In the September Issue of Consumer Reports:
24 August 1999
In the September Issue of Consumer Reports: Home-Office Gear, Noise, Auto Insurance, Hair Perms and Relaxers, Blood Testing and More.
YONKERS, N.Y.--Aug. 23, 1999--The September issue of Consumer Reports magazine contains articles covering a wide range of topics and products. Among the feature stories:HOME OFFICE: The gear you need to get things done
Computers. We rate 12 new machines ranging in price from $900 to nearly $2,900 and in capability from the most essential functions (word processing and Internet access) to professional applications (web-site development and video editing). Lollipop colors and sleek designs may make for bold fashion statements in computers, but we found the best bargains in price and performance still come from basic beige boxes. Top-rated among higher-priced Windows computers is the Dell Dimension XPS T500 ($1,921, including monitor). (Ratings chart included.)
Ink-jet printers. Three Hewlett-Packard models led our ratings of 16 machines. Three other models - a Xerox, a Canon and an Epson - stood out for their ability to print color photos. Ink-jet printers in general have become faster in recent years, but they still can't match laser printers in black-and-white printing speed. (Ratings chart included.)
Cordless phones. Most cordless phones operate at frequencies of either 49 megahertz (MHz) or 900 MHz. All 49 MHz phones use analog technology, which is susceptible to eavesdropping. 900 MHz phones are available in either analog or the more-secure digital technology. Digital 900 MHz phones have a longer range than analog 900 MHz phones, which have a longer range than 49 MHz phones. Longest ranging (and priciest) of all are 900 MHz DSS phones: The handsets worked up to 2,000 feet from the base in our outdoor tests, making them a good choice for those whose home office is a blimp hangar. None of the 23 phones we tested performed less than "good." The $45 Uniden EXP 7900, a 900 MHz analog model, proved "A CR Best Buy." (Ratings chart included).
NOISE: Muting the loud sounds that affect hearing and health
Should you wear earmuffs to an aerobics class? The exercise may be great for your cardiovascular system, but prolonged, unprotected exposure to a particularly loud workout session could damage your hearing, according to a special report in the September issue of the magazine. It's just one example of how excessive noise affects our ears and - in some cases - our quality of life.
September's report looks at the sources of loud noise and what's being done at the grassroots and legislative levels to quiet the din. It also looks at the health consequences of exposure (hearing loss, like overall noise level, is on the rise in America) and offers a guide to when loud is TOO LOUD to forgo such protection as earplugs and acoustic earmuffs.
In addition, the report examines how some manufacturers of noise-generating products are muting their machines, while others turn a deaf ear to consumer complaints. Included is a list of products we've reviewed recently, and the noisiest (and quietest) models among them. One notorious noisemaker, the leaf blower, is rated in a separate September report.
AUTO INSURANCE: You're probably paying too much
When we asked our readers about their auto insurance last year, three-fourths of them told us they regularly renewed their policies without first shopping around. That's a mistake. In this month's issue of Consumer Reports, we advise policyholders not to pay another auto-insurance premium until they first investigate whether they can get a better deal.
Policy premiums are on the decline for the first time since 1974, due in part to today's safer cars and the growing legions of safer, more mature drivers. And with the advent of online and telephone price services, including Consumer Reports' own Auto Insurance Price Service, it's easier now than ever before to get up-to-date policy information.
In the September issue, readers will learn how a CR associate editor, armed with a computer and her phone, cut almost $800 a year from her annual premium. They'll also learn how to lower their own premiums by - among other tactics - shedding unnecessary coverage and "maxing out" on discounts. Plus, we rate 36 major insurers on customer satisfaction. (Ratings chart included)
HAIR CARE: Cautionary advice about relaxers and permanents
Use extreme care and follow instructions precisely when using permanent-wave and hair-relaxer products, advises the September issue of Consumer Reports.
Relaxers straighten curly hair, and permanents - which include body-wave products - add curl or body to straight hair. Both work by breaking and reshaping chemical bonds within the hair fiber. Some products cause greater hair damage than others. (The U.S. Food & Drug Administration reports that, compared with other products, relaxers generate a high proportion of adverse-reaction complaints.)
Our tests found some over-the-counter products that worked well and - if used correctly - proved quite safe. Among relaxers, Bone Strait ($6.65) caused the least hair damage and left hair feeling smooth and silky. Ogilvie Precisely Right ($7.15) outperformed two of the three professional permanent-wave products in our tests (Biolage Acid Wave was tops) and achieved excellent results. (Ratings charts included)
BLOOD: New test reduces lingering transfusion risk
A patient facing routine surgery stands a much better chance of being murdered than he does of contracting a potentially deadly virus from a blood transfusion.
Still, that relatively low risk (odds that a unit of blood in the nation's blood supply contains the AIDS virus are about 1 in 676,000) can now be all but eliminated by a blood-screening innovation. Nucleic-acid testing (NAT) can spot viruses in any component of blood, and can thus help protect everyone who gets a transfusion. Meanwhile, two "premium" blood-plasma products currently being marketed - PLAS+SD and donor-retested plasma - also provide nearly complete protection from the AIDS and hepatitis C viruses, but only in plasma, the liquid part of blood that accounts for just one-seventh of all blood transfused in the U.S.
September's "Your Health" column describes the benefits and limitations of NAT and the plasma products, and suggests alternatives to the standard transfusion. Among them: Cell salvage, in which blood lost during surgery is collected, washed, filtered and returned to the patient during or after surgery.
The September 1999 issue of Consumer Reports will be available Aug. 31 wherever magazines are sold. To subscribe to Consumer Reports, call 1-800-765-1845. In addition, information and articles from Consumer Reports can be accessed online at www.ConsumerReports.org.
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