Consumer Reports articles from May 2003

Consumer Reports archives from May 2003

Your letters.
May 1, 2003... All about TV I enjoyed your March reports on TV sets and cable vs. satellite service. Among the reasons I switched from satellite back to cable are these: Satellite services have no local offices, only a headquarters thousands of miles...

Corrections.
May 1, 2003... The March update on gas ranges listed the Viking as having four 5,000-Btu/hour burners. Each burner is 15,000 Btu/hour. In the March Ratings of mutual funds, we incorrectly labeled two symbols that characterize risk. The correct labels...

Consumer WebWatch: raising Web standards. (Test Inform Protect).
May 1, 2003... Relatively few health, finance, and shopping Web sites consistently disclose information such as advertising and sponsorship ties that may affect the credibility of their published material. One example: shopping sites that purport to rank...

What's bugging you? (Memo to Members).
May 1, 2003... Spring--bring it on. It was a tough winter. Plenty of people grumbled, and plenty of others responded with the classic "everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it." We wondered what other, more actionable problems...

Two unusual kitchen appliances. (Product Test).
May 1, 2003... * The Black and Decker T2 Arize, $60, treats toast as entertainment. The Arize is a stylish glass-sided appliance that allows you to watch the bread brown as it slowly drops and then rises up in the toaster slots. It makes terrific toast, and...

New studies define cell-phone hazards. (Safety Alert).
May 1, 2003... Cell phones have developed a reputation as a distraction for drivers even though they aren't the only, or even, some say, the principal cause of inattention. Two new studies add perspective to the issue. One, by a leading researcher in the...

A dream for the garden? (Product Test).
May 1, 2003... The Dream Rose, one of several fairly new brand-name plants, claims to be "the rose that everyone can grow." But after two growing seasons in our test gardens, the Dream Rose grew to be.. .nothing special. If you've had trouble growing roses...

Finding the best heart treatment. (Health Alert).
May 1, 2003... Two new blood tests can benefit people at risk for heart disease or those who may have already suffered a heart attack. RISK ASSESSMENT People at moderate risk for heart disease face a choice of treatments: to adopt a more healthful...

Neat pants for sloppy people. (Product Test).
May 1, 2003... How much would you pay for a pair of khakis that's truly stain-resistant? Lee, Levi Strauss, and other purveyors are betting that you'll pay an extra $10. That's the premium being charged for specially treated cotton khakis. Are they worth...

Has the mop met its match? (Product Test).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... The humble sponge mop now faces sophisticated new competition, the latest being the Hoover Floor Mate H3000, a wet/dry vac that also has scrub brushes in its head. Here's how the Floor Mate, the Swiffer WetJet, and a plain sponge mop fared in...

West Nile disease: are you prepared for the next outbreak?
May 1, 2003... Just a few years ago, a mosquito bite meant nothing more serious than a few days of itching to most Americans. But last summer the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, confined to the East Coast for its first three years in the U.S., swept across...

The buzz on repellents. (Insect Repellents Test).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... A good insect repellent can be a lifesaver when a bite could cause not only an itchy welt but a serious disease. We enlisted medical entomologists at an outside lab to see which products best keep bugs at bay. The verdict: Deet remains the...

Should you trap or zap? (Mosquito traps * Test).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... A repellent may work on the person wearing it, but what if you want to ban mosquitoes from a whole area, so, say, they won't crash your backyard barbecue? Bug zappers, the ultraviolet-light devices that slay insects with a reassuring "zot!"...

Frequent-flyer hurdles: as rules become tighter, we tell you how to get the most for your miles. (Travel * Report).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... Free lunches are largely a thing of the past aboard airplanes--and free rides are harder to come by, too. New fees, tighter restrictions, and changing rules among frequent-flyer programs are making it harder for travelers to claim award...

The desktop darkroom. (Special Section).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... Just as word processors revolutionized writing and CDs changed recorded music, digital imaging is transforming photography. Capturing an image digitally frees it from film's limitations. Anyone using a home computer can refashion the...

