Tom's Hardware Editorial in 2022: What Helped, What Could Be Better?

[apiltch]

Hi Everyone,

As we close the books on 2022, I wanted to ask on behalf of the editorial staff what articles you found most helpful this past year and what we could be doing to serve you better in 2023. Our focus is always on our readers -- what do you want to see from us and what can we do to help empower you in your tech life. How are we doing? Please be specific if there's something you really liked or something you didn't.

Maybe I'm opening up a can of worms here, but please keep in mind that we're asking for feedback I will share with the editorial staff. We don't have control over the content of ads on the site, the amount of ads on the site, how fast the site loads or the overall layout and design of the site beyond just putting the elements into our articles that our CMS allows. So while we totally empathize if you have some pointed feedback about the ads or you wish our HTML tables looked better (believe me, we do too), in particular, we're asking for feedback on the content itself.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

First thing is for editorial to stop using the word "UP" in place of the full words "Update" or "Upgrade" in titles. It's very unprofessional and has been commented on by the users.

 

[DRagor]

I would suggest proofreading the articles (by somebody else then author) before putting them live. Especially reviews often have small errors that are easy to catch by experienced readers (say in CPU review wrong CPU names in some places) but can be very confusing to the less tech savvy readers. I know such mistakes are easy to make when writing in hurry so I don't blame authors but it can be quite annoying (at least to me!)
As for what articles are most helpful - obviously reviews. Because they are helpful to anyone reading them. On the other end are articles like best deals - for somebody living in Europe the fact that some US shops are offering deals on some tech is completely unusable.
Anyway keep up the good work 🆒

 

[Metal Messiah.]

+1. Totally agree with DRagor's comment, and I second it. I was about to say the same thing about some typo errors which I have also been noticing lately. It's not a very big deal though, but if someone can proofread the articles, BEFORE they are published, then that would be nice.

Rest, everything is fine. I love reading Paul Alcorn's and Francisco Pires's articles though. Very thorough and informative !

And by the way yes, those local retailer deals/offers/discounts make little sense at least for those audience who do not live in US/UK and/or Europe.

Also, can you implement a DARK MODE theme/format for the main website as well ? Is it possible ? These Forums have the Dark Mode option, though I couldn't find it on website itself ? I like reading in Dark Mode format, be it any article or a Forum query.

Regards, NICK.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

+1. Totally agree with DRagor's comment, and I second it. I was about to say the same thing about some typo errors which I have also been noticing lately. It's not a very big deal though, but if someone can proofread the articles, BEFORE they are published, then that would be nice.

By the way, to quote my own post, I just wanted to clarify that I was actually referring to the NEWS articles specifically, and not just the Reviews. The regular articles sometimes have typo errors, like few words missing in a sentence, wrong GPU/CPU model name, grammatical errors, and the like.

But like mentioned above, such mistakes are easy to make when writing any article, and I don't blame anyone.

FWIW, I have myself passed through this same stage, when I used to write articles for DSOG, and few other sites/mags (related to Music, Arts etc.). Heck, despite me myself proofreading the articles, some minor errors used to slip through or were overlooked, lol.

Had to edit the article few times, but not always. Just saying, NOT promoting myself here in any way though. So I can totally understand how these typos are easy to make.
Thanks !

 

[Karadjgne]

I find it hard to be critical about articles written by ppl who volunteer their time and passion to enriching us all with their findings. That said, if it's made by man, it has a failure rate, that's an unadulterated fact. There's enough talent spread throughout the staff that any failures, either emotional, unsupported, Typo, grape or otherwise shouldn't make it to print.

For many, your words are Gospel, just like Jon Gerow's or Oklahoma Wolfe's reviews were/are, and the amount of pressure that can put on the Staff is understandable, so being flawless is somewhat of an unrealistic expectation. Being careful isn't.

This site thrives on its Credibility, measure as many times as it takes before you cut.

 

[Elusive Ruse]

This is rather a question or a gentle suggestion. I was wondering if you're gonna put together a buying guide for AM5 MOBOs early next year?

 

[ptTimeBldr]

I like the history and legacy of the forum; that there's a wealth of qualified reviews, recommendations and suggestions going back over many years.

