7 ms·

The tourist map of laptops

164 points by no_gravity 12y ago

no_gravity 12y ago
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.
- daureg 12y ago
  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 ;)
barrkel 12y ago
I never knew the 11" MBA was so heavy - MD712LL/B @ 5.8 lbs. (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 12y ago
  Thanks, fixed! 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.
lvillani 12y ago
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.
- bhouston 12y ago
  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.
- smackfu 12y ago
  It seems like it should just add all those in as separate models. Pretty easy.
Totoradio 12y ago
Nice! Could you add a filter for SSD Hard drives?
ayrx 12y ago
Few comments. 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 12y ago
  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".
  - ayrx 12y ago
    Ah you are right, that makes sense yes. Maybe for usability it may be a good idea to round down?
- noelwelsh 12y ago
  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.
BuildTheRobots 12y ago
Hmm, personally I'm more interested in the resolution of the screen rather than it's size. -Though I might just be missing this filtering option...
- pre 12y ago
  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.
- no_gravity 12y ago
  Choose "DPI" for the y-axis and the highest resolution laptops will be on top.
  - pre 12y ago
    Ahha, you can change the filtering. Hadn't noticed that. Thanks :)
  - aidenn0 12y ago
    How do you change the y-axis?
    - no_gravity 12y ago
      If you have a mouse, put it on the axis label. On a touchscreen, tap the axis label.
- Already__Taken 12y ago
  I'm with you. For me I don't care unless it's size<15.6" and screen>=1080p
Aoyagi 12y ago
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.
buro9 12y ago
Weight in kilograms would be helpful. 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 12y ago
  I will add more options over time. It is not restricted to Amazons data. To enhance the data, I also look up data on the manufacturers websites.
  - nitid_name 12y ago
    Can you throw on a screen resolution axis option?
    - no_gravity 12y ago
      It already has it. Its called "DPI".
- bduerst 12y ago
  I agree - even a hover tooltip with the laptop details would be nice, rather than forcing clicks through to Amazon.
- technomancy 12y ago
  I'd be interested in filtering out glossy screens too.
- no_gravity 12y ago
  I'm setting up a feature vote here: http://www.gibney.de/the_tourist_map_of_laptops http://www.gibney.de/the_tourist_map_of_laptops
sanju 12y ago
simply amazing :).. i like it
pweissbrod 12y ago
Sorry to supply the negative feedback but, As a laptop search tool this is cool but lacks practicality because there are so many missing search options. Just look at ebay laptops for example. As a data visualization tool this is cool but nothing I have seen comes close to silverlight deep zoom for displaying and filtering large image sets. I do appreciate the difficulty of what this is trying to accomplish and I commend the OP for making it this far! Dont stop now!
- ygra 12y ago
  I guess you're thinking of Pivot here, which uses Deep Zoom for display, but offers facets for filtering. I just noticed that there seems to be a JavaScript implementation too: https://github.com/seajax/seajax/blob/master/v2/app/pivot/quickstart.html https://github.com/seajax/seajax/blob/master/v2/app/pivot/qu...
jasonkester 12y ago
Would be cool if there were a checkbox for "sane keyboard layout" to filter for only models that don't break up the sacred home/end/pgup/pgdown block. Sadly, it would be easy to implement in 2014. Just map it to set the entire grid to display:none.
- pmontra 12y ago
  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/DSC05482.JPG http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC0...
  - jasonkester 12y ago
    FYI, you linked a screenshot of the broken layout we're referring to, with all the keys lined up in the same row rather than stacked in a 3x2 grid as they belong.
    - pmontra 12y ago
      Ah, you meant this http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/14637.jpg http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/14637.jpg That was the laptop I had before the ZBook. The old keyboard was better because of the lack of numberpad but I don't feel the position of those keys on the ZBook to be unconvenient. Obviously this is subjective and I respect your dislike for them. I'm quite picky about those kind of details too.
- embolalia 12y ago
  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.
wyc 12y ago
I really try not to buy consumer (or shoddy business) equipment that falls apart within two years. I wonder if someone has aggregated average lifetime to failure, because that would be very meaningful to me as an axis to consider before purchase.
