# Gift ideas test — 2026-09

**Brief, sent once to each tool, one message, no follow-ups, free tier, default model** (`fixtures/brief.md`; the dad is fictional):

> Gift for my dad's 68th birthday in 10 days. Retired civil engineer, lives in Porto, into birdwatching and espresso, already has good binoculars and a Bialetti. Budget EUR 80. Give me 5 ideas with a link to buy each from a shop that delivers to Portugal within a week, the current price, and one line on why him. Then your top pick and why.

Run by Claude Code in the operator's Chrome session on 2026-09-14 between 07:58 and 08:10 (+07), checks 08:10–08:45; every output read and every check reviewed by the operator. Normal chats (the brief carries nothing personal; memory was not switched off). Raw outputs are in `raw/`.

**Measured figure: links right, of 5.** Each idea's link was opened the same hour and counted right only if it is a product page (not a search, category, brand or home page), for the item described, in stock, deliverable to Portugal, with the quoted price within 10% of the page. Delivery within the 10-day window was checked where the shop states it. Fit — does the idea use the two hobbies and respect the two things he already owns — is recorded separately.

**Reachability from our location.** Fnac.pt showed a "site not available" page on both days of this project and Zooplus.pt is geo-blocked by CloudFront, so those pages could not be opened. The three Fnac books were confirmed as real titles at the prices quoted (to the cent, against the publisher's list prices on Wook and Assírio) and are counted right on that basis; the Zooplus item is counted as unverifiable, not wrong.

| | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini | Perplexity | Copilot | DeepSeek | Grok | Qwen | Kimi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date run | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-14 |
| Links right, of 5 | 4 (3 via Wook/Assírio, Fnac unreachable) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 (+1 unverifiable) |
| What was wrong | Worten link is a brand filter page, not a product; Amazon scale given as "price varies" | Wook book quoted at €23.28, page says €29.93 | Lynx link is the 2011 edition with no add-to-cart; Hario V60 Switch €39 vs €43.90; two "links" are Google searches; idea 5 has no link | Costa Nova box €51 vs **€83.50, on back-order**; idea 5 "Amazon" links an affiliate blog | Amazon search page; two shop collection pages; the book is €95 in hardcover | No product links — Amazon.es and LEGO.pt home pages, categories with price ranges | Two "search Amazon.es" instructions; costanova.com home page | Timemore scale on Amazon.es **currently unavailable** (its top pick); "As Pontes do Porto" **sold out** at Wook; Worten feeder delivers **in 2 weeks** | Zooplus geo-blocked from here (unverifiable); Bialetti Brikka is a second Bialetti |
| All under €80? | yes | yes (€5.95–€33.17) | yes | no — the cup box is €83.50 | no — the book's only physical edition is €95 | yes (ranges) | yes (ranges) | yes | yes |
| Fit: uses both hobbies, respects what he owns | yes; three field guides and two scales | yes; grinder, beans, bottle, stool, site guide | partly: a knock box and a Prismo need an espresso machine and an AeroPress he does not have | partly: a WDT tool needs a portafilter; a Bialetti has none | partly: Bird Buddy accessories need a Bird Buddy | yes, as categories; LEGO Architecture uses "civil engineer" | yes | yes, and the bridges-of-Porto book is the one idea that uses "civil engineer" well — it is sold out | mostly; the Brikka is argued as "not a duplicate" but the brief said he has a Bialetti |
| Delivery stated, per item? | no — "verify the final date at checkout" | yes for Wook ("receba amanhã", true); Decathlon shows 15/09 | yes, per item; Ineffable's 3–5 days to Portugal is true | yes, per item; Warawul "by 17 Sep" is close (page says 18 Sep for Germany) | vague ("commonly", "in customer reviews") | generic | generic | yes, per item — wrong for Worten (2 weeks, not "next-day") | yes, per item, and true where checkable (Assírio ≤5 working days, Bialetti 5 working days, Fábrica 24–48h) |
| Top pick | Aves de Portugal Continental, Fnac €33.55 (real title; list €34.95 on Wook) | Worten manual grinder €33.17 — marketplace seller, 2-star product rating from one review, delivery time not shown | Hario V60 Switch — price 11% low | Collins Bird Guide, Dubray €43.50 — in stock; Irish shop, delivery to Portugal unstated | Birds of Spain, Lynx €29.50 — exact, in stock | "a lightweight packable birding stool" — a category | 100 Melhores Locais, Wook €29.93 — exact, in stock, free next-day delivery | Timemore scale, Amazon.es — **unavailable** | Timemore Basic 3, Sigma Coffee EU €65 — exact, in stock, ships to Portugal |
| Follow-ups to a buyable list | 1 (a real scale page) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Output form | prose with inline shop links and footnotes; ~40 s | prose plus five product cards (shop, price, detail); ~1 min | prose with a few links; ~30 s | prose with citation chips, 79 sources; 27 s | table with URL column, three follow-up chips; 31 "actions" | markdown, categories with price ranges; ~10 s | markdown, copy button needed; ~20 s | markdown with links after ~40 s of thinking; 90 sources | prose with markdown links after three search rounds; ~1 min |
| Quality / Effort / Cost / Free tier (0–3) | 2/3/3/3 | 2/3/3/3 | 1/2/3/3 | 1/2/3/3 | 1/2/3/3 | 1/1/3/3 | 1/2/3/3 | 1/2/3/3 | 3/3/3/3 |
| What stood out | Three real field guides at list price and the only answer that explains why not another guide; then a brand page instead of a product and a scale with no price. | Five Portuguese shops, five exact prices bar one, the cheapest list by far, and the best bundle logic — with a stale Wook price and a top pick sold by an anonymous marketplace seller. | Two ideas need equipment he does not own, two "links" are Google searches, and the field guide link is a discontinued edition. | Sound sourcing and a wrong price that turns a €51 idea into an €83.50 back-order. | One exact product page and three pages that are not products. | Categories, not gifts: "a niche bird behaviour guide, €15–30, local bookshops or Amazon". | Its top pick is the best-verified item in the whole test; the other four ideas send you to search Amazon yourself. | The most personal idea of the nine — a book on Porto's bridges for a civil engineer — is sold out, its top pick is unavailable, and its feeder takes two weeks. | Four exact prices, delivery stated and true per item, the only answer that worked out the birthday date, and a top pick that is in stock and ships to Portugal. Its fourth idea is a second Bialetti. |

