Yes they kick HD DVD too, but with both Blu Ray and the PS3 on the list it seems like a double whammy...

Top 5 Gadgets You Shouldn't Buy:
(http://money.aol.com/top5/general/gadgets)

5. 10 Megapixel Digital Camera
4. Windows Vista
3. "Draft N" Wireless Routers
2. The Playstation 3
1. Any Blu-Ray or HD DVD player

Many people I talk with that hadn't even heard of HD DVD or Blu-ray last year are now very negative about it. Don't know how this has happened, but basically everything they hear or read about it is negative so they assume it is some format trying to force them to rebuy all their DVDs. HD DVD and Blu-ray have some image work to do.

I wouldn't put any stock in it. It's just common sense, really, for average consumers who aren't crazy about quality and/or don't want it now. What they are saying could have easily been said in 1997 or 1998 about DVD. Granted, we didn't have two (real) formats, but there was concern about whether it would catch on with the public.

As for the PS3, of course I wouldn't have bought one already if I didn't want BD playback, and at this time I'd only recommend it to people who want BD playback. (Not that there are no games, it's just that the games alone don't make it worth it IMHO.) They don't address BD at all in their "analysis."

might be a double wammy on Sony, but not on BD.

Your title should reflect that they kicked both formats in the nads, because they did.

They are kicking the new HD formats in the nads, not just BD.

Did anyone here even bother to read the article (besides Drexl)? Nowhere did the author say that HD video was a bad idea. In fact, there is only one item on the list (10 MP digicams) that the author recommends avoiding completely. For everything else, they merely suggest waiting until prices come down and/or selection improves. Hardly a "double whammy" in my view.

In reality, all gadgets are kind of unnesesary...If you needed them, they wouldn't be considered "gadgets".

Man, I would love a 10MP camera, enjoy my PS3 and my HD-A1. Guess Smartmoney, which is ironically affiliated with AOL, is rather useless to me.

Agreed, besides VISTA, everything on that list is in my house or on my radar. I was reading about the N routers a little while ago.

I definitely agree. I will have a 10 MP camera (or better) by the end of this year, I love my PS3, HD-A1, XBox 360 add-on, and I will be upgrading to Vista in a month or so. I can live without an 'N' router for now, but if I needed one, I'd have no compunctions about buying it.

Well now, Vista I'm waiting on until I put together a new computer, probably next year or so. I don't see much that it would offer to me now, and I have "only" 1GB of RAM anyway. Plus, I don't want to have to deal with transferring the license and the activation when it's time for a new system.

I can understand people not buying into Vista, HD or the PS3, but I'd take a 10MB camera over my 5MB in a second at this point. Well worth the money IMO.

Especially since when I bought my 5 MP camera, it cost more than the 10 MP cameras smartmoney is telling me to stay away from.

I know this is way off topic but I agree about the 10mp camera. All they're doing is taking a sensor which is the same size and cramming more, smaller pixels onto it. Sure, the picture will be bigger and could potentially make a bigger print but the quality isn't as good. It's only a sales tactic for people who think more is better.

are you guys printing poster sized pictures that you need a 10mp camera?

there are only 2 reasons I can think of to need that many MPs...

1- BIG pictures
2- super cropping

exactly. most sensors cant do 10mp well and it creates "noise" in the pictures.

Yup. Most people don't realize that for prints up to 11x13 all you need is 3mp equivalent. Cropping is the only reason you would need anything more unless you're printing pictures the size of movie posters.

I bought my 5MB Kodak for exactly your 2 points! I think I have only printed one picture out with the thing.

Or, unless you want quality prints at reasonable enlargements (up to 11x14) that have image detail comparable to 35mm film (which a 5 MP digicam DOES NOT HAVE).

That argument only works for DSLR cameras which have sensors big enough to handle all the pixels. If that's what you're talking about, then I agree completely. No point & shoot camera should be any more than 6MP. The sensors they use just aren't big enough to handle the extra millions of pixels.

(Sorry for taking the thread so far afield...)

Fair enough. Although, even in the smaller sensor digicam world, the micro-miniaturization of the sensor elements has improved dramatically over the past 2-3 years. In addition to my DSLR, I own a 7MP digicam (A Canon A620), and there is virtually no noise at lower ISOs. Higher ISOs do still suffer from it a bit, but no more than older, lower-res sensors did in their day.

And now, in a vain attempt to steer back on topic , the article does bring to light the image problem that both formats face. Too many people read lists like this and take it as "things to avoid at all costs", rather than "things to be cautious about right now".

If only Mad Money hated them. I like the idea of Jim Cramer waving around a PS3, frothing at the mouth.

I thought that was pretty good.

HD-DVD and BR have bad PR because they deserve it. They knew a format war would be bad for everyone, and did it anyway.

The PS3 promised the moon, was delayed 6 months, had little innovation, is comparable to the 360 in quality, has issues with PS2 games, forced the price up by forcing BD on people, hyped HD while not including the cables, and a whole list of other crap. Sony was plain arrogant (though based on history, they had some reason to be), but they made misteps that would make me wait.

No idea on the N router. I like wires.

Vista (the premium home version I have) seems to be about like the Media Center version of XP I had but with a new skin. If I didn't need to buy a new computer, I would have stayed with XP.

For point and shoot cameras, anything over 5mp is a waste.

Any or all of these things could turn out to be great, but there is no need to rush to buy any of them.

I will agree with some of what you say but on a different take. I think HD is worth it regardless of what the format is.

Also, the megapixel thing should be more like the point-and-shoot cameras are a waste, if the point was to hold off because of cost. The DSLRs are coming down in price and it's a world of difference, heh, kinda like the HD thing.

Natually, I agree. I own an HD-DVD player, am considering a PS3 for BD playback only, have vista running right now, and have a 6.3 mp camera. But this is an article for the typical consumer, and none of us probably qualify.

Although I think HD is worth it, most people aren't going to think that and I agree with Dave that they deserve all the negative press they get because the format war is ridiculous. Each company could have really done something special, but since they couldn't compromise on a few points, they both have the potential to lose millions (maybe billions) because of stubbornness. But I guess it just shows how much of an idiot I am because I do have HD-DVD now and will probably have a PS3 in a few months.