PC Format hatchet job

mattyfez · 15 Mar 2010 at 22:32

'tis a good point actually, forums and review sites are far more reliable, but you have to take into account the average person who wants some new hardware, they just pick up a mag and make a choice based on that.

PhillyDee · 15 Mar 2010 at 23:11

pumaz said:
Aren't PC mags from the olden days (before broadband)? Why in this day and age someone would make a trip to a newsagent and hand over £6 for a mag full of out dated news and bias reviews is beyond me!

To read while travelling to and from work on train/metro/bus?

Not everyone will sit and read internet on a phone.

I agree, just likr to poke holes

.

Not that I buy PC mags. But I do read astronomy now, and New Scientist.

mattyfez · 15 Mar 2010 at 23:23

new scientist is good, it has content, which is good going for a magazine, lol!

JonJ678 · 15 Mar 2010 at 23:24

mattyfez said:
but to the average punter who won't know any better...

Said punter probably shouldn't be buying an overclocked computer.

I imagine none of pc format's readership has an overclocked computer, and feel comforted that the dark and scary world of overclocking has been verified as a bad idea full of instability and uncertainty.

Doubtless an unfair stereotype, but then only people I know who read it are my grandparents.

spudbynight · 15 Mar 2010 at 23:34

JonJ678 said:
Said punter probably shouldn't be buying an overclocked computer.

I imagine none of pc format's readership has an overclocked computer, and feel comforted that the dark and scary world of overclocking has been verified as a bad idea full of instability and uncertainty.

Doubtless an unfair stereotype, but then only people I know who read it are my grandparents.

I read PCFormat* and I have an overclocked PC.

*As much for Ask Luis as anything else.

JonJ678 · 15 Mar 2010 at 23:37

Then perhaps it's an inaccurate stereotype. I take it "ask luis" is a question and answer thing?

spudbynight · 15 Mar 2010 at 23:44

Yes, most of it poking fun at the people writing in.

alex24 · 15 Mar 2010 at 23:55

If I was OcUK, I would contact them and tell them why they're stupid and that they should print a correction to that. It's a shame not all the readers are savvy enough to realise why their method was flawed.

rjk · 16 Mar 2010 at 00:15

hi guys

unfortunatly this was one of my bundles

i am not really sure why the reviewer struggled so much with the bundle

it ran 24 hours of occt linpack before it got sent out. obviously if the reviewer thinks it fair, or had trouble with the product, then that is entirely their own perogative

weather or not he used a sufficiant power supply, who knows.

the only reason we suggest using a quality psu is because we have seen what happens when people use cheaper brands.

a psu is the last thing you want to cheap out on. for example, a customer came to me today with a 4.2ghz i7 bundle on a winpower psu :confused:

we state these things on the bundles web page as advice, not everyone is going to be as knowledgable as this reviewer.
its intended to avoid people damaging their cool new hardware, not to be preachy.

likewise with the bios updates.
i overclock each bundle differently depending on how the chip reacts.
so i am not going to be able to remember each persons settings every time the manufacturer releases a new bios...

generally speaking, if a customer is having troubleshooting issues then there are several ports of call

the system support line
the customer support forum here
the webnote system

all of these channels are manned by trained UK based OcUK technicians who are fully capable of assisting customers with configuration errors or setup issues that they may have

mattyfez · 16 Mar 2010 at 00:29

rjkoneill said:
snip

You are preaching to the choir here though, It really wouldnt suprise me if they were using a winpower or some other generic PSU.

I don't doubt for a second if an OCUK customer tried to buy that bundle along with an unsuitable PSU they would be steared in the right direction, but the readers of PCF don't know that....

What im trying to say it its very wrong of the mag to not disclose what they were running with.

alex24 · 16 Mar 2010 at 00:47

I agree; you're also preaching to the converted!

I think the crux of the matter is that this potentially damages OcUK's reputation, which is a shame as we know rjkoneill and co do an awesome, honest job at getting these things right, and credit is deserved for this.

I still think a short letter explaining why the method was flawed and asking why the PSU was omitted would be appropriate. Coupled with not sending review samples unless the review is trusted to be fair, impartial and transparent once it makes it to print.

ETNiES · 16 Mar 2010 at 02:56

Like the others I really didn't think anyone bought magazines anymore, If you are that into computers in the first place than surely (stop calling me Shirley) you'd know better and read all your info off the web anyway.

I was applying for a Computer maintenance course the other day and the required section had, Must have a genuine interest in computers and have a subscription to a computer mag..

oh dear oh dear.

mattyfez · 16 Mar 2010 at 03:01

mags are ok when you are a total noob, but once you find some decent websites they become redundant very fast.

Amakuma · 16 Mar 2010 at 03:40

Wow PC format I remember when I used to buy em for the cd's and disks with patches and demo's on.

stulid · 16 Mar 2010 at 03:50

mattyfez said:
mags are ok when you are a total noob, but once you find some decent websites they become redundant very fast.

Its sometimes nice to have something 'physical' to read.

Plus I hate taking my pc to the John.

matthab · 16 Mar 2010 at 03:55

I will normally buy a mag when im about to go on an airplane but havent actually bought one in a high street for a good 10 years now.

Audigex · 16 Mar 2010 at 08:17

stulid said:
Its sometimes nice to have something 'physical' to read.

Plus I hate taking my pc to the John.

^^

I'm not too keen on taking my netbook to the lavvy with me. Also, I tend to travel on rural trains (ie no wifi) so it's a case of £2 on a magazine, or about a fiver's worth of data charges on my phone!

spudbynight · 16 Mar 2010 at 11:43

I like the physical sensation of reading a magazine. I subscribe to PCFormat as I find it an entertaining read - the sections I read first are the letters page and ask luis - I find them a nice gentle piece of fun. Where else would you read about an Icy Donut in terms of PCs! Read the link below for Luis Villazon's 5 steps to diagnosing a PC problem.

http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/the-5-step-guide-to-fixing-almost-any-pc-problem-602854

dekez · 16 Mar 2010 at 11:57

stulid said:
Its sometimes nice to have something 'physical' to read.

Plus I hate taking my pc to the John.

Yeah this for me too, I subscribe to CustomPC, started off reading both but prefer this to PCFormat.

spudbynight · 16 Mar 2010 at 11:58

I have writted an email to PCFormat

Hi Dave,

I recently received my copy of the latest issue of PCFormat. I was taken aback somewhat by the review you included of the Core i3 bundle from Overclockers UK.

I was absolutly aghast at the score this bundle recieved and how you got to it. You had an issue with the stability of the bundle and the fact that Overclockers recommended using a decent branded PSU. As someone who is currently running a Core i7 at 4.0 Ghz I know a little bit about Overclocking and how important a good PSU is. I think that with this in mind the fact that you did not quote the PSU you were using on your test bench to be a massive oversight. I know that Overclockers hand test all the bundles they send out for 24 hours before hand and have a fantastic reputation for customer service (just check out their forums). To be honest with you the review felt like a bit of a hatchet job and I really expected more from PCFormat. Another PC Magazine gave the same bundle a score of 86% and scored it 94% for value for money. Getting a preoverclocked setup like that for the price is an absolute steal and it will run smoothly if you follow the instructions Overclockers provide.

Regards

James Melody

I sent it to Dave James their technical editor [email protected]