the case... And for the record I don't own a HR20. I actually mod on the 622 side but after reading this thread thought I should respond.
Not absurd at all. There have been reports where people have actually done this. Where groups of people within certain companies have fed a series of reviews positive or negative without even owning the product they are reviewing. I seem to recall an another writing a fake review of his own book and getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Here is a case where i think it is very applicable and I could see it happening. Not saying it has and like I said. I don't have an HR20 but I did have a Dish 921 and a lot of these threads seem very familiar.
Fanatic TIVO user joins D* and enjoys the fact he can use TIVO with his D* service. D* switches form his TIVO based technology. User dumps D* and is very angry with their decision. User sees the HR20 review and decides to jump on dog pile of disgruntle users. This scenario does not seem far fetched at all. Would i do it?? Nope.. But given the things I have seen in my years on the internet.. I know for a fact there are a number of people that would.
That is why... I may read user opinions of a certain product looking for common issues and use that in my equation.. But I am also very careful at how I read and always use multiple review sources and multiple sources for users opinions.
Yeck.. If one wonders around all the Satellite related and DVR related forums one would find different slants depending on the forum one walks into.
From my experience... It is amazing some of the stuff that people pull based on my experience... And I am sure Earl and Donnie viewpoints are similar.
Ok.. I am not saying that there is a not a large percentage of folks having issues with the unit. Obviously from the traffic there are people feeling pain and a lot of it.. but I believe.
1) A person having issues with a product is more likely to comment on a review rather then a person having excellent experience with a product.
2) A person having issues with a product is more likely to wonder off looking for reviews to comment than a happy customer.
It is the same with Forums....
To close... In my opinion, I disagree strongly that that only people that are really having issues or not having issues will take the time to register. Perhaps they are the majority then again.. Perhaps not.. This is the internet and one of the powers of the internet is all the different opinions of products as you research.. The downside is that anyone can right them and therefore it opens doors for both the reality based opinions and non-reality based opinions. I believe both are wild on the internet and I don't think that is absurd at all.
Well that is my 2 cents.. Just in case one might think I was flaming TIVO users.. I am not.. I understand his pain and personally if something I really enjoyed got changed I would not be happy myself. That was just the first example that came to my head of a situation where I would see someone do exactly what was described as being absurd.
Personally.. bottom line.. Is that we all have our experiences with products and there is a lot of info on the net... Does the info on the net reflect reality? That is the 64K question and my personal opinion is that it is but a snap shot and it may or may not be a true depiction.. One thing is certain though.... To each of us.. our personal experience is what we reflect on what we see... (IMHO).
Cheers.. it is late.. hopefully some of this makes some sense... Hope the guys on the other side of the fences feeling pain will soon have that pain eased..
