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| 1.
Consumer Reports
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Garage-Door Openers
Editors of Consumer Reports
Jan. 2002
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Consumer Reports last covered garage-door openers over five years ago, and most of the models have now been discontinued. Editors say garage-door openers are now safer, quieter and in some cases, faster. All models have an automatic reverse if there's an obstruction in the path, and some have outside keypads for entry. Although outdated, this is the most thorough report we found; nine models are tested on a 16-foot garage door. Openers are also evaluated for ease of use and installation. Unfortunately, this review is no longer available on the Consumer Reports website.
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| 2.
Sensible Home
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Update Bulletin #827 -- Garage Door Openers
James Dulley
Not Dated
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James Dulley is a syndicated columnist and environmental engineer who archives his columns on his website along with product recommendations. Dulley balances all factors, including price and accessibility to do-it-yourselfers, in his buyer's guide; he says that Genie openers are the most innovative and quiet, with good security and safety features. He especially likes the Genie Excelerator for its quick opening time, quiet operation and ease of installation. Unfortunately, we can't tell when this report was written.
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| 3.
Sears.com
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Garage Door Openers
Contributors to Sears.com
As of May 2007
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Sears is becoming a good place to read user reviews, especially of Craftsman garage-door openers (made by Chamberlain for Sears). Several models have more than a dozen owner-written reviews, including the Craftsman 53990 3/4-horsepower chain drive, the Craftsman 53910 chain drive and the Craftsman 53985 chain drive. There aren't as many reviews for belt-drive models like the Craftsman 53914.
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| 4.
Amazon.com
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Garage Door Openers
Contributors to Amazon.com
As of May 2007
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Amazon.com sells lots of accessories for garage-door openers, but not many actual openers. Of the four Chamberlain models available here, all get a fair number of reviews from owners. Interestingly, overall owner satisfaction tightly corresponds to price, with a pricey Chamberlain belt-drive model receiving the highest overall ratings.
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| 5.
ThatHome Site.com
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Home Repair Forum
Contributors to ThatHomeSite.com
As of May 2007
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The vast majority of user comments on this home-improvement forum are about Craftsman garage-door openers. We read quite a few complaints that the doors fail to go up or down properly, don't communicate with the remote or won't respond to the trigger button. We also saw a couple of reviews complaining that the Craftsman garage-door openers will not work in cold weather. Because comments are so sporadic, it's hard to tell whether Craftsman garage-door openers get more complaints simply because they are the most popular brand or because they are of lesser quality than other brands.
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Garage Door Openers Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.
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| 6.
Consumer Guide.com
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Garage Door Openers
Editors of ConsumerGuide.com
As of May 2007
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Consumer Guide publishes what it calls reviews for garage-door openers, but there is no indication that any testing was performed, and no explanation of why certain models like the Genie Excelerator are recommended over others. Writeups here are entirely based on features and specifications, which makes this source less valuable.
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| 7.
Epinions
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Garage Door Openers
Contributors to Epinions
As of May 2007
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We could only find about a dozen owner-written reviews here for garage-door openers, not enough to be able to make many conclusions. One Craftsman garage-door opener gets about ten ratings, and we were able to compare the reviews for this model at Epinions with the reviews posted on the Sears website.
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| 8.
HomeDepot.com
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Garage Door Openers
Contributors to HomeDepot.com
As of May 2007
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Home Depot provides an online forum for their customers to post reviews of products purchased from this store. At the time of our visit, Home Depot only sold two garage-door openers, both Genie models. Both get a fair number of reviews from owners who comment on ease of installation and operation.
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Garage Door Openers Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.
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| 9.
Lowes.com
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Garage Door Openers
Contributors to Lowes.com
As of May 2007
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Lowe's also allows customers to write reviews on their website. However, at the time of our visit, there were no reviews written for any of the garage-door openers sold here.
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