How to buy the correct gadgets

by Kaushik on June 17, 2011

Money is hard earned, for every honest person, so allocation of expenditure in case of gadgets is important. Someone may have a lot of money, but does anyone want to spend unnecessarily? Its useless to buy multiple gadgets with similar features. So, while buying digital still & video cameras, mobile phones etc. we must spend money for what we need and not simply because we ‘wish’ to have it.

Planning according to budget

I have three mobile phones, I cannot buy more until one or two gets dead or else, there will soon be a handful of mobile phones in my possession. At first, I bought a basic handset with most minimum features. Then I purchased another set with enhanced music playing abilities. Lastly, another with WLAN, 3G and 5MP camera/good quality video recording. I planned it out this way because I didn’t have enough money in hand to buy a separate 5MP digital camera unit and I also couldn’t afford a movie camera at that time.

Buying a digital camera

Next, I was planning to buy a digital still camera; I already knew I had a 5MP camera in the mobile phone, so I opted for a 10MP camera unit. So, wherever there’s no big need of shooting very high quality photos, I simply carry on with my mobile phone’s camera. Whenever I am on sightseeing tours, I never forget my 10MP camera for high quality pics. All this long, my Nokia N95 mobile phone’s video recorder was giving me decent quality videos; the phone had TV-out facility for large-screen viewing.

Buying a movie camera

After some time, I was getting ready to buy my first movie camera, a high definition Sony Handycam with a decent capacity hard disk. So you see, whenever I required HD videos over mobile phone’s quality of video, I take my handycam along with me.

The buying cycle

Everything becomes old over time. Material things depreciate in quality. So we need to buy again. My Nokia N95 is now 4 years old, the previous ones are older. I know that very soon I’d require another handset. So how am I planning my next mobile phone? This time I am looking for facilities like 8MP camera with 720p HD video etc. because, next in the cycle, my 10MP digital still camera will be on the list of obsoletes. In a few months, Nokia’s N8 with 12MP camera will be cheaper than it is now. Maybe I’ll go for it then, but not now. Do I not have the money to buy now? No, its because I don’t need it now! By the time I’ll buy the Nokia N8 or something similar, my Sony HD handycam will be going towards the list of obsoletes and then I’ll plan for better movie camera.

iPad, iPhone, tablet PCs

Sounds too good, right? But again, do you really need it? A planning like this will simplify things a lot. Greed must be avoided at any cost. Buying items simply because you have that money and stacking up electronic gadgets at home isn’t a witty thing to do in life. Technology is good, but so long as it is properly used according to needs.