Productopia | Scott Nyerges

Like many publications and websites, we at ConsumerSearch welcome reader feedback, be it a question, a comment or even a complaint. From time to time, we like to answer reader mail on the blog; in some cases, the particular question or comment is a common one. Read on for a sampling from the ConsumerSearch inbox. In some instances, letters have been edited for length.

Read more

When you think about it, veggie burgers are an oxymoron of the food world. After all, if you're vegetarian or vegan, why would you want to eat something that was engineered to resemble meat? Admittedly, that's a rather facile argument. Plenty of meat eaters -- yours truly included -- have been known to chow down on a veggie burger or two, and not because it's meat-free. Some of us actually LIKE the taste of veggie burgers, many of which don't even try to emulate meat.

That doesn't mean all veggie burgers are created equal. Far from it. As we found during our research, the best veggie burgers combine tasty ingredients with a texture that — if not meatlike — at the very least doesn't turn to mush when you cook it. Read on for more on what critics have to say about choosing the best veggie burger.

Read more

Every so often, we come across a product that catches our eye, usually something new to market that has the potential to be a contender for Best Reviewed status. Recently, we tested the Clearstream Micron (*Est. $45) indoor TV antenna, made by Antennas Direct. Can it meet or beat the performance of the Terk HDTVa antenna (*Est. $35), which we named the best TV antenna, or it is another also-ran in the field of TV antennas for receiving over-the-air HDTV broadcast signals? Read more

When it comes to drinking carbonated water (aka seltzer), no one can outguzzle the Germans. They consume about 3 billion liters of the stuff every year, or 37 liters per person, according to TheNibble.com. The U.S. ranks a distant second, downing about a half-billion gallons of carbonated water annually, or 0.6 liters per capita.

That may not seem like much, but those of us who love seltzer consume much, much more than our per-capita share -- and costs can add up quickly. One solution is to consider buying a soda maker and making your own seltzer or soda. Soda maker reviews are few in number, and we found only a few multiproduct comparisons, but one manufacturer emerges as the clear reviewer favorite.