Questions tagged [discussion]

The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
33 votes
2 answers
1k views

What is Hardware?

Not hardware, but Hardware. We've half-defined our scope, thanks to Robert. The other half of defining our scope is an issue that's been sitting around since Day 1, and one that I've seen plenty of ...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
17 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is required for a question to be 'high quality'?

This is the question version of What is required for an answer to be 'high quality'? (It is modeled off of What is required for a question to contain "enough information"? from Software ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
12 votes
1 answer
291 views

What is required for an answer to be 'high quality'?

Seeing +15/-0 consensus on Should we have SR-style quality guidelines for questions and answers?, I would say it's time to figure out what we require in answers. What is required for an answer to be '...
Undo's user avatar
  • 2,244
9 votes
5 answers
305 views

Do we still want general advice questions?

Prompted by this question. A long time ago, we decided that "what should I consider"/general advice-type questions are allowed. We had at least one of these questions, which seemed to be pretty well-...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
22 votes
7 answers
443 views

What type of hardware is allowed?

I have asked this question: Standing desk with ability to raise/lower? It is receiving a few close votes for "not about computing hardware." A key thing this site will need to determine is what the ...
enderland's user avatar
  • 1,509
16 votes
5 answers
330 views

Are "What should I consider when buying" questions allowed? [duplicate]

Note that this discussion is no longer current. We revisited this topic later in the life of this site. Please see Do we still want general advice questions? and post your thoughts there. Should we ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 2,244
15 votes
2 answers
355 views

Is a scope of "product recommendations" + "pre-purchase inquiries" agreeable?

The Community Team is nearing the private beta evaluations to decide whether to move this site forward, but I've hit a few snags expressing purpose and the scope of this site. I am confident we are on ...
Robert Cartaino's user avatar
12 votes
5 answers
763 views

What can we do about technical support questions?

Recently, I posted an answer here on meta. In it, I realise that we have a problem with technical support questions - essentially, going on half of our questions are closed, and going on half of those ...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
5 votes
4 answers
240 views

Should this site be called "Hardware Search"?

I'm just thinking out loud here. Folks often ask me where they should ask a question about their stuff, and when they start focusing in on "Hardware Recommendations", the conversation ...
Robert Cartaino's user avatar
8 votes
6 answers
325 views

How to handle questions with too few requirements?

After seeing a few questions listing very few requirements, I realize we never actually discussed what to do if there is a low-quality question in terms of soliciting an overly-broad product ...
Adam's user avatar
  • 2,179
18 votes
3 answers
171 views

Should we have SR-style quality guidelines for questions and answers?

This site is different than most - we're an opinion based site. This topic is the reason 'shopping recommendations' were banned on Stack Overflow. If we don't want to become a spam center, I think we ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 2,244
10 votes
1 answer
131 views

Should we have a close reason for technical support questions?

We've gotten several questions that have been technical support type questions: https://hardwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/695/cant-be-established-connection-with-internet-whats-up https://...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
6 votes
3 answers
75 views

Should we delete things that don't match our criteria?

It was proposed, then it was implemented for questions and answers. We have quality guidelines for questions and answers; now, the question is how we enforce them. Now that this site has some ...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
6 votes
3 answers
153 views

Should we edit the sidebar text on the ask page?

As you may have seen, we have an issue with technical support questions. One of the various solutions that has been discussed (proposed in chat and in a meta answer by Andy) is to edit the text in the ...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
16 votes
1 answer
336 views

Why is this community not allowed to decide its scope?

The general rule I've seen around Stack Exchange is that a community is sovereign in deciding its scope¹, as long as it makes a modicum of sense. Stack Exchange employees may enforce quality ...
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil''s user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
93 views

Should we have a custom 'too broad' off-topic reason?

In Robert Cartaino's answer here, he mentions this text: Closed as a broad recommendation or poll "Hardware Recommendations" is a community-run website to help participants complete an ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 2,244
7 votes
2 answers
119 views

Are build requests on-topic?

Are questions like "I want to build a gaming computer that does a b c and also does x y z for less than $___"? on topic here? Or do they have to be recommendations about an already existing list ...
Jason's user avatar
  • 213
6 votes
0 answers
192 views

The moderator election has been extended until October 18, 2022 – please check your ballots to ensure your selections have been saved!