- icebraining 12y ago
  How would you measure that for new laptops, though?
pmontra 12y ago
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.
- _archon_ 12y ago
  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)?
  - freehunter 12y ago
    I've bought a handful of 17" laptops in the past and was dismayed to find all the ones I was considering lacked a numpad. Only one I've bought (15") had one. And I really want one. It's really nice for working in computer networking, where you're often typing long strings of numbers with dots between them. The number row sucks for finding numbers and the dot is way far away. For home or consumer use, though, I'm not sure why anyone would want a numpad bad enough to make that tradeoff.
    - fragmede 12y ago
      > It's really nice for working in computer networking, where you're often typing long strings of numbers with dots between them. The number row sucks for finding numbers and the dot is way far away. Someone really needs to setup their own DNS server... (That, or make a programmer's numpad that goes from 0 to 'f')
stronglikedan 12y ago
It really sucks that it's so difficult to find a business class 17" laptop. Any suggestions?
- keltex 12y ago
  Dell Precision line?
  - stronglikedan 12y ago
    Very nice, thanks. Comparable price to the Thinkpad (my current favorite). The only think missing is the button mouse (probably the reason Thinkpads are my favorite), but I just picked up a Logitech T650 trackpad this week, and am forcing myself to get used to it, due to RSI issues. By gosh, this looks like it just might work!
mrmattyboy 12y ago
It would be good if you could choose minimum resolution and price
- mrmattyboy 12y ago
  Ok, forget the price - I completely missed the price/screen size axis
mcv 12y ago
Useful, but also disappointing. Is really nobody making bigger laptops?
S4M 12y ago
I know it's gonna concern only a minority of viewers, but it would be helpful if the degree of compatibility with Linux would be indicated.
- BugBrother 12y ago
  On this website it ought to be more Linux users than Windows users? Last time I went to the Ubuntu hardware compatibility chart. (Or is OpenBSD the popular choice and I'm behind the times again? :-) )
  - S4M 12y ago
    I agree that Linux has probably more users that Windows here on HN, but when I said "a minority of the viewers", I meant "the viewers of the gnod website".
- CalRobert 12y ago
  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.
gabriel34 12y ago
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 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.
username3 12y ago
Filter for CPU. I'd like to see where prices of i3 end and where i5 start.
- Pxtl 12y ago
  It's a map. You don't want a filter, you want axes. So for example, you could have "price" as the X axis and "processing power" as the Y axis.
magikarp 12y ago
What about the Surface Pro 3?
- no_gravity 12y ago
  Thanks, added!
sandymcm 12y ago
Great idea, well executed. Others have made good suggestions to make it better. I agree with those who have asked for more and more specific search options.
Pxtl 12y ago
It's worth noticing that Apple is the only one providing high-end 11" devices. The computing industry should take note - quality is more important than size.
- gambiting 12y ago
  Yeah but at the same time I guess it's easier to sell 11" laptops for $200 than it is to sell them for $999.
  - Pxtl 12y ago
    But then you're trying to sell a chunky ugly piece of plastic next to a sleek sexy piece of metal. The number of Apple devices you see out in the wild (outside of an office) vs other brands of laptops bears this out - in the laptop industry there's Apple and then there's everybody else.
    - pbhjpbhj 12y ago
      >* The number of Apple devices you see out in the wild (outside of an office) vs other brands of laptops bears this out* // None? Doesn't it just depend where you are. I see no (alright very few) Apple laptops as people I know aren't made of money. Some students get them when they first start college/uni because they've not budgeted correctly ... but that's about it. Tablets though, mostly iPads. Flame wars ahead ...
- 6repss 12y ago
  There's a carbon fiber Dell 11 in that grid with better quality that an MBA http://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS11-7693CFB-11-6-Inch-Convertible-Touchscreen/dp/B00FLMQDF8 http://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS11-7693CFB-11-6-Inch-Convertib... 11.6" 2560 x 1440 touchscreen (can be rotated to use as a tablet) with similar weight and size as the macbook airs. The 11" and 13" MBAs have crappy screens
periferral 12y ago
