I’ve always teased friends at CNet about their rating system, which appears to always rate products between 7 and 8, meaning everything is more or less “very good” in score. Ecoustics has done the job of analysing 1,325 reviews from 2007 (all of them?) and figured out the exact math: 96% of all ratings from last year fell between 5.0 and 8.9; about 70% fall between 6 and 7.9. Maybe CNet should make anything a “CNet 6 or below” a “1″, and anything that scores a “CNet 10″ a “5″. After all, anything below a 6 means DO NOT BUY to me.
CNet’s David Katzmaier eats, breathes and shits Giant Plasmas, so when he reviewed Panasonic’s 85 series plasmas, their best until the 800 and 850s come out, I noticed. In a nutshell, the 46-inch (yes, 46-inch) 1080p set’s 30,000:1 contrast ratio gives it some of the blackest blacks he’s ever seen…but unfortunately, still not as black as a Pioneer Kuro, although close.
Scary factoid: on my recent vacation, I combed my hair funny as a joke. My wife freaked out a bit, saying that I looked like Murray Hewitt. She was right, so I called her “Brit” for the remainder of the trip. (Unfortunately, she looks nothing like Bret McClegnie.) On the plus side, today you can download Flight of the Conchords’ “Ladies of the World” MP3 for 100% free on CNET. You don’t remember that song from the series? Then you’re fired, reader. Hit the jump for a reminder and reapply to Gizmodo through the tips line. UPDATE: Business Time is available free as well.
