How We Grade Products

The Toolcritic tries to give each product a grade based all of the information available. This information includes user reviews, newsgroup posts about the tool (we call it "buzz"), magazine articles, manufacturers information, brand reputation, personal experience and the experience of our many friends, and any other source that seems reliable and unbiased.

Not all products have sufficient feedback for us to assign a grade. You'll see a "---" in the grade field in these cases. We'll wait until there are at least three legitimate reviews or other substantial "buzz" before we assign a grade.

Keep in mind that Toolcritic grades and Toolcritic Picks are subjective. That means, quite simply, the grade we pick is our opinion and the opinion of the user's who have posted reviews. The grade may be based on a wealth of information and it may be based on a single post in a newsgroup that we feel is reliable and well researched.

The process we use for grades and picks is the same process we use to choose tools for ourselves. This tends to influence the way we grade tools. Our personal applications require professional level tools but are non-industrial. We feel that a tool that will hold up well for daily, non-continuous use or occasional continuous use may deserve an "A" as much as a tool that is designed for continuous industrial use. The obvious exception would be an analysis of a type of tool that is specific to industrial uses.

In the same way, we use our tools regularly and vigorously. Many of the tools designed for the occasional do-it-yourself weekend worker are not designed for professional use. We will probably grade these tools lower, but that doesn't mean that they are not suitable if you happen to want to use the tool infrequently.

The table below will help you understand what the grades you see mean.

Remember, shopping on-line for tools is the most fun a person can have sitting in a chair. Good luck and happy shopping.

Reviews on Toolcritic come from a variety of sources. Reviews are written by us, by our research assistants, by our users, and syndicated from other sites like Amazon.com. In addition, there are different types of reviews. A buzz, expert, or user review are all a little different. How much weight you give the review in determining your purchase may depend on the source and type of the review so we we distringuish between them with a graphic like the ones below.

Graphic	What it Means
	A review with this graphic next to it is by someone what we consider qualified to write a tool review. You know that the reviewer has tested the tool and their rating is unbiased.
	A review with a buzz review graphic next it is one where we've summarized what another reviewer has said about the tool. It is, in effect, a review of a review. We'll tell you the source of the original review and we encourage you to read the original for yourself.
	This graphic is next to reviews written by Toolcritic users based on their personal experiences using their tools. We screen all reviews before they are shown on the site to ensure that they are up to the standards you'd expect at the Toolcritic.
No graphic	If there isn't a graphic displayed next to the review, it is syndicated from Amazon or another source.