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Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker

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Re: Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker

#11

Post by jonknee »

sidsavara wrote: post #8

This site is awesome. I (well, a virtual assistant =P) went through the same pain collecting all the data. Instead of "cells" can you put also expected battery life? I would also be interested in weight and size I also own an Aspire One - 6 cell variety, shiny blue outside. It's awesome. Light, battery lasts on the full plane flight from Hawaii to/from West coast (tested to/from Los Angeles and Seattle ;) ) with movi…

The data depends on the model, some don't have battery life estimates (that I've found at least). Not that estimates are reality, but it's still nice to have it all. Everything that's in the database is shown. Also, Amazon doesn't sell all models so the reviews don't always get tied in. I'm looking to expand out to reviews on Shopping.com as well since they cover more models. If you're comparing a model that does have Amazon reviews and one that doesn't, the one that doesn't will show up as a ?. The AWS interface can be a bit different for items that are sold through a third-party, so that might be affecting some models as well, I'll have to check on it.

Re: Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker

#14

Post by jonknee »

graywh wrote: post #12

In addition to number of battery cells and expected life, perhaps you could list mHh, too. Some cells are more equal than others.

Good call. I'll add mAh to the list. I'm also planning some help pop-ups so less experienced users can get clued in on what battery cells and what not actually mean.

Re: Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker

#16

Post by catch23 »

I don't understand the compare button. Can't comparison be a little easier for the end user? The fact that nothing happens on this first click is already considered a UI flaw. Why not make it easier to add products to compare when you're on the compare screen? It seems like a context loss when you have to leave the compare screen to select another product to compare against. It only makes it worse when you don't know what brand to select and compare against. I do like how Newegg implements their product filtering, maybe you need something like that here.

When you're comparing 2 items, maybe there should be a modifier on each stat where the modifier allows you to find another netbook that has "more" or "less" of that stat. ie, pressing the up arrow on price would find you the netbook just slightly more expensive, and pressing the down arrow on screen resolution would find you the laptop with slightly less screen resolution etc. I do love how the netbook comparison works on obsessable though. (see other commenter)

Re: Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker

#17

Post by catch23 »

Also, maybe you shouldn't use MSRP for pricing, it can skew the data since some of the older netbooks are actually significantly cheaper than recent models and it's really hard to gauge what is better for the price. Why not scrape data from sites like Amazon/Newegg for data on real prices? Price is a big comparison factor when you consider that only a few hundred more will get you a full blown laptop with all the bells & whistles.

Re: Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker

#18

Post by jonknee »

dsaewra wrote: post #15

How about adding a feature where you display the most often compared items in the past month/week/day. To sort of give a pulse on what's hot at this point in time.

Very good idea. Don't have too much data to work with at the moment, but I'll make sure it's being tracked so that it can be exposed later.

Re: Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker

#19

Post by jonknee »

catch23 wrote: post #17

Also, maybe you shouldn't use MSRP for pricing, it can skew the data since some of the older netbooks are actually significantly cheaper than recent models and it's really hard to gauge what is better for the price. Why not scrape data from sites like Amazon/Newegg for data on real prices? Price is a big comparison factor when you consider that only a few hundred more will get you a full blown laptop with all the bel…

I just added pricing info from Shopping.com, that should probably be used in place of MSRP for comparison sake. Some are really discounted, others (Dell/Lenovo especially) sell for MSRP.
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