Cool idea. I suggest also asking for feedback over at Reddit:
Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
21–30 of 40 posts
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#22Very cool. I didn't see a link to back out of the page for adding a component, for example a hard drive, other than the browser back button of course. Maybe it's there and I'm blind?
You're not blind. :) Once you click from the System Build view to choosing a component, there isn't a backlink to get back to your part list. That's a part of the navigation I couldn't figure out a clean way to present well, at least with the current design. You can, however, click on the System Build button along the top to get back to your part list from any page.
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#23Two things: 1. If you could somehow get ratings on quality/reliability of parts from other sites, that would greatly help in picking individual parts. 2. If you could also make it group the parts into a small set of vendors so that you wouldn't have to buy from more than X (user defined int) companies, that would be nice.
Great suggestions, thanks. I'll definitely look into both.
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#24It would be nice to be able to change the columns in the matrix when selecting a part, and sort/filter on arbitrary criteria that you already know about.
For example, when I pick CPUs, I like to compare cache sizes. You already pull those items out in the View section, but they aren't available in the matrix.
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#25Very cool. I didn't see a link to back out of the page for adding a component, for example a hard drive, other than the browser back button of course. Maybe it's there and I'm blind?
You're not blind. :) Once you click from the System Build view to choosing a component, there isn't a backlink to get back to your part list. That's a part of the navigation I couldn't figure out a clean way to present well, at least with the current design. You can, however, click on the System Build button along the top to get back to your part list from any page.
A cancel button?
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#26Awesome tool, great idea, great implementation,
Couple ideas: 1) On the CPU and HDD graphs if I just keep my mouse over the dot the tool tip blinks in and out, if I mouse over the tool tip it stops blinking (this is with chrome)
2) I like the review info on CPUs it would be handy to have it for other components (from new egg or amazon ratings perhaps)
3) It would be useful to have more categories for mother boards (e.g. RAID support, USB 3 support, ect...)
4) Adding a social component would be handy. Let people build, share and vote on builds. Basically I would like see the top three builds for a development machine that the rest of community has selected.
5) I would prefer if the filters on the right were defaulted to collapsed if everything is checked in them.
6) It would be nice if the graph resized, If i just select SSD's on the HDD $/Capacity graph all the data points are on the left 1/8th of the screen, it would be nice for the graph to resize based on what data points are being shown.
Great job I will definitely use this to spec out my next build.
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#27Great work! I really loved the Price/performance CPU chart. I do find it hard to believe that the Intel Core i5-661 3.33Ghz Dual-Core Processor is much faster than the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor. But I guess it depends on how TomsHardware, etc. did the benchmarks. One nitpick, the warning about not having enough slots on the motherboard for the amount of RAM is not visible enough because it's at t…
I've put in an incompatibility notice closer to the top that should be a bit more prominent - it's not perfect, but hopefully a little more visible until I can figure the right way to present it.
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#28I really like the "Featured System" functionality.
In fact, I think you should focus on the Featured System thing. I am a casual DIY part picker, and I would rather just browse several community vetted configurations.
Other people are more interested in building a system from scratch, or commenting on other people's configs.
Now, imagine a "fork this configuration" option! So a builder can fork someone else's system but make some slight mods.
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Please add a Disqus thread to the bottom of each page, so people can comment on the configuration or part.
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Also, if you are buying a bunch of parts, you might be able to save money on shipping by ordering parts from fewer distributors. Incorporating shipping cost would be another useful feature, but perhaps tricky to implement.
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#29What a great idea and site! Great execution.
Are you making money through this via affiliate sales? With a little more polish and popularity, this site could make a ton of cash that way.
Re: Ask HN: Review my webapp PCPartPicker: pick parts, build a pc, compare prices
#30Looks and works great.
It would be an improvement to ajaxify the process so it doesn't refresh every time I choose a product.
Also, start marketing this like, pronto! Open a blog linked to it where you benchmark and review hardware and build a community as fast as you can around it. That way your idea is harder to steal by the big players (and they'll look bad by doing so exponentially), and you'll have a ton more leverage to have an affiliate program going on with the retailers.
Finally, implement user accounts so they can save their systems and configurations, and compare between them in with a spreadsheet like view. This can also go hand in hand with social features and will help create a community around your product.
Good Luck!