TestFreaks.co.uk: A Review (no pun intended)
Today I discovered a cool new website:- TestFreaks.co.uk. It lists reviews for thousands of products, and is Crucial to anyone looking to buy any piece of technology, Be it Cameras, Dishwashers, TV’s or Fridges - You want it? TestFreaks lists it.
TestFreaks is set aside from your average price comparisen website. It has a Web 2.0 (read: swanky) feel about it, and it easy to use. When you visit TestFreaks you are presented with a Search bar at the top of the page, A List of Popular products on the left, and a view of the catagories for products on the right. The bottom of the page shows updates about the latest expert reviews, and provides the option to switch to the latest user reviews.
It is very easy to search for a product on TestFreaks. You can either choose a catagory from the list on the right hand side, or - if you know exactly what you are looking for, you can use the search bar to find your product. It uses Ajax to show results as you type, and displays both induvidual products and catagories, which make the whole process of searching quick and painless. The WikiFreaks feature allows users to write a summary of the product, which is handy if you are looking for an honest description of the item, without having the manufacturer try and sell you the product. Users of TestFreaks can also ask other members questions about the product with the “Ask the Comminity” tool.
For example, If I was looking for a new Monitor, I would type into the Search bar the word “Monitor”
Step #1 - Type in the name of the product you are looking for - In this example, I chose the Monitors Catagory
I would choose the Product name or Catagory I was looking for. I would then be presented with a list of all of the products in then TestFreaks database.
Step #2 - Look through the list. We can order the list by FreakScore, Popularity, Price of Name.
Once we have the list on screen, we have the option of refining it. Since I am on a budget, I will set the price range from £100-£150. This is easy to do - Simple click the “Price” button under the Narrow Search box, and enter your price range. I did notice that it does not display the currency, and the first time I used this feature, I included the Pound Sign - And It did not recognize what I put. This isn’t a serious issue, and it’s totally acceptable, since this website is currently in Beta stages.
Step #3 - Refine your Search
After refining our search, we are presented with a list of monitors withing the £100-£150 price range. I ordered the, by their FreakScore - The higher the FreakScore, the higher reviewers have rated the product. The FreakScore is not based on One review - It is the average score that the product recieved from a number of reviews.
Step #4 - Review your refined list
Now that we have our refined list, we can start looking at the induvidual products. Each item has it’s own FreakScore & FreakRank
On the left, we get a thumbnail of the product. We then get it’s name, and the review count. On this perticular product, We can see that it has had 6 Expert reviews written about it, and 79 User Reviews. We can click on either of the two to read these reviews. Next to this section is a very special box, Containing the FreakScore and the FreakRank. I have allready explained the FreakScore, but not the freak rank.
TestFreaks have implemented FreakRank to show where about this monitor stands in terms of praise and popularity. We can see that out of all HP Products, this monitor stands 2nd out of 35, and out of All monitors on TestFreaks, this is 5th.
After reading the reviews, I have decided that I would choose the HP w1907. I have learnt that it is a well rounded product, and the FreakScore and FreakRank have told me a similar story. I also managed to get the product at a bargain price, by using TestFreak’s “Best Price” tool.
I can honestly say that TestFreaks is a very helpful website. I will reccomend it to my family & friends - And YOU! So the next time you are looking for an electrical item, check out TestFreaks!
Very useful website!
Thanks for the review.
Saved in bookmarks
Interesting website! Will remember it when looking up reviews.
Another interesting website I accidentally stumbled upon once is pissedconsumer.com. Not joking! It’s a site of complaints against different companies. Interesting to read so you know what companies are honoring their customers and which ones aren’t. It’s especially interesting that Sony’s complaints are always the longest. I can vouch for that. After the headache (to say the least) they put me through on a notebook of theirs I once had, my complaint I’d write would be just as long or longer.