What do you need in reviews?

[jkendrick]

I write reviews for both hardware and software in the PPC arena and I need feedback from savvy users.

What information do you need/ want in hardware reviews? Whether it be devices or accessories what information do you need a review to cover to help you make informed buying decisions?

Same for software: what type of coverage do you find most helpful?

Everyone is different and every reviewer has their own style but I would really appreciate feedback from those for whom I write.

Also, what type of review or style do you not like? I'm interested in all opinions.

Thanks,

[SandersP]

-basic impression. (what's immediately cought your eyes, basic feel, etc)
-what's so special about the unit. Any nifty features?
-any obvious flaw/deal breaker?
-Plenty of pictures. (screen comparison, unit size, a few close up details)
-tell us your expert opinion, what you like and what you don't like. please don't reprint press release or spec list and make it into a review article...ugh.. Cptn. Obvious, be gone.


I hate these two item being put in narrative format, please don't.
-basic spec (in concise table)
-benchmark (in concise chart/table using standard benchmark tool. SPeed and battery benchmark is a must)

I think PDA french review is right up there, consistently.

[tanalasta]

For a great example of what my ideal review would look like, read the mobile phone reviews at http://www.imobile.com.au

Basically I want:
1. Overview of the program (or hardware)
2. A thorough description of its features, what it does / intends to do
3. A description of what it should do but doesn't (Cons/gotchas)
4. Bugs/faults in the program
5. User experience/opinion/roadtest
6. Brief comparison to other similar products
7. Overall rating with a brief justifying reason. Preferably out of 100.

Summary of the review in table form.

I don't mind pictures but seeing some of don't have very fast connections/stingy download limits the text is usually more important than dozens of screenshots. However, there should still be at least enough to give us an impression of how the reviewed thing looks like but try to keep the image res / size down ;) We don't want to wait 5 minutes to download a single page just to read your review...