Some indicator of whether it's configurable would also be helpful... but then, this is just an Amazon affiliate play and I guess that Amazon doesn't offer the full range of config options so are you just restricting the results to that which is available via Amazon?
Edit: Just found DPI as a side selector on the axis picker.
Apparently all the ZBook HP laptops are missing. I'm writing this with one of them.
At the time I bought it I would have been interested in a query like this: screen 15", up to 32 GB RAM, 3 physical touchpad buttons, no number pad (which turned out to be very hard for 15" laptops - I didn't want a Mac), at least 512 GB internal storage, 4 cores, 1080p or better, next business day on site assistance. Price, battery life, optical drive: don't care. And of course 16:10 aspect ratio, but that would have returned an empty set.
I eventually had to compromise on the number pad even if I almost never used one and I'm not using it now that I have one. I have to shift the laptop to the right to keep the space bar right in front of me. The center of the screen is aligned with my right hand. I wonder what all those PCs designers are thinking about.
I purchased a computer in the past year after using my trusty (overheating) HP TX2510 for more than half a decade. I was baffled as to why numpads were so popular, especially on mid-sized (15" or so) form factors. Was there a significant shift in how the 80th percentile user types, that a numpad would be an in-demand feature? I thought I was taking crazy pills.
Aside from data entry and scientific users, is there a utility-based reason why incorporating a numpad is worth offsetting the keyboard, the typical input method (along with mouse for most users)?
I had similar constraints in some areas, and ended up with a Dell Latitude (so I could get the back-lit keyboard) 14" (so it wouldn't have a number pad), 1600x900 screen. I'm pretty sure most your other constraints could be configured for when buying.
The Tohsiba Tecra series (great laptops; I'm using one right now) is also missing.
As is "battery life." That's a crucial number; I get 8+ hours of real usage on the Tecra, which is awesome.
It also has a number pad, but that's a bonus for me. If you really hate them, Dell has a laptop workstation with no keypad. I have one for work, and I'm bothered by the lack.
On #1, you can, there just aren't any laptops with exactly 13" screens in the db, so nothing is returned (the closest are 13.3" and 12.5"). Try 13.3" - 13.3" and you get results. For marketing purposes manufacturers often round down to a whole number, e.g. Apple's 11.6" MacBook Air model is marketed as 11", and their 13.3" model is marketed as 13".
Agreed with the above 2 and 3. It's a nice visualisation but doesn't show the information most important to me when selecting a laptop. In addition to SSD I care about screen resolution.
My old ThinkPad is near the end of its life (the screen is falling off…) and needs to be replaced. There's absolutely nothing out there that looks like a decent replacement, though. Worse yet, I also like not to have a separate numberpad on a laptop (it makes the keyboard feel imbalanced, because it's even more off-center than usual) and finding that on anything with a remotely usable screen size is damn near impossible.
Well, my HP ZBook 15 has those keys were they should be. The first row key sequence is ESC, F1 to F12, INS, DEL, Home, End, PGUP, PGDOWN. Maybe this is the only advantage of having a number pad thrown it into the keyboard. This is the layout http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC0...
Indeed, I want small but with lots of pixels, was briefly excited that there might be an easy way to find that when the time comes, then disappointed that it appears not.
My major gripe is those small round icons. If they had conveyed something useful, say a brand name (L for lenovo, T for Toshiba and so on) that would've been useful.
Second, there's no scale. If a scale is tough to fit, at least the plot area could've been split into color-coded regions.
Yeah, I'm too sick of giving money to MS for an OS I never use, and too worried about Apple's approach to computing (wall ALL the gardens!!) to give money to either company at this point, but finding something that doesn't come with an OS or comes with Ubuntu is a pain. You've got a few small shops (in particular system76, with whom I had a pretty terrible experience regarding the galago ultra pro), and the Dell Sputnik.
So many great lines in this one:
"
(yes, you can get by with 64 GB, but at least with my Windows installs I find that I have to think about disk space with 64 GB, whereas with 128 GB I don't have to worry -- ever. Don't make me think, man!) "
"Memory? Dirt cheap, and average users won't need more than 2 gigabytes of the stuff in practical use"
Not a criticism, since obviously that was written in 2010, but I find that with 128GB I definitely have to think about where I'm putting stuff. This is especially the case for software which steadfastly refuses to be installed anywhere but the system drive (looking at you, Visual Studio).
It doesn't cover base models that can be upgraded to match the constraints.
E.g.: If I add a constraint "laptops with at least 16 GB of RAM" it doesn't show the Retina MacBook Pro 13". Only the 15" model is shown, because there is a default configuration with said amount of RAM.
Because of this, it is pretty useless unfortunately for those that customize their laptops when buying online. This is most useful for those that just want to go into a store and buy something off the shelf, but then having this online isn't that useful.
Well, it's a handy tool, although I think it's missing some other filters (battery life, GPU / CPU performance... and the obvious "Has SSD as primary storage" filter.
Very nice, sadly it also illustrates that it's pretty hard to get the laptop you want.
Most of the features I want are sort of "anti-features". No stupid touch stuff, no "this converts into a table", no numpad, no special media keys, no Windows only hardware, no VGA. Add to that: Must be well built, you pretty much left with nothing.
It's nice to see screen resolutions getting high though. For a long time it seems that you had to go with a MacBook to get a higher resolution without paying over $3000.
Thanks for this, it sure is helpful
I'm not a fan of this data visualization, though.
Here is my comment on it for "The tourist map of flash drives" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7465980):
"IMHO you shouldn't do it in a grid, it's confusing as a graphic and in some cases results in wrong representation of the data (which every graphical representation of data should avoid), for example, outliers can be too close to "normal" data, distance between two points is not representative of actual variables variation (sorry for alliteration), overlapping points seem to be different and you can't infer a drive price/cost to be better than other unless they share one coordinate(the worst, because that's the purpose of the graphic)
I'd say your points need to be smaller or you need to use less points in order to represent your data correctly.(...)"
I would add this time that the chart screen size vs price doesn't make sense to me. I would rather have a compound metric for performance/value in lieu of screen size. This would be made according to "weights" attributed by the user against the several aspects of a laptop, so, for me, screen resolution and memory would be the most valued, followed by HD capacity.
I'm trying to give constructive criticism here, because I believe you have something really good that needs some polishing. The fact that you made this in its current state is already applause worthy. It can be better but it already provides a very good service.
Didn't see mine on there (Asus N56JR). I do something similar on Newegg and Microcenter's site when I shop for a laptop for myself or someone else--narrow down based on specific specs I want and then compare the results based on reviews and other details.
I wanted something I could use for mobile DJing/VJing and some 2d/3d content creation capability. I was looking for 15" or larger, i7, decent nVidia GPU, 16GB RAM, 1920x1080 or better, and at least 500GB storage.
The Asus uses a 1TB HDD and not a SSD and the display is OK but not amazing. Still, it was tough to find something similar for anywhere near the $900 it cost and the relatively good build quality. It's obviously aping the look of a Macbook but since I have stock in neither company that's not really important to me. Couldn't find much else with those specs without spending several hundred dollars more.
I got the N56VZ a while back and I found it using the same method. If you don't use the blu-ray drive (and who does, really?) it's pretty trivial to swap it out with a new drive caddy. I put the HDD in there because I heard people had trouble booting from the caddy and put in a SSD where the HDD was. This [1] is the caddy I used, and swapping out the face plate with the original is pretty easy. Considering the price of the machine in the first place, why not throw a second drive in there.
FYI: a spec error
Toshiba Satellite S55T-B5260 15.6-Inch
Stated Resolution: 3840 x 2160
Actual Resolution: 1366 x 768
I thought I found an amazing laptop for a second there...(sad trombone)
The toshiba website states it can be upgraded to 1920x1080[1]
There's 2 other Toshiba Satellites that also may be off...
Otherwise, I really like this, I've always wanted to build a laptop search tool / website.