Very cool. A few suggestions * touch screen would be nice * Screen resolutions would be nice * SSD drive options Edit: Just notice DPI and other ways of sorting are available by clicking on the axis. Should make this more intuitive. Nice work overall
SwellJoe 12y ago
Screen resolution is my first and most important selection criteria for a laptop.
Chirael 12y ago
Thanks for making this site; another vote for SSD filter please. After reading Jeff Atwood's almost religious endorsements (e.g., http://blog.codinghorror.com/revisiting-solid-state-hard-drives/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/revisiting-solid-state-hard-dri...), I've wanted one for years.
- fphhotchips 12y ago
  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).
- chroma 12y ago
  I'm curious. If you've wanted an SSD for so long, why haven't you bought one?
wahsd 12y ago
Lenovo Yoga 2 line?
TheLoneWolfling 12y ago
Doesn't have GPU options.
loxias 12y ago
What a great overview! Thanks for putting the time and effort into collating and normalizing all this data, and making it accessible to the rest of us. One peeve though, it seems you've missed what is probably the most important criteria in selection a laptop, for active users: Namely, the screen resolution. I can limit by physical panel size, and make educated guesses, but that's pretty useless. Please, consider adding a few categories for screen resolution of the platforms!
foldor 12y ago
I'd love to see Clevo/Sager laptops on that grid. Plus screen resolution filters.
soylentcola 12y ago
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.
- level 12y ago
  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. [1] http://www.ebay.com/itm/Second-Hard-Drive-2nd-HDD-SSD-Caddy-Bay-For-ASUS-N56VZ-N56VZ-DS71-N56VZ-ES71-/320980699942 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Second-Hard-Drive-2nd-HDD-SSD-Caddy-...
  - soylentcola 12y ago
    Not sure if mine has Blu-ray. Think it's only DVD but I don't own any Blu-ray discs anyway. Figured if I ever really need it or want a simple-ish upgrade I'll just swap the HDD out for a SSD at some point. Either way it works for what I use it for. It's not my main workhorse so it doesn't need to be as fast as humanly possible. Just need to be able to handle fairly processor or graphically intensive tasks outside of the house. For the sub-$1k price it was a good deal. Macbook had a few more bells and whistles that I didn't need but cost a good deal more.
josefresco 12y ago
You know you have a useful tool when most of your feedback on HN are feature requests! Nice job.
mrweasel 12y ago
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.
nvr219 12y ago
Who's paying $670 for a dell d620.... smh
balakk 12y ago
Nice visualization, but could've been better. 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.
forrestthewoods 12y ago
Awesome. Lots of more things necessary, of course. My initial requirements are: nvidia gtx 870 >= 256gb SSD >= 12gb ram After that there are a few things I look for. Size, resolution, weight, etc. But those first three are my starting requirements.
LarryMade2 12y ago
Processor and Graphics Chipsets are an important factors in my laptop decision.
ErikRogneby 12y ago
Some value tics on the axis for price points and screen size would improve this.
concernedctzn 12y ago
The info bubble for this laptop: http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S55-B5292-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B00KO6I8UO http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S55-B5292-15-6-Inch-... incorrectly described the resolution as 3840x2160 but on the Amazon page you can see the max resolution is 1366x768
tjbarbour 12y ago
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) [1]http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/S50/S50-BBT2N22 http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/S50/S5...
- no_gravity 12y ago
  Thanks, I fixed the satellites! > I've always wanted to build a laptop search tool Get in contact, if you still do :)
radisb 12y ago
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?
- no_gravity 12y ago
  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.
  - radisb 12y ago
    oh... :)
Hawkee 12y ago
I used to be into affiliate marketing back in the datafeed hey-days on Google. Now in order to succeed in this business you need to come up with something viral and useful. I think this is a very good example. I'm not sure this can compete with something like retailmenot in terms of revenue, but it's certainly an innovation.
MichaelGG 12y ago
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.
AriinPHD 12y ago
Great idea. This exists, but all similar concepts lack a lot of search abilities/filters. What I'd like is noise levels in dB as I'm only interested in (require) silent machines. Would that be possible?

