AOL: wait for a better deal on HD-DVD, PS3, Vista

Blu-ray and HD-DVD. AOL advised readers to not invest in Blu-ray and HD-DVD players, because like the early days of Betamax-versus-VHS, it’s not yet clear which format will win. (If you haven’t heard of Betamax, that’s because you’re too young; VHS ultimately won that format war.) If you wait for one format to be a clear winner, then you won’t end up investing your money on the losing format (what are you going to do with obsolete technology?). An added bonus to waiting: prices will be lower.

PS3. AOL gave the same advice about the PS3, citing the lack of games and a steep price tag. Relax! AOL did not say that the PS3 is never going to be worth buying: all the author said was that you might want to wait for more games to be released and for the price to go down. Still, that didn’t please the PlayStation 3 fanboys, and PS3 fan sentiments were further inflamed by this:

If you’re simply looking for a fun game system, you can find a Nintendo Wii (try eBay) or Xbox for around $400. You could also simply wait for more PS3 games or for the system itself to come down in price.

Still, you know that the PS3 manufacturing cost will go down (so prices should drop), and this games “drought” won’t last forever.

Windows Vista. Vista, the new Windows OS from Microsoft, got the same treatment from AOL. There are always bugs in any new operating system, and AOL cautioned that Vista’s new features may not be worth the errors and bugs (we’ve reported on some of the game-related and game-crashing bugs before):

There’s no huge benefit to upgrading now. Just keep using your current computer until you need to buy a new one and then you’ll get a cleaned up version of Vista for free.

The article also covered “Draft N” wireless routers (just get the cheaper and more compatible “G” routers instead, said AOL) and 10-megapixel digital cameras (the improvement isn’t noticeable to the average consumer, so just buy the cheaper 5-megapixel ones instead).

Blu-ray and HD-DVD. AOL advised readers to not invest in Blu-ray and HD-DVD players, because like the early days of Betamax-versus-VHS, it’s not yet clear which format will win. (If you haven’t heard of Betamax, that’s because you’re too young; VHS ultimately won that format war.) If you wait for one format to be a clear winner, then you won’t end up investing your money on the losing format (what are you going to do with obsolete technology?). An added bonus to waiting: prices will be lower.

PS3. AOL gave the same advice about the PS3, citing the lack of games and a steep price tag. Relax! AOL did not say that the PS3 is never going to be worth buying: all the author said was that you might want to wait for more games to be released and for the price to go down. Still, that didn’t please the PlayStation 3 fanboys, and PS3 fan sentiments were further inflamed by this:

If you’re simply looking for a fun game system, you can find a Nintendo Wii (try eBay) or Xbox for around $400. You could also simply wait for more PS3 games or for the system itself to come down in price.

Still, you know that the PS3 manufacturing cost will go down (so prices should drop), and this games “drought” won’t last forever.

Windows Vista. Vista, the new Windows OS from Microsoft, got the same treatment from AOL. There are always bugs in any new operating system, and AOL cautioned that Vista’s new features may not be worth the errors and bugs (we’ve reported on some of the game-related and game-crashing bugs before):

There’s no huge benefit to upgrading now. Just keep using your current computer until you need to buy a new one and then you’ll get a cleaned up version of Vista for free.

The article also covered “Draft N” wireless routers (just get the cheaper and more compatible “G” routers instead, said AOL) and 10-megapixel digital cameras (the improvement isn’t noticeable to the average consumer, so just buy the cheaper 5-megapixel ones instead).