Feature Request: I would love a flag to say weather the ram/hdd is upgradable. Also, maximum ram would be helpful (aside from installed ram)
All I want is modern Thinkpad hardware (i7, 16GB or more RAM, at least 1080 screen, but hopefully 16:10 high res) with an X201 design. Even a T420 design would do.
I'd pay a few hundred bucks for an aftermarket keyboard/trackpad system to replace the crap Lenovo ships.
I wonder why it is not easy anymore to find a 15 inch laptop with resolution above 1366x768. Right now I am using a 4 years old laptop with 15 inch matte screen and 1680x1050 resolution which for me are the perfect specs for laptop regarding screen. They dont the sell these specs anymore. It seems they abandoned big resolutions at 15 inches, and to get more than 1366x768 you have to go at 17 inches. Maybe there is an exception or two, but in previous years, there were a lot of models featuring 1400x1050 or 1680x1050 at 15 inches. Anyone knows why?
On the left, type between 14 and 16 inch, on the y-axis choose DPI. The upper half of the screen is filled with a lot of laptops that meet your criteria then.
There are a lot of laptops on Amazon with missing or wrong specs. Im planning to have a "suggest spec changes" button, so we can have crowd-fixed-data.
Gnod Things is my "map products" project. This is my latest iteration. Now you can change the axis and filter for parameters. Any feedback is much appreciated.
That's really a handy tool when looking to buy a new laptop. But since I already did it last week, I was wondering if you plan to do the same thing for smartphone ;)
[+] [-] buro9|11 years ago|reply
Resolution in DPI also would be helpful.
Some indicator of whether it's configurable would also be helpful... but then, this is just an Amazon affiliate play and I guess that Amazon doesn't offer the full range of config options so are you just restricting the results to that which is available via Amazon?
Edit: Just found DPI as a side selector on the axis picker.
[+] [-] no_gravity|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] technomancy|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] no_gravity|11 years ago|reply
http://www.gibney.de/the_tourist_map_of_laptops
[+] [-] bduerst|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmontra|11 years ago|reply
At the time I bought it I would have been interested in a query like this: screen 15", up to 32 GB RAM, 3 physical touchpad buttons, no number pad (which turned out to be very hard for 15" laptops - I didn't want a Mac), at least 512 GB internal storage, 4 cores, 1080p or better, next business day on site assistance. Price, battery life, optical drive: don't care. And of course 16:10 aspect ratio, but that would have returned an empty set.
I eventually had to compromise on the number pad even if I almost never used one and I'm not using it now that I have one. I have to shift the laptop to the right to keep the space bar right in front of me. The center of the screen is aligned with my right hand. I wonder what all those PCs designers are thinking about.
[+] [-] Igglyboo|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _archon_|11 years ago|reply
Aside from data entry and scientific users, is there a utility-based reason why incorporating a numpad is worth offsetting the keyboard, the typical input method (along with mouse for most users)?
[+] [-] kbenson|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SomeCallMeTim|11 years ago|reply
As is "battery life." That's a crucial number; I get 8+ hours of real usage on the Tecra, which is awesome.
It also has a number pad, but that's a bonus for me. If you really hate them, Dell has a laptop workstation with no keypad. I have one for work, and I'm bothered by the lack.
[+] [-] brudgers|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ayrx|11 years ago|reply
1. I can't filter to a exact screen size. Inputting 13" - 13" fails.
2. What type of disk? SSD vs HDD is a huge concern in laptops. Having a filter for that will be great.
3. Some laptop models can be upgraded. This doesn't appear to cover that.
4. How often are you updating the information?
[+] [-] _delirium|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] noelwelsh|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jasonkester|11 years ago|reply
Sadly, it would be easy to implement in 2014. Just map it to set the entire grid to display:none.
[+] [-] embolalia|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Confusion|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmontra|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] BuildTheRobots|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] no_gravity|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pre|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Already__Taken|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] balakk|11 years ago|reply
My major gripe is those small round icons. If they had conveyed something useful, say a brand name (L for lenovo, T for Toshiba and so on) that would've been useful. Second, there's no scale. If a scale is tough to fit, at least the plot area could've been split into color-coded regions.