Cleanup crew: you don't have to spend $800 or more to get excellent washing. Even low-priced dishwashers can do a great job if you follow a few simple steps.(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... If you stack the cards--or in this case the dishes--in your favor, almost all new dishwashers will remove grit, grease, and residue from even the dirtiest dishes. When we tested 32 models priced from $215 to $1,375, all but 6 did an excellent...

The dish on detergents.(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... It's a minor purchase compared with a can make a big difference in how clean dishwasher, but the detergent you buy your dishes get. The best products removed nearly all the cooked-on soil from plates; the worst left them quite dirty. As with...

Self-propelled and push mowers. (What's New).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... More big-name engines. You'll see Honda and Kawasaki engines featured on Craftsman, Troy-Bilt, and Yard-Man mowers, as these lower-priced brands add sales appeal. In past tests, we found engines from these brands less noisy and easier to...

Garden carts: these can help take the hassle out of hauling. Here's how to spot the best models.(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... Anyone who has accidentally spilled a wheelbarrow full of fertilizer, mulch, or other messy cargo can appreciate the relative stability of a garden cart. Unlike wheelbarrows, which typically have one wheel up front, carts have two widely...

5 tips for buying that new car.(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... Expert advice from David Champion, Director of Auto Testing and The Consumer Reports New Car Price Service 1 Learn the lowest cost Get the Consumer Reports Wholesale Price Here's the real key to your deal: you must find out what...

Child car seats: LATCH-equipped child car seats are supposed to be easier to install. Our tests found some that weren't. (Car Seats Test).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... At a time when child car seats have been redesigned and passenger vehicles modified to make car seats simpler to install--and thus I more likely to be used correctly--our tests of 25 child car seats show that a surprising number had design...

Strollers: buying wheels for baby--basic, sporty, or deluxe--is all about where you stroll. (Strollers * Test).(Buyers Guide)
May 1, 2003... Now that parents tote their children practically everywhere, there seem to be strollers for all occasions, lifestyles, and budgets: from $20 umbrella strollers to $800 European prams, with joggers, tandems, and even sport-utility-inspired...

Family sedans with zip: the Volkswagen Passat remains our top-ranked V6 family sedan despite close competition from the redesigned Honda Accord. (Family Sedans * Road Test).(Product/Service Evaluation)
May 1, 2003... Four-door family sedans are the largest segment of the car market, accounting for about one-fourth of all new passenger vehicles sold last year. They appeal to a wide range of drivers because they're big and comfortable enough for long trips,...

Less help than before. (Selling IT).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The new Hamburger Helper Beef Pasta mix (left) yields the same number of servings as the old, according to the box, but it has gone on a diet: It weighs more than an ounce less.

TV or not TV? (Selling IT).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... We've often seen the boast "As seen on TV" and wondered why a television appearance would confer status on any product. More recently, we've spied 'Similar to those seen on TV" and "Planned for TV." But the phrase above, for something called...

Sign sightings. (Selling IT).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... 1. At last, an alternative to those pesky single-mile tires. 2. We actually hit the brakes for this one, then smiled. Apparently, some hooligan had a different reaction: Days after we snapped the picture, the sign was defaced, then...

Black hole awards. (Selling IT).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... When readers ordered (1) three Belkin PDA replacement styluses from PC Connection and (2) a package of small wallpaper designs from Plow & Hearth, they couldn't resist sending us pictures of what they received.

No nuts to you. (Selling IT).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... A Maine reader looking for nuts in Friendly's Limited Edition Premium TOASTED ALMOND Ice Cream was disappointed. The tan bits in the picture, the ingredients list reveals, are "macaroon crunch (sugar, yellow corn flour, partially hydrogenated...

A guarantee without teeth. (Selling IT).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Oklahoma reader who bought a Craftsman Pruning Saw at Sears noted that although the saw was "guaranteed forever," a certain part of its anatomy had been excised from the warranty.