consumer reports

It is easy to forget that the cigarette box-sized device in your pocket is a computer more powerful than the one that sent Apollo 11 to the moon. Smartphones, tablets and laptops now hold some of our most priceless assets. But let's put a price on them: The value of a wired American's digital life averages nearly $55,000, and it's at risk.

The American consumer's financial health is showing signs of improvement, but the weak job market continues to derail the nation's economic recovery -- particularly for people in the lower income brackets, according to September's Consumer Reports Index, released on Tuesday.

Almost nothing loses its value faster after being bought than a car, and 24/7 Wall St. has found the 10 worst performers from a resale standpoint. But the reason most people would expect a new vehicle to drop in value -- poor reliability -- is rarely why they actually depreciated so much.

Which of your household products are the most prone to go kaput? It turns out laptop computers, lawn tractors and side-by-side refrigerators -- a disparate trio -- are the most likely to need repair, according to Consumer Reports' most recent Product Reliability Survey, featured in the August...

With "billions served," McDonald's and its Golden Arches have come to be synonymous with American culture: We are the "fast food nation," the Big Mac is universal, children all over the world order Happy Meals with Chicken McNuggets, and the language is understood everywhere. But fresh off a...

Amazon (AMZN) boss Jeff Bezos doesn't take the usual approach to sales, technology or even competition. At this week's ShopSmart summit, he spoke with candor about his idiosyncratic strategies, growth opportunities, and how digital technology is still reshaping retailing.

Asian automakers have traditionally fared well in tests conducted by Consumer Reports magazine, and this year is no exception. Overall, eight Japanese and Korean models were named "best values" in their segments, the publication said Monday.

The Verizon iPhone 4 has a problem that could cause the phone to drop calls, or be unable to place calls, in weak signal conditions, Consumer Reports engineers have found in lab tests. The problem is similar to the one we confirmed in July with the AT&T version of Apple's newest smart phone....

Government measures show that inflation, at 1.6% in January, is still below the Fed's target of 2%. But commodity prices are soaring, and anyone who pays their household bills knows that food and energy prices are rising because of it. Is the Consumer Price Index getting it wrong?

If Apple comes out with an iPhone 5 this summer, what happens to those customers who just shelled out a few hundred dollars for the newly released Verizon iPhone 4 this week? Consumers Union, publisher of the highly influential 'Consumer Reports,' is calling on Verizon to clarify its upgrade policy.