164 points by no_gravity 12y ago

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.

daureg 12y ago
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 ;)

barrkel 12y ago

I never knew the 11" MBA was so heavy - MD712LL/B @ 5.8 lbs. (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 12y ago
Thanks, fixed! 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.

lvillani 12y ago

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.

bhouston 12y ago
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.
smackfu 12y ago
It seems like it should just add all those in as separate models. Pretty easy.

Totoradio 12y ago

Nice! Could you add a filter for SSD Hard drives?

ayrx 12y ago

Few comments. 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 12y ago
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".
- ayrx 12y ago
  Ah you are right, that makes sense yes. Maybe for usability it may be a good idea to round down?
noelwelsh 12y ago
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.

BuildTheRobots 12y ago

Hmm, personally I'm more interested in the resolution of the screen rather than it's size. -Though I might just be missing this filtering option...

pre 12y ago
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.
no_gravity 12y ago
Choose "DPI" for the y-axis and the highest resolution laptops will be on top.
- pre 12y ago
  Ahha, you can change the filtering. Hadn't noticed that. Thanks :)
- aidenn0 12y ago
  How do you change the y-axis?
  - no_gravity 12y ago
    If you have a mouse, put it on the axis label. On a touchscreen, tap the axis label.
Already__Taken 12y ago
I'm with you. For me I don't care unless it's size<15.6" and screen>=1080p

Aoyagi 12y ago

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.

buro9 12y ago

Weight in kilograms would be helpful. 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 12y ago
I will add more options over time. It is not restricted to Amazons data. To enhance the data, I also look up data on the manufacturers websites.
- nitid_name 12y ago
  Can you throw on a screen resolution axis option?
  - no_gravity 12y ago
    It already has it. Its called "DPI".
bduerst 12y ago
I agree - even a hover tooltip with the laptop details would be nice, rather than forcing clicks through to Amazon.
technomancy 12y ago
I'd be interested in filtering out glossy screens too.
no_gravity 12y ago
I'm setting up a feature vote here: http://www.gibney.de/the_tourist_map_of_laptops http://www.gibney.de/the_tourist_map_of_laptops

sanju 12y ago

simply amazing :).. i like it

pweissbrod 12y ago

Sorry to supply the negative feedback but, As a laptop search tool this is cool but lacks practicality because there are so many missing search options. Just look at ebay laptops for example. As a data visualization tool this is cool but nothing I have seen comes close to silverlight deep zoom for displaying and filtering large image sets. I do appreciate the difficulty of what this is trying to accomplish and I commend the OP for making it this far! Dont stop now!

ygra 12y ago
I guess you're thinking of Pivot here, which uses Deep Zoom for display, but offers facets for filtering. I just noticed that there seems to be a JavaScript implementation too: https://github.com/seajax/seajax/blob/master/v2/app/pivot/quickstart.html https://github.com/seajax/seajax/blob/master/v2/app/pivot/qu...

jasonkester 12y ago

Would be cool if there were a checkbox for "sane keyboard layout" to filter for only models that don't break up the sacred home/end/pgup/pgdown block. Sadly, it would be easy to implement in 2014. Just map it to set the entire grid to display:none.

pmontra 12y ago
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/DSC05482.JPG http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC0...
- jasonkester 12y ago
  FYI, you linked a screenshot of the broken layout we're referring to, with all the keys lined up in the same row rather than stacked in a 3x2 grid as they belong.
  - pmontra 12y ago
    Ah, you meant this http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/14637.jpg http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/14637.jpg That was the laptop I had before the ZBook. The old keyboard was better because of the lack of numberpad but I don't feel the position of those keys on the ZBook to be unconvenient. Obviously this is subjective and I respect your dislike for them. I'm quite picky about those kind of details too.
embolalia 12y ago
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.

wyc 12y ago

I really try not to buy consumer (or shoddy business) equipment that falls apart within two years. I wonder if someone has aggregated average lifetime to failure, because that would be very meaningful to me as an axis to consider before purchase.

icebraining 12y ago
How would you measure that for new laptops, though?

pmontra 12y ago

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.

