Fair Reviews and OPEN discussion on equipment.

beanflying

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Lovey

Maybe there could be a sub board in the 'machines/technical' for machine and grinder owner reviews, similar to the ones on Coffeegeek. I think one danger to having a 'discussion' on a machine (rather than a review by someone who owns or has owned that item), is that it could tend to get bogged down into a 'my machine is bigger/shinier/quieter/etc than your machine' argy bargy, rather than giving out genuinely useful info. Just my thoughts.

RichardM

I think the biggest issues with reviews and discussion is it is very subjective. For example, I wouldn't buy a Gee because it isn't shiny. Seriously. No matter how good the coffee was, how good the internals were. I can imagine plenty of people would think that is an absolutely stupid viewpoint, and that's how arguments seem to start. People need to just remember that equipment is equipment, and prospective purchasers, while after opinions, will still make their mind up about what is important to them based on both sides of an discussion. In short, people should be free to give opinions (ie me saying that the Gee is overly plasticy), and not feel like they should be shot down by people telling them that's a stupid viewpoint. The fact is, if one person has that viewpoint, then others may or may not see that as important, and if the prospective purchaser thinks it's unimportant, they'll just gloss over it. Whenever I'm talking about my machine, I always talk about the pros and cons of it, whereas plenty of people only talk about the pros. In addition to all of this, some people will have opinions based on long term use, whereas others will not see something as a problem. Example here is some people who have had the Silvia for a long time experience rusting, so the steel chassis might cause issues. I've seen people bring this up, only to be shot down by vendors as it being a "non issue". It is a real issue, and having someone bring it up as something that may happen down the road can only be a good thing, as people who do still pick that machine will decide it knowing that they should check regularly inside to ensure no water pooling (which actually is better for the vendor, as the more the customer is aware of the quirks of the machine, the less likely they are to have catastrophic breakdowns). Some forums make it so that reviews can't be replied to, and while that is a bit extreme, it's for this exact reason.

Koffee_Kosmo

I am posting an example of a design fault & report on the Home Barista site The Machine is a VBM Domobar black frame http://www.home-barista.com/espresso-machines/vibiemme-domobar-black-design-flaw-t12809.html This is the same discussion & started by the same person in another forum http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1261423233 Also on the posters blog site http://home.surewest.net/frcn/Coffee/VBMrust.html Make of it what you want On another note I look for good build finish as well as great coffee making performance I find many machines are just not finished with care and attention For example sharp edges on the panels, water draws, ect Some look like they are put together in a pre school Edit made to fix link KK

admin

Hi guys - a good time to raise these issues, as we're currently looking at offering sponsorships [to a limited number of people] - probably in a special sponsored section; I guess the question is, from other/past experience - is it possible to achieve fair reviews in a sponsored environment? A