As some of you may know, we recently identified a bug affecting moderator elections – and fixed it. This bug was preventing some users' election ballots (i.e. selections) from being saved in a very ...
V2Blast's user avatar
  • 101
5 votes
3 answers
127 views

Let's explain what "technical support" means and how to properly fix the question to be on topic

I've proposed creating a new faq question covering what we consider "technical support". The idea is that we can use this as further guidance to users on what not to ask and how their technical ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
-2 votes
3 answers
97 views

Add specific close reason for SuperUser content

Discussion here relates to questions being on topic on SuperUser, and therefore not here. I suggest adding the following as a custom close reason: "Hardware Recommendations" was created for ...
enderland's user avatar
  • 1,509
13 votes
3 answers
101 views

Pricing as a requirement

How do we handle pricing requirements stated in questions? Do we: Consider them hard limits? Expect proof of sale-price in all answers? One of the problems is that pricing differs all over the ...
Mast's user avatar
  • 237
12 votes
3 answers
94 views

Are answers recommending unreleased, unannounced hardware allowed?

Prompted by this answer to What's a good life-proof Android phone?: The upcoming Moto X Force is the phone that sound like the perfect fit(its not revealed or released yet!) Watch out! These are just ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 2,244
11 votes
2 answers
82 views

Are DIY hardware recommendations allowed?

Now, I have been interested in the maker and hacker community for a long time. I have learned about the Arduino and Raspberry Pi, etc. Are recommendation questions about such DIY hardware platforms ...
TanMath's user avatar
  • 208
10 votes
2 answers
108 views

Should we define "pre-purchase" vs "technical support"?

After a recent discussion about technical support questions, I went through some of our recent closures to gather more data. I return with a question for the community: How do we tell the difference ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
10 votes
8 answers
220 views

Community Promotion Ads - Let's advertise this site!

There are ads that have already reached the 6-vote threshold and have been submitted to other sites. The following are the relevant ads that have been submitted: Arqade Game Dev Graphic Design ...
Zizouz212's user avatar
  • 904
10 votes
1 answer
109 views

Are appliance-related questions on-topic?

I think someone asked this on the commitment phrase, but I do not remember the responses. Are we going to allow questions related to appliances? An example could it be: Which washer/dryer allows ...
scubaFun's user avatar
  • 203
8 votes
3 answers
98 views

Should we allow software alternatives to hardware requests to be "valid" answers?

Do we allow alternatives to the requested hardware to remain as valid answers? I believe we allow a wide variety of hardware to be an "answer". Not all of the hardware can fulfill all requirements, ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
7 votes
1 answer
165 views

Which tags need to be cleaned up?

Which tags need to be cleaned up by a user with elevated editing or tag privileges? Instead of posting a new answer per tag, feel free to just edit the CW answer.
JohnB's user avatar
  • 422
7 votes
3 answers
75 views

Are questions related to third party hosting requirements on topic?

I've thrown up a question related to a dedicated server that will be hosted (most likely) by a third party. The idea behind this question is to upgrade from a VPS to another piece of hardware. Is a ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
7 votes
1 answer
121 views

Can/should we have a question interstitial for extra guidance?

On new private beta sites, you can't ask a question without first going through an interstitial screen that gives you advice on how to ask during the private beta. I recently did a micro-study into ...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
6 votes
2 answers
270 views

Anyone else getting frustrated with what is consider on topic at the Hardware Recommendations Stack Exchange?

Question: Anyone else getting frustrated with what is consider on topic at the Hardware Recommendations Stack Exchange? My Opinion: Its being over moderated. I see questions being placed on hold ...
user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
84 views

Are batteries on-topic?

https://hardwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/2395/what-type-of-battery-should-i-get is currently closed for being tech support. It has recently been edited to make it less tech support, but still ...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
4 votes
3 answers
81 views

Are questions on defining requirements on-topic? [duplicate]

Should a question like this be closed? What should I look for besides pixel density/count when choosing a smartphone with a good camera? It was closed because the user didn't list definitive ...
feetwet's user avatar
  • 1,130
4 votes
2 answers
57 views

Merge [hdd] into [hard-disk]

I noticed my first question which I had tagged hard-disk got retagged as hdd. I prefer the full name rather than the abbreviation. But most of all, I think one of those two tags should definitely be a ...
kasperd's user avatar
  • 719
17 votes
4 answers
103 views

How are we going to handle questions / answers becoming outdated?

