How do you help recommend potential buyers of hardware?

Im interested in how others recommend hardware to both tech and non-tech people and possibly their reasoning behind their choices

I’ll start with a convo that’s a bit funny. (Your’s doesn’t have to be a conversation) Someone was about to buy a laptop (knew nothing about tech) and was looking at both an amd and intel counterpart. The person really wanted the intel version, but still wanted to ask someone tech-savy. Here is our conversation:

Idk, i think i want the intel laptop
Now, why would you want that?
I think it’s better than amd
Maybe it is, but do you like Trump?
No
Do you want to support him?
No
Then why pick intel?
idk, i think its better for my use case
Do you want to support competition?
Not really, no
Do you want to support freedom?
Idk, i think i want the intel one
Sure, go ahead. If i was a trump supporter i would buy it too.
What?
I mean if you want to support freedom and the tech industry
Nah, i just want to have a laptop that’s good for my use
Do you want to speak to me, ever again?
Why, yes?
then you should probably buy the amd version.

So did they talk to someone tech savvy or just you?

It’s pretty simple, ask for their use case and budget and go from there. A lot of people are best off with a chromebook.

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Use case and budget rule the day. I like to throw in longevity of the tech. Consideration of tech lifespans is important.

No point of purchasing something cheap from 15 years ago and expecting it to keep up with modern standards.

Everyone cares about the lifespan of their purchase with low hassle.

You can take away my like but truth will beat you in the face.

You have to maintain a mind on where the tech is heading…

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Back when I used to be on top of it, watching all the releases, reading spreadsheets. I felt like I was knowledgeable enough to make valid recommendations and when I did the community normally agreed.

Saying this however, I have not made a build list recommendation since 2016 because I stopped caring and rely on the other Lounge members for advice now which works a lot better than you think it would. But I don’t want that to be the norm because a traditional thread is the best format.

It was used in a manner of speech. Someone will always be tech savvy to someone else. No matter their skill level.

Meaning no one recommends buyers, by their own thoughts and experiences vs performance?

You put words in my mouth… and no.

I value the user experience more than any of you. : ) I will let somethings slide if the user experience is better. I have thirty years of opinions across a few platforms.

Sounds pretty decent to ask for help, especially the lounge probably has some modern know-how on hardware.

Yet i’m more interested in how we can better the purchase choices as an individual or even community. Imo recommending should also include some questions as not only to what do people want to achieve and do with the use case but also as to “who is doing what” in the tech world. If recommenders included that information with every buy out there, it would and probably could help out, overall.

Not my intention, sorry about that. Elaborated in the post above.

Care to elaborate? Are you on SolusOS?

I can not say that I have done that one…not that I can remember at least. It is possible that I have been exposed ?

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You are getting off your point…

It is not just about use case or budget… You have to factor in where the tech is going. Sometimes that screws your budget but ends in the solid machine for 5 years or longer.

Of course, that is also a factor and tech is not only going 1 way, that’s also why it could help out with some simple infomation on who to support and whom to steer clear off. Most recommended “buyers guide” i’ve seen simplify to the point where there is only 1 choice, that makes sense and users don’t want to feel left behind or end up buying the wrong item, which amd always seem to look like

I’m not seeing a difference

if people actually read the sticky in build a PC category it has a great copy paste format that LITERALLY NO ONE USES AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

My 1700x is chugging along nicely… A little secret of amd … rock solid for the the most part for decade or so within their performance merit. I do not see many old intel machines. I do see old amd machines that have run for a decade or better. How did I get hurt ?

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Not supposed to be one. Anyway nice job on the build-a-pc thread, in the build-a-pc category. Now to a tip on what can better it. Make and include a nice fat 4k picture of amd,intel and nvidia. Beneath each, write what they all have contributed to the tech industry. Licensed tech, development, open-sourcing, apis, etc. All of it, then you could possibly compare them all, it can be done within the picture and pictures and videos talk louder than text in categories.

Dear Lord those would be massive

Then the most noteable ones, like x86, x64, vulkan etc. What’s the fuss, don’t you want to go trending?

If not, i’ll make it myself and send it to you

Most of the time when it comes to desktop recommendations I just build them something on pcpartpicker.com and tell them to order everything. If they complain about the price (I usually go quality) I ask them “do you really want to regret such a important purchase for the next 3-6 years?” and that usually does the trick.

If it’s a laptop I will usually just say “dell or hp business” and find something within their price range. If they want a Mac I point them to the appropriate product. No use arguing with people already embedded in the ecosystem, plus I find the 13" Macbook Pro + Windows/Linux Desktop to be a great option for those looking to try something new (and can afford it). It all depends on the user’s budget and how much they trust your advice.

Non-techies who don’t trust you will never change their mind, no matter how hard you try.

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You can not do the hipster thing with the larger number. Its more than that. Let me throw optane which is joke at the consumer level. If fact most of what intel has done this past year has been :)~

True…that.

If it’s hipster, make it modern. I used trump in my case. Use whatever is neccesary, (within limits of reason) to better the tech industry. it’s not like you’re hurting anyone, actually it’s helping both them, the industry and thereby the general tech buyers