Subscriber Reviews
Good enough
And while this magazine doesn't go into great depth on to which products are the best (you could call it indirect advertising), it does one important job. It introduces you to the newest products and what's out there.
Think about it, where the heck am I going to look on the net for new cell phones that haven't come out yet? I'd have to search forever and at multiple websites.
With laptop mag, I look at all the things that I've never seen before and then look them up on the net (isn't that what internet is for?). It's a great resource for seeing some of the latest products. The user needs to do thier own homework and make a researched decision about the product.
Finally, when looking at electronics, I like advertising. It's another way to get either new ideas on products you never thought or if you want to buy something, it's easier to locate with an advertisement.
Informercials in a magazine binding
Laptop Magazine focuses on laptops, PDAs, and wireless computing. Laptop Magazine seems like it's trying to be both technical and exciting; however it lacks the objectivity of PC Magazine and the deep enthusiasm of Wired. Thus, it reads like a series of infomercials where each "article" paints a rose-colored view of each technology and the vendors products followed by paid ads of the same vendors portrayed so happily in the text. Their conclusions all seem predetermined: new technology is better.
Not a serious magazine
Laptop Mag can be best described negatively: it's not a really serious computer magazine. It's more or less like Consumer Guide, which is basically paid advertising. This means you can't really trust the article here because you don't know if they are not written by unbiased writers. In the end, I feel this is a waste of money. Besides, you can get all the info for free on the web, from CNET or ZDNET, anyway.