Length of Reviews

[Clay]

I'm wrapping up my latest review (will be posted sometime later tonight) and wondered how long most people like reviews to be. Obviously length of a review alone isn't much to go by. I'm just trying to get an idea, though, of how much people are willing/want to read. Since "pages" are relative, I'm going with word count (not exact measurement either but better than pages). Here are a few examples from some reviews here on the site:

Kal's 5700 review (http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/galaxy_zeus_5700_ultra/index.shtml) : ~ 3,000 words

My new review: ~ 5,000 words

Mike's 5950 Ultra Preview: (http://www.nvnews.net/previews/geforce_fx_5950_ultra/index.shtml) ~ 7,000 words

So what do you prefer?

[MUYA]

It's a matter of which card and type of review.

Previews always need a lengthy write up to get the word out on the new capabilties/technologies etc of the new GPU being previewed.

High end cards also tend to need it.

Mainstream and low end, a tad less :D

So it depends .....IMHO

:p

kal

[Clay]

Yeah, good points MUYA and I agree with you. Guess I'm trying to just get an overall idea of how much people are ideally willing to read.

[SH0DAN]

3 to 5k

[digitalwanderer]

How many words is one of Beyond3D's typical reviews? That's about the longest I'll read thru entirely, but ONLY because it's a Beyond3D review. ;)

Seriously, I think shorter is better the longer the card has been out....it really depends.

When a card first comes out reviews can be as long as they want because no one knows anything about the product. Everything is new, fascinating, and easily digested.

After a product has been out a few months or so, the first few pages of reviews seem pretty redundant anymore and a bit of a waste of bandwidth. I think reviewers would do well to skip the boring minutia and concentrate more on what new they've got to tell, they're impressions, or what they did to test the card. :)

[saturnotaku]

I totally agree with dig. Mike's 5950 preview is appropriate as a longer piece because it was a new card at the time.

But the 5700 review is good at the shorter length because it was on the market. Overall, I think sticking to the principle of being simple and concise will do just fine. Don't say seven words when four will do. :)

[Clay]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll be first to admit that concise is best and something I always try to improve on (I know I can get wordy). ;) Great points Sat and Digi, much appreciated. :thumbsup: