One thing to keep in mind when reading user reviews on any retailer site is the reported ratings are not necessarily an accurate indication of the product as a whole.
Typically, user reviews can be posted by anyone regardless of whether or not they own the product they are reviewing. Additionally, everyone who purchases a product (obviously) does not review it, so you are not getting an accurate sample of reviewers. For example, if only the people happy with a product review an overall terrible product then the reviews will not be indicative of the product as a whole.
Overall, user reviews are great and can be very helpful. Just make sure they are not used solely when making your decision.
Jason Faulkner is the man who brings you our daily tips. He is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
On the other hand, if all you see about a product are bad reviews everywhere, that should tell you something. I recently purchased a DVD player that had moslty bad reviews but I decided to give it a try. Things could not be that bad I thought. One week later I exchanged the unit with another one for the same problems I read in the reviews. Another week and a half later I returned the second one to the store for the same problems too and chose a different brand.