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I had an interesting conversation with a coworker at job2. She was excitedly telling me she bought a new 8MP digital camera for $300. When I scowled at her news she asked why. I politely informed her she doesn't need 8MP, unless she's a professional photography.

Yes it's true when taking photos, the more pixels you have the better the quality. But the average point and shoot camera user doesn't need that amount. What're you going to do with all those extra pixels?

I have a 2MP camera. (I never got around to updating my camera.) With 2MP the highest quality print I can print is roughly a 5"x7" print. 8MP will get you bigger than a movie poster print. What average person actually prints their photos from the photo machine, or at home for that matter at that big of a capacity? And so, the manufacturing companies have made profits on the idea that more is better. In reality, it's really unnecessary, further proving that we're a country that likes being overly indulgent.

My next case is the HDTV's. 720p vs 1080p. I've gotten into countless debates with people about this. It's the same concept as the digital cameras. Getting a 32" HDTV with 1080p is POINTLESS. You will never see the difference. NEVER. Just because you have more pixels in a smaller screen doesn't mean it'll increase the quality of the picture. If anything it should make it more fuzzy because there's too much for the screen to handle. But it does sound cooler saying, "I have a 32" HDTV with 1080p", right?

To drive the point even further home, I had a conversation with an honest salesperson (hard to believe, I know) one time, and he even said that regular television won't catch up to the 1080p standard until years later. The only way you'd be able to actually SEE the quality of 1080p is on Blu-Ray.

I stumbled across this article which gives really informative easy-to-understand concepts on the whole HDTV thing. As for the digital camera thing, there really isn't much you can do. These days the market only sells what's the highest available. But given the option you should spring for the clearance items of the lowest #MP camera available.