Text Reviews or Video reviews???

I'm doing a research project and I was wondering if you guys could help me out. When it comes to online reviews, would you rather read the review or watch an "in person" video clip of someone reviewing a product?
Would you rather watch a video clip of a person reviewing the W3J via computer, (or any Asus laptop for that matter) or would you rather just read a text version of the review with a few pictures? Both reviews would contain the exact or very similar content.

Just so It's clear...(and if you don't mind) I need to know which one you'd prefer if you had to choose one format over the other? AND...I also need to know...If you had equal access to both formats, would you just look at the one you preferred, or would you watch/read them both?

Thank you in advance to all that help me out.

 

Video is often better, but not everyone owns a camera capable of a good quality, as well as good narration voice

 

Coriolis, I really appreciate you responding...I was talking about If a specialist or pro were doing the review, which would you choose. Is there anyway you could answer the two questions I asked...I'm trying to compile data for a research project, this forum is one of the few sources I chose to use since It's very relevant. Thanks

 

Ah, video all the way! Pictures are nice, but they don't move

 

Definately video. Seeing the product in motion gives a better sense of what it's really about. If there were both a video and a text review. I would probably skim over the text, then watch the video.

 

Video!! If I could I would do video reviews of everything I have!!

 

I don't have the time to look at a video review. If it contains the same information as the text review it will be too long. I can read faster than someone would speak in a review. Although I don't mind a video of the product being used. Like symetrikal said, it gives a better sense of the product. Although picturescan do that to, as long as they're not product-shots but pictures of the product in use.

 

Video all the way !!!

 

I would only want a short video clip of the laptop its self. But i prefer a written review any day. Sometimes i want to go back to a review and look at it again. and i dont want to go through an entire video to get to the part i want. Is there some option to download the review to my brain. Like a usb interface. Wait nevermind i dont want to know where it would plug in.

 

I prefer video, since you actually see the product in action. For example, some people here in the forums, including myself, were wondering how the viewing angles of the W3J really is. Some people took pictures of the screen, but it was still unclear as to how the screen is. But when Eddie took video shots of the W3J in action, I could clearly see how the viewing angles were.

 

Yeah, I'd actually prefer a written review with detailed photos. Video is nice, but it's tougher to skim to the parts you want and it's way more conspicuous to be viewing it at work (where I do most of my browsing ).

Good written reviews, like the caliber of those here on NBR, are usually far more detailed than most video reviews I've seen. If someone were to do a video review with the same amount of depth of the average NBR review, it would probably be around a 20-minute clip!

Not to butter my biscuit on both sides, but a great written review supplemented by a short, well-lit video clip (no more than a minute and a half) would be ideal for me.

 

Text for me, with good quality pictures... sometimes need breaks etc, and video is just to bothersome to forward, rewind etc etc.... with text, I can just go back to it whenever I want..

 

Text with photos + short video clips would work best for me; a review done completely in video would be too long and hard to reread at a later time. I'd only read the text if both were available, unless I was bored and the product is expensive, i.e. laptop or DSLR.

 

i will hafta agree with swatkins, darrick and scar face.

Text is better, i have the ability to scroll up and down, and highlight what i want to know, than rather fiddling with foward and rewind on a video.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Also agree with swatkins, ilustrative video of key highlights, viewing angles, general look, etc

But for the full review definetly written, when you are investigating on what laptop to get haveing to go through all those video to discard until you get to your final 2 would be infuriating.

Now a nice detailed video on those final two choices I would watch, like the fact that I downloaded those huge video files eddie posted about the W3J, took me 20 minutes to dowload each

 

i say text becouse im stuck on slow dial up out here in the boonies, i cant wait for college when i get wireless.

 

If I would wacht a review, I'd wait all the time until it gets to a part I'm wondering about. When you've got a text, you can skim until you found that subject and read about it. Maybe a review with text, one useful picture and a small video with some extra hints per review subject would suit me best.

 

Alright, here's the kicker, what If the Video version of the review was offered in a choice of the full review AND/OR the option of it broken down into smaller clips, say 90 seconds to 2 minutes long, and each was labelled or given a brief description?
Example: Intro, Build quality, specs, conclusion/verdict etc...whatever...Basically ALL the same content and headings that you'd find in a good NBR written review, both clearly listed for you in your choice of the full video review, or clips of each section of interest? Would that sway those that said text review only? This way they could easily zoom in and only see what they wanted, and those with slower connections could watch the whole review clip by clip, or choose what they feel is important and not watch the rest?

I'm just curious, because It would be very easy to offer up the choice, so would that change anyone's mind?

 

That would be sweet!

 

That would improve the usability of the video, but it doesn't change my conclusion.

I would prefer written, with a good set of quality pictures showing all sides, bottom, top and a straight on keyboard shot, as well as screen shots from different angles. Then as Swatkins said and several others agreed with, a short video to compliment the thorough written review would also be helpful.

 

Also, Most of you answered the first part of the question, but not really the second...You said what you pefered if it was one or the other, but since a review is subjective, and in most cases the more opinions and views the better...If both a Text review and a Video review were equally available to you, and you didn't only have to choose one, would you view them both, or just go with your preference? Thanks once again for all the responses

 

It really depends on how good of a review it is. I mean, if the video review does an excellent job giving out the facts, opinions, experience with the product, shows appearance from various angles, and screen quality... then I would stick to my initial answer. Because sometimes seeing is believing. Like I mentioned before, the reason I chose video in this case is because people here in the forums were worried about the W3J's screen quality. Eventhough some took photos of the viewing angles, people were still unsure, because the photos didn't really capture the screen in it's closest real world appearance. Eddie's video clips of that quieted those with concerns, because we could actually see the product in action. Text reviews also have advantages in which the reviewer could get more in depth, because of the time spent writing it. But who's to say that this can't be done in a video review as well... With the internet gaining more speed... I believe that video reviews will be more available. There's a lot less people that use 56k nowadays, so downloading video clips would not be so much of a hassle soon. But to give you a short answer CalibratedComa, if both resources are available to me.. text or video.. I would use both, because I also like a good read in addition to a showcase.

 

Since the video seems to show the viewing angles better than a still, it would seem that if the text review had a short video to compliment it that video should certainly show the viewing angles, and anything else that the video format did a better job showing off.

I also agree with ledzepp14...if both were available, most of us would use both as long as the video wasn't too long.

 

I feel that I would always use the text as my "go to" source of info and would use the video only if there was a specific issue that couldn't be addressed through text and pics alone (like viewing angles or battery wobble for example).

Indexing the videos into short clips is a great idea CalibratedComa, and would probably help a great deal for those folks who want the video reviews. For me personally, though, I absorb my data much more efficiently through text.


The only other reason I would really want a video would be if there a particularly fly machine I just wanted to ogle

 

a video review is pretty much worthless if other information is not available.

Cosmetically you get the best idea about a product, its features and specs, and live running performance

However, its nearly impossible to be able to see benchmarks all laid out in front of you, with specs and other valuable insight.

Videos are very large files, and in text you can give a lot more info.

Ideally both would be best. (kind of like cnet, its pretty wholistic, although I think the videos are kinda skimpy, and they dont give benchmarks.)

 

I prefer a text review with some awesome photo. Not really a fan of video reviews maybe because it's not the norm? But I guess it wouldnt bother me if I can watch a video review either.