[+] [-] S4M|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CalRobert|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] BugBrother|11 years ago|reply
(Or is OpenBSD the popular choice and I'm behind the times again? :-) )
[+] [-] Chirael|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chroma|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fphhotchips|11 years ago|reply
"Memory? Dirt cheap, and average users won't need more than 2 gigabytes of the stuff in practical use"
Not a criticism, since obviously that was written in 2010, but I find that with 128GB I definitely have to think about where I'm putting stuff. This is especially the case for software which steadfastly refuses to be installed anywhere but the system drive (looking at you, Visual Studio).
[+] [-] lvillani|11 years ago|reply
E.g.: If I add a constraint "laptops with at least 16 GB of RAM" it doesn't show the Retina MacBook Pro 13". Only the 15" model is shown, because there is a default configuration with said amount of RAM.
[+] [-] smackfu|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bhouston|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Aoyagi|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrweasel|11 years ago|reply
Most of the features I want are sort of "anti-features". No stupid touch stuff, no "this converts into a table", no numpad, no special media keys, no Windows only hardware, no VGA. Add to that: Must be well built, you pretty much left with nothing.
It's nice to see screen resolutions getting high though. For a long time it seems that you had to go with a MacBook to get a higher resolution without paying over $3000.
[+] [-] gabriel34|11 years ago|reply
"IMHO you shouldn't do it in a grid, it's confusing as a graphic and in some cases results in wrong representation of the data (which every graphical representation of data should avoid), for example, outliers can be too close to "normal" data, distance between two points is not representative of actual variables variation (sorry for alliteration), overlapping points seem to be different and you can't infer a drive price/cost to be better than other unless they share one coordinate(the worst, because that's the purpose of the graphic)
I'd say your points need to be smaller or you need to use less points in order to represent your data correctly.(...)"
I would add this time that the chart screen size vs price doesn't make sense to me. I would rather have a compound metric for performance/value in lieu of screen size. This would be made according to "weights" attributed by the user against the several aspects of a laptop, so, for me, screen resolution and memory would be the most valued, followed by HD capacity.
I'm trying to give constructive criticism here, because I believe you have something really good that needs some polishing. The fact that you made this in its current state is already applause worthy. It can be better but it already provides a very good service.
[+] [-] username3|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Pxtl|11 years ago|reply
So for example, you could have "price" as the X axis and "processing power" as the Y axis.
[+] [-] soylentcola|11 years ago|reply
I wanted something I could use for mobile DJing/VJing and some 2d/3d content creation capability. I was looking for 15" or larger, i7, decent nVidia GPU, 16GB RAM, 1920x1080 or better, and at least 500GB storage.
The Asus uses a 1TB HDD and not a SSD and the display is OK but not amazing. Still, it was tough to find something similar for anywhere near the $900 it cost and the relatively good build quality. It's obviously aping the look of a Macbook but since I have stock in neither company that's not really important to me. Couldn't find much else with those specs without spending several hundred dollars more.
[+] [-] level|11 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.ebay.com/itm/Second-Hard-Drive-2nd-HDD-SSD-Caddy-...
[+] [-] tjbarbour|11 years ago|reply
Otherwise, I really like this, I've always wanted to build a laptop search tool / website. Feature Request: I would love a flag to say weather the ram/hdd is upgradable. Also, maximum ram would be helpful (aside from installed ram)
[1]http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/S50/S5...
[+] [-] no_gravity|11 years ago|reply
> I've always wanted to build a laptop search tool
Get in contact, if you still do :)
[+] [-] MichaelGG|11 years ago|reply
I'd pay a few hundred bucks for an aftermarket keyboard/trackpad system to replace the crap Lenovo ships.
[+] [-] SwellJoe|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] radisb|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] no_gravity|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barrkel|11 years ago|reply
(But of course, it's not.)
My personal choice of axes for laptops would be weight, compute power and price, in that order of priority.
[+] [-] no_gravity|11 years ago|reply
There are a lot of laptops on Amazon with missing or wrong specs. Im planning to have a "suggest spec changes" button, so we can have crowd-fixed-data.
[+] [-] no_gravity|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] daureg|11 years ago|reply