[climber_grrl]

climber_grrl posted the Consumer Reports Review of kitchen cabinets that was published in August 2004 in this space a few days ago.

Unfortunately for us (but rightly so), Consumer Reports is very active in protecting their copyright. Reprinting articles without permission is strictly forbidden and could be cause for legal action, so...the article is no longer reprinted here.

However, the article is still available on the Consumer Reports website. You can have a month's access for only $4.95 or you can get an entire year's worth for $26 ($19 if you're a magazine subscriber). Another tip: our library system has a subscription and members have access through the library's account. Check with your local librarian!

Sorry for the inconvenience! This thread will remain open to encourage discussion of the findings of the article.

Susan

[Lisa]

The thing that bugs me about this article is that it doesn't tell you which door style they tested (since IKEA doesn't have a maple or a cherry...) and that many of the upgrades premium cabinet manufacturers charge dearly for (Blum tandembox and blumotion) are either a) included in the base price or b) pennies compared to $$ on more expensive lines. Also, IKEA's interior fittings (pullouts, etc.) are much more reasonably priced.

[Tigratrus]

Exactly,

I remember reading the Consumer Reports Kitchen Cabinet reviews and being quite put out that they did NOT review any of the higher end IKEA options. They mentioned what an excellent bargain the entry level IKEA cabinets were but never mentioned that there was a wide range of options available.

I also felt that they glossed over the extreme value of the options available on IKEA cabinets (as Lise said above).

Overall it underscores the reservations I have about Consumer Reports evaluations on anything that passes a certain level of complexity/configurability. Comparing cars (for example) is *relatively* simple by comparison. I've also noted that while Consumer Reports does well on things like appliances, their comparisons of high tech gear tend to be overly simplistic and often downright misleading.

An example: Digital Cameras. The Consumer Reports review of Digital Camera was vastly over simplified and rated cameras largely on mega-pixels and price if I remember correctly. Photography is FAR more complicated than that. As I remember, The camera we purchased (a cannon G6) was NOT well rated depite the fact that it's extremely well regarded in digital photography circles andis, in most respects, a better product that takes better pictures than anything short of a digital SLR. By comparison, I saw cameras that I know to have major functionality problems (terrible white balance/slow processing ability/poor lens quality etc)rated quite highly because they were inexpensive and scored well in the handful of things that Consumer Reports used as their rating criteria.



I say this not to bash Consumer Reports, who actually do a pretty good job of impartial evaluations of a WIDE array of products, but simply to point out the pitfalls of using a single source of information to guide your decisions. Not that anyone here does that, but I've spoken topeople that do...

As I remember the IKEA Cabs still came in like 4th in the ratings which was well ahead of manufacturers charging 3 times as much.

[GardenOfDarwin]

I just ran across this again, so I thought I'd update this old post. This is the basic information from Consumer Reports' report from August 2004:

(Based on one 21-inch-wide base cabinet with one drawer and one pullout shelf, and one 21-inch-wide, 30-inch-tall wall cabinet with fixed shelves.)

#1 Omega $1055
#2 Fieldstone (1/2") $1020
#3 Diamond (Platinum) $630
#4 IKEA $290
#5 Thomasville $500
#6 Shenandoah $435
#7 KraftMaid $510
#8 Wellborn (Premier) $880
#9 Mill's Pride $260
#10 American Woodmark (Designer Series) $350
#11 Kitchen Classics (Select) $265
#12 Premier $320
#13 Kitchen Classics $350

What the report fails to mention is that although Omega ($1055) includes the better drawer glides, etc in their price, so does IKEA ($290). They fail to mention AT ALL in fact, that IKEA uses Blum and Ferarri hardware, Blum tandemboxes, full-extension Blum glides etc on ALL its ktichen cabinets. It is true however, that IKEA does not offer plywood as an upgrade -- it's MDF boxes or nothing (but low formaldehyde MDF!!). But then, the industry standard isn't plywood boxes either.

I take Consumer Reports with a grain of salt for the most part, but I do think it's worthy of a mention when people start talking quality vs. value. IKEA is an excellent value and I'd say well above average quality considering some of the other dreck out there. And an interesting fact -- while IKEA's quality has continued to improve through the years, prices have (for the most part) dropped by as much as 36% since 2001.

Susan