I remember in my early college days, I use to get to this site, download loads of daily use software like ccleaner, tune-up utility, cpu reader, real player etc. Back in those days, they had the site in yellow background and green tabs. Yellow!!.. ya, believe me ... but let me assure you, it was not that bad. Now, they have much better combination of red, black, gray and white. The logo was the same, as you see it now.
CNET, represented as c|net, is a tech-media website that publishes news, articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Founded in 1994, by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was under the brand of CNET Networks and later became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition in 2008. CNET originally produced content for radio and television along with its website. Later, they moved to Internet television network, CNET TV, and its podcast and blog networks.
The site presentation is pretty neat and let users choose the area of their choice, up front. You will find almost everything related to phones, computers, OS, digital camera, books, games and many more in there.
The Reviewer section, gives you a list as a drop down to select your product type from and know everything you need to know. Downloads of apps were moved under Downloads section, based on their OS. Which according to me, is a nice way to group tools/apps on. Since the list is huge and the area covered is vast, you might find the
drop down coming on your way! But it is not as disturbing as the zoom
out ads that we find in some sites which refuses to go back. Thankfully,
cnet does not have any of those in their site (not yet at least). Of course, there is a search option, in case you know what you are looking for. Or, you can scroll all the way down of the page, to see a list of links to get to where you want to go.
One thing that I like the most in this web site is the ratings. There are 2 types of ratings, shown for each product or application - 1. Reviewer/User. 2. Editor.
Most of the time I found these ratings realistic as they are based on some ground rules. Say for example, if you are looking at a phone the evaluation will be based on battery power along with looks and feel, not just on looks. So, kind of covers all the area that will be effecting/affecting your future step towards the product (or away from it). Again, you can search for the best product of a group (say internet) based on either user's ratings or reviewer's ratings or others.
Some of the software will provide a setup initiator. That is from cnet you get the setup which will actually download the setup from the original sites. Like AVG for instance. CNET mentions this in their site about it. I wish they could have the complete setup cause not all have a free download limit.
CNET also has a video section where they show a lot of products and their features. Most of these videos are presented by Editors themselves who hold good amount of knowledge over the area or product line. Almost all the time I found these videos worthy to watch for rather than take them just as a sales/promotional calls. I even saw few of them on youtube.
If you are planning to buy a new product you can also check out the prices and expert comment as to how they see it. Sometimes back they have introduced search patters based on your budget and preference of brand, based on which you can see the available devices or products. This is handy if you are planning to buy something but not sure which one to go for. Of course, it also depends on which part of the world you are in.
This does not mean cnet does or has reviewed all the products in the world. I am not sure how they choose a product but a lot of times it seems its purely based on what dominated the market. So, if you are looking for a product that is not meant to dominate the market, chances are, you will not find it in there.
For me it truly is premier destination for tech product reviews, price comparisons, free software downloads, daily videos, and podcasts. Hope you find it helpful too!