Affiliate Disclosure

Some outbound links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and then buy something, the retailer may pay this site a small commission. You pay exactly the same price either way — the commission comes out of the retailer's margin, not your pocket.

How you can tell

Buying guides that contain affiliate links carry a disclosure notice before the first such link, and the links themselves are marked as sponsored in the page markup. If a page has no such notice, its links are not affiliate links.

What affiliate links do not change

• They never change the price you pay.
• They never change what a guide recommends. Recommendations come from documented specifications, exam requirements and the problems students report.
• They never buy placement in a recommendation. There is no arrangement under which a retailer can pay to be named as our first choice.
• They never decide whether a product is listed at all.

What we deliberately do not publish

This site does not publish invented hands-on reviews, fabricated star ratings or testimonials from people who did not write them. Where a buying page gives advice, it says plainly whether the advice comes from documented specifications, from the manufacturer's own guidance, or from the failure points students most often report. If a claim cannot be supported, it does not go on the page.

Advertising and affiliate links together

Pages may carry both display advertising and affiliate links. Neither arrangement gives the advertiser or retailer any editorial control. See the ad disclosure for how display advertising is handled.