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Ask YN: Review my new side project, Netbook Tracker
13 points by jonknee on Dec 19, 2008 | hide | past | favorite | 32 comments
Netbooks are my new favorite gadget. I bought one a few months back, but it was a pain to compare all the models and decide (I ended up with the Acer Aspire One A110 and highly recommend it). So to make it easier I created a database that makes it a whole lot easier.

http://www.netbooktracker.com

Basically a niche buyers guide. The code's abstracted, so it can easily be used to power different verticals. People seem to be enjoying it so far, the average visitor goes through 7 pages in a visit. It's still a bit confusing to use at the moment, so I'm hoping for some good advice here.

Browse through the site and when you see a model you're interested in, hit compare. It creates what amounts to a shopping cart of models you're interested in. When you have more than two selected, the comparison page does its magic. This is still a bit confusion, so if anyone has ideas I'm all ears.



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)


Well, your site doesn't answer the netbook question I want to know. Why would anyone get an Aspire One A110L over an EEE 901? To me it looks like equivalent models are about the same price, except the 901 has twice the battery.


For me the keyboard was a deciding factor.

I went with the MSI Wind, for what it's worth.


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 movies running.

My only complaint is the Wifi is a bit weak

Perhaps show inline Amazon reviews? Not sure why so many come up as question marks. Perhaps add a minimum amazon review to the search as well?


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.


In the Browse section instead of listing the manufacturer logo's start listing the netbooks (with pictures). Then have a way to filter out by manufacturer, price range, etc... Kinda like how NewEgg handles it (eg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE...)

Have a little checkbox in the browse section next to each picture to select netbooks, and then use it for comparison.


I agree with the New Egg suggestion. I would combine Search and Browse into the same function, call it Search Netbooks, and ditch the Compare menu item from the top nav as it's confusing.

Your new Search Netbooks page would then have the faceted search in the left hand column like New Egg does and allow you to drill down into manufacturer, price, etc. Each result line item in the right hand column would have a compare checkbox that you could use to set up comparisons.

I'm also assuming you're targeting peeps who've already decided they want to get a netbook and it's just a matter of which one, so take this with a grain of salt: I'm one of those guys who doesn't quite get the netbook thing or understand why I'd want one, so perhaps some content related to what they are and why I'd want one would be cool.

I'd also consider trying to aggregate some of the review data for each model like Consumer Search does for TVs (http://www.consumersearch.com/hdtv). It's one thing to see the specs, but once I've narrowed that down it would be nice to see some review data too.

Overall a good start, I think. Good luck!


Good idea, clean execution, BUT are you really prepared for the effort that is required to stick to the "unbiased comparison" motto ?

You will start acquiring affiliations if your site rises above the noise level and this will test the hell out of your integrity. Say Acer sends you nice top-of-the-line yet-to-be-released netbook, which is also complimentary. Even if you write a bad review. They will even send you the next model too. And they will keep sending and sending them showing you a considerable amount of goodwill. Will you be able to ignore it ? Alternatively, are you prepared to fight defamation lawsuits and bogus DMCA notices ?

Point being is that virtually all review sites are started with an intention of being unbiased. You appear to think that there are no such sites in your niche, but surely there were some in the past ... ever wondered what happened to them ? :)


Great idea- this is an excellent niche that will probably do quite well for you.

A few things:

1) It would be great if I could choose multiple models to compare right out of the gate versus having to navigate to each page. This may already be possible and I just missed it.

2) More review content would be helpful. Users really react well to reviews from both experts and other consumers. The links to the Amazon ratings are great, but it would be nice to have easy access to more. Also, seems like a great opportunity for you to layer over some proprietary content. This can be your own editorial content or the ability for users to post their own reviews or both. It will make the site seem more authoritative.

Good stuff!


My two cents...

1. After clicking the "compare" button, say something like "Choose another netbook to compare <your selection to>?" And don't make me click "browse", show the models immediately (preferably the models, not brands).

2. Include the "compare" buttons beside each netbook on the page that lists all the models (less clicks for those who know the models they want to compare already... alternately you could use checkboxes).

3. Show a mouse-over popup that lists the main specs of each netbook (CPU, memory, etc.)

4. Change "Stop Comparing" to something like "Remove"... during browsing, think of how to show a little shopping-cart-like list of the models you've already chosen.


"Ask YN"

Something is so wrong here, but I just can't spot it ;)


Nice site. I'd prefer the results in a grid format so I could quickly compare the results (specs/price) of many netbooks on a single page.

I had an Acer Aspire One for two months, the 6 cell 160GB HD version. It was just a little too cramped for me and I replaced it with a HP 1035NR. It is not much bigger, but the keyboard and screen are now just big enough that they are more usable.

http://www.amazon.com/1035NR-10-2-Inch-Netbook-Intel-Process...


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.


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.


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.


Nice concept. Giving people easy to understand ways of navigating complex electronics is smart.

We have actually made our own review of the Acer Aspire One here. We target people who care about what technology can do for them not the other way round.

http://www.kallow.com/computing/mini-laptop


Wonderful. Ever consider generalizing it? You'll probably need a different domain, but...

netbook.tracker.com laptop.tracker.com etc

The small, simple sites are what I love. Get to the point, leave me alone :-)


Awesome site - just one thing to add. It will be good to be able to export the comparison table to a spreadsheet. A simple CSV will do as well.


http://www.obsessable.com/comparator/netbooks-compared/


Oh man! That interface is only something geeks would enjoy.

Well played Paul. They know their audience well.


Cool. Maybe it's just my flu-addled brain, but it would be handy to have a way to search that's a bit more point-and-click.

Where'd you get the data?


What do you mean by point and click? There's a free text search (top right) and then an advanced search form (linked in the menu bar). I need to add some more metrics to the advanced search, but it's point and click if I understand what you mean.

As for the data, good ol' manual spec hunting. Hunting down manufacturer spec sheets was a lot of it. Not too bad once you get the hang of it.


I mean just sort of clicking around to find some categories, like the 'browse' tab gives you, but not just manufacturers, but also price points, maybe a few other things to select on. You can get all that in the search form, but you have to sit there and fill it out.


I think it is a bit cumbersome to compare the items. Right now, it's browse -> manufacturer -> netbook -> click compare, and then you cycle that for each netbook.

A filter on the browse page to browse by predefined categories, such as screen size/price point would help as well as being able to select an item to compare from the list view, without clicking through to the details view.


Ah yea, that's on the list. Browse by price, screen size, OS, etc.


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.


it would be nice if I didn't pick anything yet when I reach the comparison page, that you'll allow me to pick a netbook from the comparison page itself


the homepage lacks punch, but I really like the clean design when browsing and comparing


I like your idea. Netbooks are one of my fascinations too - I've been happy to see the market grow so much recently.

The first thing that strikes me, though, is the weakness of the design. The homepage really needs some work - it lacks "pull". I'd like to be more specific but it's a difficult issue to describe concisely. I would recommend consulting a designer or doing some design research on similar sites in the same niche because with a better design I think the site could have a lot of appeal.


Very nice site. I agree with others that the compare feature needs to be improved.

Also allow me to chose kg vs lb and cm vs inches, most of the world is metric.




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