 

[Math Geek]

other than the proofreading/editing mistakes that pop up here and there, i don't have any complaints really.

i would like to ask for a couple topics to be covered in future articles the at large community has seriously latched on to the idea of "undervolting" everything. perhaps an article looking at this topic, its pros and cons and alternatives would help some understand what it is they can accomplish vs what they seem to think it accomplishes based on some redit post or other random place.

your recent reviews of cpu's/gpu's/coolers usually explore what happens when power limits are put in place. how about an article explaining how to do it, with what software/bios settings, and its pros and cons. we suggest it a lot in the forum as opposed to undervolting, yet i'm not sure many know how to actually do it.

a couple resources like this can go a long way to help newer pc builders/users understand better all these terms they are seeing used in many many places.

keep up the good work

 

[ex_bubblehead]

And, why are tutorials suddenly appearing in "News Comments"?

Example:

News - How to Zip Files in Windows

Zip archives are a great way to save a little space, tidy up and keep on top of the files that litter are drives. In this how to we show you how to create, manage and extract files in zip archives. How to Zip Files in Windows : Read more

forums.tomshardware.com

This is obviously not news.

 

[Valencious]

Hi Everyone,

As we close the books on 2022, I wanted to ask on behalf of the editorial staff what articles you found most helpful this past year and what we could be doing to serve you better in 2023. Our focus is always on our readers -- what do you want to see from us and what can we do to help empower you in your tech life. How are we doing? Please be specific if there's something you really liked or something you didn't.

Maybe I'm opening up a can of worms here, but please keep in mind that we're asking for feedback I will share with the editorial staff. We don't have control over the content of ads on the site, the amount of ads on the site, how fast the site loads or the overall layout and design of the site beyond just putting the elements into our articles that our CMS allows. So while we totally empathize if you have some pointed feedback about the ads or you wish our HTML tables looked better (believe me, we do too), in particular, we're asking for feedback on the content itself.

The Posts are mostly helpful, serious and respectful. I love the web design and the staff is mostly friendly too!

<Off topic, redacted by Moderator>

<More off topic content redacted by Moderator>

Happy early new year, still.

 

[Howardohyea]

I've been reading Tom's for almost two years now, I love the content, but to me, it really feels like the older articles are the real treasures. Let me elaborate.

A few years ago, editors would sneak in their own jokes into reviews, or write some absolute banger and hilarious paragraphs, like the GTX 690 review back in 2012. Granted, it's a whole decade ago, but it's just one prime example that I think is one of the most well-written articles.

Writing style aside, I'd also want to see some additional testing and analysis from the team. Instead of individual reviews and one deep-dive article accompanying each hardware generation, it would be nice reading about additional testing and information about the individual generation.

We don't even need to look at other sites like TechPowerUp to know what I'm talking about. Tom's Hardware wrote some individual game testing (would be interesting seeing how popular and hotly anticipated games perform) and followup articles (additional testing of hardware) a few years ago but I rarely do see them these days. Heck, those articles doesn't even need to be testing, even some Picture Stories and interviews would be fascinating to read.

All in all, I just want to see additional articles that offer a good read, a chuckle or two, and genuine information instead of so much news articles.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Again, this article should not have been published under the NEWS section/column. These are just tutorials and they serve as a reference for those who want to learn and gain more info on the said tutorial topic, which is a pretty good thing. and these articles are also helpful.

But, this isn't news though.

How to Turn On Bluetooth in Windows 10 or 11 and Pair Devices | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

 

[Howardohyea]

I just thought of another thing, clear up the murky reviews and testing inconsistency in the articles.

I'm not sure if it happened in any other articles, but the RX 6900 XT review have a very glaring issue. There being two test suites for regular and DXR games is standard, but once Ray Traced games starts making it's way into the regular test suites is when things gets really messed up.

We can see in page 2 of the review, which is the regular game tests, somehow features two DXR titles, including Watch Dogs Legion, which completely throws the result off. Furthermore, Watch Dogs is featured in both non-DXR and DXR categories, why would that be a thing?

Another thing I have to complain about is Dirt 5 in the same review. The regular test showed the game using Very High settings, while in the Ray Traced test suite it uses Ultra setting.

Why would testing inconsistency be an issue? Just put the games in their respective categories with the same settings and be done with it.

 

[Geef]

I just read the article:
How to Take Screenshots in Windows 10 or 11: Regions, Full Pages, Delayed Shots and More

I think you might want to add a tab on the main Tomshardware page called Data Everyone Should Know or something like that and put articles like this in it. Only place things there that people would like to learn. I just searched for another article that might go there and found
How To Perform Common Tasks in Windows Command Prompt

I haven't read that one since I was around when DOS 6.1 was my boot OS, but it sounds like a good one.

 

[RehReh1234]

I thoroughly appreciated the clogged print head article. There was no bias to the article, no product selling within the information I needed. It was straight to the point, efficient, and best article yet to help me with my issue. Thank you. Happy New Year 2023. Thank you for all that you do ♥️