Caveat Emptor
Who realistically buys anything that is based solely on the manufacturers statement of how perfect their product is ?
After all, these statements are made up by their marketing departments who are so far away from reality and unfortunately too far away from a ticket on the B ark
Independent reviews are good as long as they are truly unbiased and based on fact that others can independently verify (i.e. by repeating the tests themself).
Personally, I won't buy something until I've read a number of reviews and extract the common thread from them.
I agree with @JimC that those who post fake reviews for personal gain should feel some pain, but in the modern world where common sense has been removed and things are solely based on the accountants "lowest cost option" the companies set themselves up for this sort of situation, so its mostly their own fault.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
