What's the best way to avoid mistakes ?

Research ... Research & even more Research.

All good, just as long as all that research doesn't turn into procrastination :-) I'm good at that too.

I'm researching a couple of areas at the moment. Going back into Warcraft has hit my current games PC hard enough to have me seriously considering some new hardware. I'm also looking at upgrading my amp and speakers to something that'll handle the soundtracks on Blu-Ray discs better. The problem there is surround sound, my current speaker set doesn't understand DTS codes and gives me stereo instead of surround.

There's a few times when I've bought kit and had problems with it. I've then looked it up online to find a heap of "Why'd you go for that pile of xxx ? It's rubbish !" comments. So I do my research now. I have a few sources for that, including places like www.overclockers.com (can go to Supreme Geek level). I'll also look in magazines. This month saw the arrival of a Custom PC mag and PC Gamer to replace the now dead PC Zone.

You can find yourself behind the times very quickly in computers, as the pace of progress is lightning. I make it a rule to not check bits sellers for a few months after I jump into an upgrade as you buy one week, next week something better is out. It's also half the price. Can get depressing so you ignore the price lists for a while.

How do you catch up with what's current ? Know what to read and what to research ...

That means, figuring out who the idiots are (Computer Shopper) and who are more interested in pumping up ratings for their advertisers. The telltale signs are people who continually pump up ratings on some products (What Sony magazine aka What Hifi ? reputations like that don't come without being earned) while ignoring others. Like you know there's an awesome component out there that you want to read an independent test for but the magazine on the shelf covers 5 products from another company instead. So the magazine stays on the shelf. The best tests back up their opinions with hard numbers.

I think I've learned something from Custom PC and PC Gamer this month, which will definitely go into the bits I'll buy. I'm on leave this week, which would have been the perfect chance to build (and thoroughly test!) a new box. It'll wait a while, because a couple of bits of technology (SSD drive and touchscreen) aren't ready yet. For "ready", read "cheap". My current box just about handles what I throw at it, so I can afford to wait a bit.

The hifi world is another story though. I really don't know where to look for advice on what to get here.

A new hifi is a considerable investment and there's quite a bit of individual taste that goes into appreciating it. Or so say the magazines ... That's not my main beef with the magazines though, it's the snobbery they put into what they write. They'll put "Budget amplifier supertest" on the cover and then ignore all the £150-£200 amps. The price bracket they look at is stupidly high. Yes, I can actually afford £600 for an amp or £800 on a speaker set but that's not because I tend to go for that kind of frivolous spend.

So the hunt for new hifi stuff (the one I have is over 10 years old ...) isn't being informed as much as the hunt for pooter gear. We'll see what turns up. I reckon it'll be a piece of Denon kit, as they're a well trusted make that rarely gives anything other than Excellence. And when they don't know how to make Excellence, they buy it in from people who do. Like rebranding Tannoy or Mission speakers with the Denon name. Good for both companies.

Trouble with Denon though is they're being slow to get their stuff in the shops and people like Onkyo (who dat ?) and Pioneer are beating them to it. So it's tempting to spend the money now instead of waiting for Better.

Will I pay attention to the research when I eventually jump ? Maybe ! But by researching, I'll know more about what I'm getting even if I do compromise.

Oh - I'm on holiday this week, where I intend to do not very much at all :-) Until I get cabin fever (hopefully that'll hit on a sunny day) and then I'll try and resist spending cash on expensive electronic stuff.