Smartphone, tablet, laptop, more

Former Gizmodo Editorial Director Brian Lam, now retired from the site, has launched a new electronics-focused website called The Wirecutter with a different approach: a semi-permanent list of both "the best" gear along with a mix of highly-subjective ("What I'd Get") and semi-objective ("Great" and "Good") categories crossing all boundaries of gadget and electronic devices. Apple products figure prominently, but far from exclusively, on the list.

For example, Lam rates the iPhone 4S as "The Best Smartphone" and rates the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as "The Best Android Phone" while Verizon Wireless gets the nod as "The Best Carrier." Clicking on a category of device brings up comments from Lam along with the date they were last updated (his Nexus comment is a year old, for example, while the iPhone 4S rating is from October). Lam says in his How to Use This Site intro that he plans to update comments and ratings only when it is relevant to do so.

Lam labelled the 13-inch MacBook Air "The Best Laptop Ever Created" and said the iPad 2 is "What I'd Get" (though the Kindle Fire was also listed, as "Best Cheap Tablet" (no other tablets are mentioned in the tablet category). Clicking through for comments on notebooks shows that Lam has recently added an expensive Alienware model (the M17X) as "The Gaming Laptop I'd Get" and the MacBook Pro 15-inch (2.4GHz Core i7) as "This is the Power Laptop You Want." The 13-inch MacBook Air is referred to as "The Perfect Laptop."

Lam says the rankings and commentaries are not solely drawn from personal opinion, and often cites numerous other reviews and respected industry critics whom he says he converses with regularly in order to formulate a "Best" position. The site also covers other electronic devices ranging from projectors to cameras to wireless toothbrushes and shavers. Interestingly, there is no desktop computer category at present.

Apple third-party accessories even rate their own category ("Computers Etc" is a category for other computer accessories), which at the moment includes "The iPhone Case I'd Get" and "This is the iPod Dock You Want." The Mac maker did not dominate every category for its products: the company is not mentioned in the "Networking Category" despite garnering much critical acclaim for its Airport line, nor did it get a mention in "E-Book Readers," where the Kindle Touch is rated as "What I'd Get." The Apple Thunderbolt Display was dismissed as the best choice of monitor in favor of a much lower-priced (but 24-inch) Dell model, though Lam mentions that Apple's display is competitively priced with pro-level 27-inch monitors.

The site features a personal introduction by Lam about his background as a gadget fan (and the importance of having a life outside technology) and is supported by affiliate links to the products mentioned on the site (as well as some ads). For many categories, price range or specialty options can play a factor in whether only one model or several are "best" for different needs. Other categories include car electronics, HDTVs, headphones, printers, storage, soundbars (for home theaters), wireless music, cables and more.

Lam is best known to Apple users as the editorial director of Gizmodo and chief spokesperson for the site during the stolen iPhone 4 prototype fiasco, which involved then-editor Jason Chen. Two other men were convicted for the crime, but charges against Chen were ultimately dropped.

by MacNN Staff