Ask HN: Please review this site from my friend.

Analysis: Fail

I need to create an account to even get a hint at what value the site might have to me. Barrier to entry is too high, how do I know there is any value waiting on the other side of the account registration screen?

Now, my guess is that it's one of those kinds of sites that you'll use only a few times (you only need to connect your receiver to your plasma TV so many times). So, a freemium model may be a tough play here. Perhaps something like without an account you can select your components (to confirm they are known in the system) and see a low-def (composite audio/video) connection path, but not a high-def connection path.

End result, IMO, is that if everything is hidden behind an account registration it will be hard to get a good user base.

Why the hell do I need to create an account!

Homepage is good, I think it is fulfilling a painpoint that myself and others have. I'm not creating an account just to try it out.

Solution: Provide the option of allowing me to create an account AFTER I have entered my components and it has solved my problem. Similar to an "anonymous checkout" on an ecommerce site.

Echo the account sentiment of others. You need to kill it.

The myPro bit is interesting, although I'm not sure how you go from getting the right cables to needing someone on the phone walk you through set up. If I need that much assistance, I'll call the geek quad or whatever and have them do it for me. (Hell, I bought the TV from them after all, they even ask me in the store.)

I'd strongly suggest talking to best buy or someone similar as a potential buyer, or talking to monster cables to get them to pay your bills like axod suggests. Nobody in their right mind is going to pay for this service alone.

As others have pointed out, there's no need for this to make me create an account. To make matters worse, the "create account" box appears below the "how it works" sidebar using Firefox 3.0b5 and a minimum font size of 12px. It looks like someone got HTML mixed up with a page description language.

Regardless of what you decide to do with the user registration.. could you add an example or two to show how easy it is?

Like a static page with the output the site would give for a common scenario (such as a TV, DVD Player, and Satellite dish/DVR, for example). Just to let me see how awesome Wirewize is without me having to sign up (or try to put in my details)?

I'm being nitpicky here, but in the about page, get rid of the "developed the definitive..." Its too alliterative. Also, what is " the definitive platform?" wirewize? another CEI product?

And we know nothing about you. Maybe some more depth and please avoid marketslick nonspeak, it tends to turn people off.

Guys, thanks for the input. In fact we are looking at the account stuff closely. Keep it coming...