High tech toys shouldn't buy this holiday season and why

An HDTV
The whole HDTV is a disaster, the 1080p (which is the top of the top) are just now starting to come out on the mass market, this means that the 720p and 1080i are on their way out since they were only stepping stones to getting to full HDTV resolution. Plus most HDTVs are 16X9 but most content is still the standard 4X3 so you end up with less TV for your money. Then there is the debate about how HDTV signal is sent, is it Component 3 channel, Component 5 channel, DVI or HDMI? Till they decide on a standard if you pick wrong then you get to buy a new TV in a few years anyways. Wait till at least the end of 2006 and you will be much happier.

WiFi equipment that uses pre 802.11N
Again this is a standard thing. Each company is making equipment with the standard they hope will get adopted. Now this means that your equipment might not work on your buddy's pre-N network. Plus if life has taught us anything it is best that no one wins, so the N standard will be a compromise. If this happens and your equipment isn't upgradeable your shiny new pre-N router and cards are junk! I suggest getting a 802.11g router with MIMO. You won't have the best but you will be pretty damn close, and you card will connect you to most WiFi networks for many years to come!

An Ipod Nano
Never buy the 1st generation of a new product that works with new technology. You will pay too much and the chances it will get recalled are much better. If you want proof, the Nano 4 gig costs as much as the regular 20/30 gig and has a less battery life! I am not saying you shouldn't buy an IPod, I am saying let some else's $200 to $300 work out the bugs and drive the price of memory down. As a side note Samsung one of the top memory chip makers announced this week they have a memory chip that can hold 32 GigaBytes! So 4 GigaBytes will be old hat soon.