_archon_ 12y ago
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)?
- freehunter 12y ago
  I've bought a handful of 17" laptops in the past and was dismayed to find all the ones I was considering lacked a numpad. Only one I've bought (15") had one. And I really want one. It's really nice for working in computer networking, where you're often typing long strings of numbers with dots between them. The number row sucks for finding numbers and the dot is way far away. For home or consumer use, though, I'm not sure why anyone would want a numpad bad enough to make that tradeoff.
  - fragmede 12y ago
    > It's really nice for working in computer networking, where you're often typing long strings of numbers with dots between them. The number row sucks for finding numbers and the dot is way far away. Someone really needs to setup their own DNS server... (That, or make a programmer's numpad that goes from 0 to 'f')

stronglikedan 12y ago

It really sucks that it's so difficult to find a business class 17" laptop. Any suggestions?

keltex 12y ago
Dell Precision line?
- stronglikedan 12y ago
  Very nice, thanks. Comparable price to the Thinkpad (my current favorite). The only think missing is the button mouse (probably the reason Thinkpads are my favorite), but I just picked up a Logitech T650 trackpad this week, and am forcing myself to get used to it, due to RSI issues. By gosh, this looks like it just might work!

mrmattyboy 12y ago

It would be good if you could choose minimum resolution and price

mrmattyboy 12y ago
Ok, forget the price - I completely missed the price/screen size axis

mcv 12y ago

Useful, but also disappointing. Is really nobody making bigger laptops?

S4M 12y ago

I know it's gonna concern only a minority of viewers, but it would be helpful if the degree of compatibility with Linux would be indicated.

BugBrother 12y ago
On this website it ought to be more Linux users than Windows users? Last time I went to the Ubuntu hardware compatibility chart. (Or is OpenBSD the popular choice and I'm behind the times again? :-) )
- S4M 12y ago
  I agree that Linux has probably more users that Windows here on HN, but when I said "a minority of the viewers", I meant "the viewers of the gnod website".
CalRobert 12y ago
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.

gabriel34 12y ago

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 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.

username3 12y ago

Filter for CPU. I'd like to see where prices of i3 end and where i5 start.

Pxtl 12y ago
It's a map. You don't want a filter, you want axes. So for example, you could have "price" as the X axis and "processing power" as the Y axis.

magikarp 12y ago

What about the Surface Pro 3?

no_gravity 12y ago
Thanks, added!

sandymcm 12y ago

Great idea, well executed. Others have made good suggestions to make it better. I agree with those who have asked for more and more specific search options.

Pxtl 12y ago

It's worth noticing that Apple is the only one providing high-end 11" devices. The computing industry should take note - quality is more important than size.

gambiting 12y ago
Yeah but at the same time I guess it's easier to sell 11" laptops for $200 than it is to sell them for $999.
- Pxtl 12y ago
  But then you're trying to sell a chunky ugly piece of plastic next to a sleek sexy piece of metal. The number of Apple devices you see out in the wild (outside of an office) vs other brands of laptops bears this out - in the laptop industry there's Apple and then there's everybody else.
  - pbhjpbhj 12y ago
    >* The number of Apple devices you see out in the wild (outside of an office) vs other brands of laptops bears this out* // None? Doesn't it just depend where you are. I see no (alright very few) Apple laptops as people I know aren't made of money. Some students get them when they first start college/uni because they've not budgeted correctly ... but that's about it. Tablets though, mostly iPads. Flame wars ahead ...
6repss 12y ago
There's a carbon fiber Dell 11 in that grid with better quality that an MBA http://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS11-7693CFB-11-6-Inch-Convertible-Touchscreen/dp/B00FLMQDF8 http://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS11-7693CFB-11-6-Inch-Convertib... 11.6" 2560 x 1440 touchscreen (can be rotated to use as a tablet) with similar weight and size as the macbook airs. The 11" and 13" MBAs have crappy screens

periferral 12y ago

Very cool. A few suggestions * touch screen would be nice * Screen resolutions would be nice * SSD drive options Edit: Just notice DPI and other ways of sorting are available by clicking on the axis. Should make this more intuitive. Nice work overall

SwellJoe 12y ago

Screen resolution is my first and most important selection criteria for a laptop.