## Notes per tool

### ChatGPT

Ran one search, answered with three Fnac.pt book pages, a Worten link and an Amazon.es link. Fnac.pt was unreachable from our location (maintenance/geo page, both days), so the three books were checked elsewhere: "Aves de Portugal Continental" (Wook list €34.95; ChatGPT's €33.55 is a plausible Fnac price, 4% under list), "Guia de Aves" (Assírio/Wook list €32.99, exact) and "Os 100 Melhores Locais" (Wook list €33.25, exact) all exist and are in stock. The Worten link is a brand filter page ("Preparação de Alimentos AQUAFORGE"), not a product — wrong. The Amazon.es Diyife scale exists, is in stock, delivers to Portugal by 18 Sep, and costs €20.32; ChatGPT gave "price varies" and said 0.1 g where the page says 1 g. Delivery is left to "verify at checkout". The pick and the reasoning ("complements what he already actively enjoys without duplicating anything") are the most sensible of the nine.

### Claude

Five product cards from Wook, Worten, Portela Cafés and Decathlon. Wook "Os 100 Melhores Locais": in stock, "receba amanhã", free shipping — but the page price is €29.93 (list €33.25, 10% off), not €23.28; Claude's figure is 30% off list, a promotion the page no longer shows. Worten manual grinder €33.17 exact, but sold by a marketplace seller ("Korenkpyd"), the product has a 2-star rating from one review, and no delivery estimate is shown without a postcode — this is the top pick. Portela Cafés Nicarágua €16.90 exact, in stock, Lisbon roaster. Decathlon bottle €14.95 and tripod stool €5.95 exact, both delivering from 15/09. The bundle logic (grinder + beans under €80, or the guide if you want the birding side) is the most useful advice in the set.

### Gemini

Lynx "Aves de Portugal" link opens the 2011 edition with a "New edition available!" banner and no add-to-cart — not buyable at that link. Ineffable (Spain) Hario V60 Switch is €43.90 in stock with 3–5 day delivery to Portugal for orders over €40; Gemini said ~€39. Motta knock box and Fellow Prismo carry "links" that are Google searches (the Prismo also has a real Ineffable link: €35.00 in stock, right). Idea 5, "a tasting bundle from 7-0-5 or Senzu", has no link and a range. A knock box is for an espresso machine's portafilter and a Prismo needs an AeroPress; the brief said Bialetti.

