Techsperts: The Best Tech News and Reviews Sites

Techsperts Talks About is where you’ll find our favorite technology tips, tricks, and information. In this, our first post of the series, we’ll share where we go to find accurate product reviews and up-to-date news coverage.

If there’s one thing the Internet is full of, it’s information: good, bad, and indifferent, you can find it on the net. From laugh-out-loud YouTube clips to the latest radar map of local weather, it’s all online.

This plethora of facts and opinions becomes a problem when it’s time to do research. What sites do you trust? How can you sort through the flotsam of this information ocean and reel in a fish or two worth keeping?

Easy. You shop smart.

How to Research Tech Information

Finding tech news isn’t hard; a quick Google search will bring up dozens of well-known, big-name sites. And for the most part, you can feel comfortable using these sites as spot-on sources for the latest information. News and magazine sites like Forbes.com, CNN.com, and MSN.com are great places to keep up with general news and events. The big sites aren’t all that different from each other; our personal favorites are based on the details of the sites rather than the overall services they offer. (We’ll unveil our picks in just a minute.)

Finding product reviews isn’t hard either. For a purely customer-driven review site, it’s hard to beat Amazon, simply because the online superstore is so massive and so popular. Yet product reviews are often biased. While a decent overall picture of a product can be gained by looking at the reviews in total, it’s risky to base decisions on a single rave (or rotten) review.

Here’s our advice if you’re looking for product reviews: use several trustworthy, professional review sites like the ones below to anchor your decision, and then use the overall totality of the user reviews as a secondary source to confirm or rethink your choice.

Techsperts’ Top Tech News and Reviews Sites (And Why We Like Them)

As we said, there are a number of excellent tech sites out there. These are our top picks, for several reasons:

• The Popular Choice Award goes to CNET, the Internet’s number-one tech news and reviews site. Not only does this site have a long history and a loyal fan base, it provides accurate and comprehensive reviews. And—a nice feature—it updates them. Take this review of Google’s Nexus 7. A follow-up article, dealing with the Nexus 7’s issues, is linked to the original review. Sure, other sites do the same follow-up routine, but it’s a definite advantage to have the updates linked to the original. CNET is tech-oriented enough to hold an advanced user’s interest, but its unintimidating explanatory style makes it useful for newbies too.
• The Design Award goes to Engadget. Like CNET, Engadget is accessible enough that the technically challenged will be able to understand the content. Engadget’s particular advantage is its eye-pleasing review layout, with a nice balance of white space, a clean font, and side-by-side comparisons of user reviews and editorial reviews. Engadget also has the great idea to offer links to other sites’ reviews too, making it a one-stop information store.
• The Familiar Source Award goes to PC Mag. Not only do we look for the PC Mag Editor’s seal of approval on software sites and packaging, we’re comfortable taking news and advice from a publication that’s been around since 1982 (and was in printed form until 2009). Although PC Mag is geared toward IT professionals, it’s still a great read for the less-advanced user. We particularly like the news and opinion features. If you’ve got time to spare, you may want to check out the recommended reading boxes that pop up unobtrusively in the bottom corner of your browser; it’s an easy way to deepen your knowledge about the PC subject you’re researching.

What sites are your tech news faves? Leave a comment below and let us know, and check back next week as we continue our talks about tech. Even better, subscribe so you won’t miss a post!