A question on Hardware Recommendations has one of two goals:
- A request for a product recommendation, OR
- A request for information that will lead to a product decision
This means that Hardware Recommendations is not here to:
- Provide technical support of hardware
- Provide step-by-step instructions for Do-It-Yourself installation
There is one major exception to questions that request information:
- General advice-type questions. These are out of scope because they don't necessarily lead to a concrete decision, and go out of date quickly.
Your question on Hardware Recommendations should:
Clearly define requirements
You are looking for a piece of hardware to do something. Define what the hardware must do and must not do. These requirements need to be objective (e.g., "must be less than $100" is good; "must be cheap" is bad).
Identify optional requirements. Not all hardware is created equal. If you would like the hardware to do something, but it isn't required, state that. These "nice-to-haves" will influence the types of recommendations that you receive.
Show previous research
Have you already performed a search for hardware that meets your requirements? What did you find or not find?
If you've already searched but you don't share the results of that search, it's probable you'll receive recommendations for hardware you've already rejected. This wastes your time and ours. By sharing your previous searches and reasons why the resulting products of those searches don't work, you allow us to provide more relevant recommendations to solve your problem.
Provide relevant details in the question
When you are providing information about your existing device, that information should be in the question. It should not be behind a link that shows specifications. Having this information in the question is important, because it allows the information to be easily accessible to others even if the link stops working.
Include a good title
The title should briefly summarize your goal in a few words and mention only one or two of the most important requirements (e.g., "25-inch monitor under $150")
See How do I write a good title? for tips on writing an effective title.
Make use of tags
Apply tags that categorize the type of hardware you are looking for (e.g., laptop or graphics-cards). Provide additional tags to narrow the scope of your request. Perhaps ios or windows is appropriate if the hardware needs to work with iOS or Windows. Also consider physical traits your question is focusing on such as durability or waterproof. Look at existing tags on similar questions and check the tag wiki to understand what a tag should be used for. Try not to use tags that have a large scope (such as pc) without also adding some more specific tags - that helps people who are interested find your question to answer.
Not be too broad
Your question should ask for a very specific piece of hardware that matches your specific requirements. Questions that ask for more than one piece of hardware at a time tend to get closed because they're too broad for the community experts to answer in one go. Instead, try splitting your question out into one question per piece of hardware - this also enables you to tag them differently so the relevant experts can find them.
