The big question for electronics consumers is when to buy. A canny guide was published in the US on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
On the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a consumer’s guide to buying electronics is helpfully published by USA Today.
TVs: Don’t Buy. There’s no point buying anything but an HD TV but the HDMI interface for connecting to DVDs etc may change, HD content is sparse, HD quality and resolution is improving fast, and prices are dropping fast.
Digital cameras: Buy later in the year. Features are all anyone could want though 8Mpixel and 10Mpixel cameras are expected this year. Prices are good.
Video Cameras: Buy. Prices are low and may stay low as people buy still cameras which can also record video.
MP3s: Don’t buy. Apple may announce new iPods this week and competitors may respond by dropping prices.
Games Machines: Don’t Buy. Although the new ones, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3, are a big improvement on earlier versions, they will be cheaper and have more games later on.
DVDs: Don’t Buy. Wait for the Blu-Ray/HD DVD format war to be won and lost. This may take a year, but the improvement over standard DVD is not so great that it doesn’t warrant waiting.
PC: Don’t Buy. Wait until all versions of Microsoft’s new OS, Vista, are out and, as always with a new OS, wait until the bugs are substantially ironed out. That could be easily take a year from the release.
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