This was brought up on Area 51, but I don't think it was sufficiently addressed. Taking into consideration the following: The primary goal of a Stack Exchange site is not to simply provide an answer ...
Doorknob's user avatar
  • 461
11 votes
2 answers
64 views

Proposal: Require computer specs to be posted in the question instead of behind a link

I'd like to propose a quality guideline to help prevent confusion in the future. Proposal Users posting information about their computer need to have the components listed in the question itself not ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
10 votes
1 answer
133 views

Are DIY Recommendation answers appropriate?

I've seen a few answers that propose the OP gets their hands dirty and build a thing to solve their problem. I can't seem to find the others right now, but a recent answer is this: What I'm ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
9 votes
2 answers
47 views

How should disclosure work if we're answering based on hardware for review?

Well, while I've not been that lucky yet, I'd be pretty happy to try out hardware and review it in various places, primarily my blog. I do that already with hardware I buy. There's two possible ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
104 views

How would you rate HR at this moment?

How would you rate HR at this moment? Is the community active enough? What problems may we encounter in the long run? What do you especially like/dislike about this site?
Pawel Gumiela's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
321 views

Let's clean up some broken windows - A proposal for dealing with tech support questions

We've had previous discussions about technical support questions we recieve. Repeatedly. There have been concerns about how many [on hold] or [closed] questions that this places on the main page. ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
9 votes
4 answers
106 views

Which other Stack Exchange sites have a userbase that would be interested in our site?

Now that we've reached Public Beta, part of our job is getting the word about Hardware Recommendations out. One way to do that is via Community Ads. These ads are voted upon by the Stack Exchange ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
8 votes
1 answer
85 views

Help! What's on-topic here?

When people arrive at our site, they'll be directed to /help/on-topic for guidance about what's on-topic here. Said page currently contains basically nothing useful; I can tell you that without even ...
ArtOfCode's user avatar
  • 2,291
8 votes
1 answer
66 views

Are questions asking how well a piece of hardware does X accepted?

Triggered by How many players would this VPS be able to take?: Are questions that essentially ask this accepted? I am looking at x hardware ([specs]), and I'd like to know how well it does ([...
Undo's user avatar
  • 2,244
7 votes
1 answer
83 views

Laser cutters on topic?

I'm likely going to be in the market for a laser cutter with significant ability to be controlled from my computer (my computer capability will limit what I can do with it). It'll definitely have a ...
enderland's user avatar
  • 1,509
7 votes
2 answers
59 views

Differences from SuperUser

Unfortunately a lot of questions here are about Hardware support as well as shopping. These questions belong on SuperUser. How do we prevent users from asking questions? How can we as a whole improve ...
Roke's user avatar
  • 353
7 votes
3 answers
134 views

How do we encourage new users to stay on topic?

11 of the last 12 questions are on hold for being off topic. What can we do to encourage users to stay on topic? Is there any indication that the authors of these off topic questions are returning ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 3,368
7 votes
1 answer
109 views

Should we have a 'blatantly off-topic' custom close reason?

We got a custom close reason for unclear questions - yay! However, when we got this it deactivated the 'standard' blatantly off-topic reason, thereby making us have to use custom comments for ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 2,244
7 votes
2 answers
79 views

How can we detect (and deal with) spam?

The premise of Hardware Recommendations is that Person A is looking for one or more product(s) that will satisfy certain criteria or complete a certain task. Persons B, C, D, etc. may write answers ...
HDE 226868's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
51 views

Should we encourage users not to leave answers as comments?

I just joined this site today. After looking through the first page of questions, I see that many of the questions are answered, but just as a comment (see end of post for list). I understand that ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 528
6 votes
3 answers
111 views

Are "case" questions off-topic?

The case tag has a strange wiki. For questions about protective cases for hardware. May be off-topic. Am I missing something? We have 10 questions tagged case and a lot of them are very high ...
DJMcMayhem's user avatar