LPT: When researching a product to buy online, read through the 3* reviews. Typically these are well-balanced and more thought out than 5* or 1* reviews.

When buying on websites like Amazon - especially with the holiday season upcoming - I highly recommend you read through the 3* reviews for a given product when seeing what people think of it.

Typically, 5* reviews (or 1* reviews) are people writing without thinking or in a knee-jerk reaction to their product. Those reviews have stuff like "This product is the worst ever!" or "This product is awesome, nothing better." Those won't help you in your hunt - every product will have reviews like that.

To find the balanced reviews that can give some pros and cons - typically from more thoughtful reviewers - go to the 3* section (2* and 4* works too!). Typically these will have thoughts on what the product did well, what it didn't do well, and potential issues/improvements it needs. In turn, this will provide you with more insight into the product you're researching.