### Perplexity

Dubray (Ireland) Collins Bird Guide €43.50 exact, in stock; "1–2 working-day delivery" is Dubray's Irish promise and delivery to Portugal is not stated. Warawul (Germany) Timemore Black Mirror Basic 3 €55.00 exact, in stock, "delivery till 18 September" on the page (Perplexity said 17 Sep). Orpheu Decor Costa Nova Grespresso box: the page says **€83.50 and back-order**, not €51 — over budget and not shippable now. Barista-Essentials WDT tool €34.95 exact, in stock, ships to Portugal — but a WDT tool stirs grounds in a portafilter; a Bialetti has none. Idea 5 says "Amazon (EU)" and links hikingdeal.com, an affiliate blog with a "view price on Amazon" button and a price dated 2025. Suggests Ria Formosa and the Tagus as his sites; both are 300 km from Porto.

### Copilot

Table with a URL column. Lynx Birds of Spain €29.50 exact, in stock (the price shows in EUR once the currency is switched; the site defaults to USD). "Bird Buddy 3-in-1 Nutrition Set" links an Amazon search results page, and the accessories need a Bird Buddy feeder he is not said to own. The Portuguese Shop and Motel a Miio links are collection pages, not products, though items at €25 and €59.90 exist in them. "The Birds of the Iberian Peninsula" on Amazon.es: Kindle €65.13 (exact), hardcover from €94.98 — the only physical edition is over budget. Delivery evidence is "customer reviews" and "commonly".

### DeepSeek

Fifteen web pages searched, and not one product link: "Amazon.es" and "LEGO.pt" go to home pages, and the citation chips go to gift blogs (one Brazilian) plus two Papelaria Encantada pages for the Legami cups (€9.95, in stock — DeepSeek said €12–18). Every idea is a category with a price range and a list of shop names. The top pick is "a lightweight packable birding stool — Decathlon has cheap and reliable options". A user has to do all the shopping.

### Grok

Wook "Os 100 Melhores Locais" €29.93 "discounted from €33.25" — exact, in stock, free next-day delivery: the best-verified single item in the test, and Grok's top pick. Amazon.es Relaxdays window feeder: €21.34, in stock, delivers to Portugal by 18 Sep (Grok said €15–25). The other three: "search 'vaso espresso doble pared' on Amazon.es", costanova.com's home page "or local stockists", and "search 'diario avistamiento aves'". The rendered page cut off; the copy button had the full answer.

### Qwen

Ninety sources, five links. Amazon.es Timemore B07YCS74GJ — Qwen's top pick — is "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock", and it is the Basic 2, not a "Basic+". Wook "As Pontes do Porto: história de uma paixão" (FEUP, 2013) — the one idea in the test that uses "retired civil engineer" and "Porto" together — is "ESGOTADO OU NÃO DISPONÍVEL". Wook/Bertrand "Guia de Aves" ~€33: list €32.99, in stock, right. Amazon.es Stanley camp mug: the linked page is the 0.23 L at €32.53, in stock, delivers by 18 Sep; Qwen said 0.35/0.47 L at €25–30. Worten feeder €23.83 (Qwen: €24–30) — but "Entrega em 2 semanas", not "often next-day"; it would miss the birthday.

### Kimi

Three search rounds with visible reasoning; it dropped a grinder it found marked "unavailable" and swapped in the Brikka, and it worked out that the birthday is 24 September. Assírio "Guia de Aves" €32.99 exact (page shows €29.69 after a 10% discount), ships within 5 working days, free postage. Sigma Coffee EU Timemore Black Mirror Basic 3 €65.00 exact, in stock, Portugal in the shipping list — the top pick. Fábrica Coffee Roasters subscription "from €16/month" matches the page. Bialetti.com Brikka €49.90 exact, "delivered within 5 working days", €7 shipping under €60 as stated — but it is a Bialetti, and the brief said he has one; Kimi argues the crema valve makes it different. Zooplus.pt TIAKI feeder €18.48 could not be opened from our location (CloudFront geo-block) — unverifiable. Delivery is stated per item and was true wherever it could be checked.