Chirael 12y ago

Thanks for making this site; another vote for SSD filter please. After reading Jeff Atwood's almost religious endorsements (e.g., http://blog.codinghorror.com/revisiting-solid-state-hard-drives/ http://blog.codinghorror.com/revisiting-solid-state-hard-dri...), I've wanted one for years.

fphhotchips 12y ago
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).
chroma 12y ago
I'm curious. If you've wanted an SSD for so long, why haven't you bought one?

wahsd 12y ago

Lenovo Yoga 2 line?

TheLoneWolfling 12y ago

Doesn't have GPU options.

loxias 12y ago

What a great overview! Thanks for putting the time and effort into collating and normalizing all this data, and making it accessible to the rest of us. One peeve though, it seems you've missed what is probably the most important criteria in selection a laptop, for active users: Namely, the screen resolution. I can limit by physical panel size, and make educated guesses, but that's pretty useless. Please, consider adding a few categories for screen resolution of the platforms!

foldor 12y ago

I'd love to see Clevo/Sager laptops on that grid. Plus screen resolution filters.

soylentcola 12y ago

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.

level 12y ago
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. [1] http://www.ebay.com/itm/Second-Hard-Drive-2nd-HDD-SSD-Caddy-Bay-For-ASUS-N56VZ-N56VZ-DS71-N56VZ-ES71-/320980699942 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Second-Hard-Drive-2nd-HDD-SSD-Caddy-...
- soylentcola 12y ago
  Not sure if mine has Blu-ray. Think it's only DVD but I don't own any Blu-ray discs anyway. Figured if I ever really need it or want a simple-ish upgrade I'll just swap the HDD out for a SSD at some point. Either way it works for what I use it for. It's not my main workhorse so it doesn't need to be as fast as humanly possible. Just need to be able to handle fairly processor or graphically intensive tasks outside of the house. For the sub-$1k price it was a good deal. Macbook had a few more bells and whistles that I didn't need but cost a good deal more.

josefresco 12y ago

You know you have a useful tool when most of your feedback on HN are feature requests! Nice job.

mrweasel 12y ago

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.

nvr219 12y ago

Who's paying $670 for a dell d620.... smh

balakk 12y ago

Nice visualization, but could've been better. 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.

forrestthewoods 12y ago

Awesome. Lots of more things necessary, of course. My initial requirements are: nvidia gtx 870 >= 256gb SSD >= 12gb ram After that there are a few things I look for. Size, resolution, weight, etc. But those first three are my starting requirements.

LarryMade2 12y ago

Processor and Graphics Chipsets are an important factors in my laptop decision.

ErikRogneby 12y ago

Some value tics on the axis for price points and screen size would improve this.

concernedctzn 12y ago

The info bubble for this laptop: http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S55-B5292-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B00KO6I8UO http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satellite-S55-B5292-15-6-Inch-... incorrectly described the resolution as 3840x2160 but on the Amazon page you can see the max resolution is 1366x768

tjbarbour 12y ago

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) [1]http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/S50/S50-BBT2N22 http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/S50/S5...

no_gravity 12y ago
Thanks, I fixed the satellites! > I've always wanted to build a laptop search tool Get in contact, if you still do :)

radisb 12y ago

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?

no_gravity 12y ago
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.
- radisb 12y ago
  oh... :)

Hawkee 12y ago

I used to be into affiliate marketing back in the datafeed hey-days on Google. Now in order to succeed in this business you need to come up with something viral and useful. I think this is a very good example. I'm not sure this can compete with something like retailmenot in terms of revenue, but it's certainly an innovation.

MichaelGG 12y ago

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.

AriinPHD 12y ago

Great idea. This exists, but all similar concepts lack a lot of search abilities/filters. What I'd like is noise levels in dB as I'm only interested in (require) silent machines. Would that be possible?