Research before you buy

The next time you plan to buy something (PC, digital camera, TV, etc), don't rely solely on the advice given by the salesperson. After all, it's their job to sell stuff, not to impart knowledge. Instead, get onto the Internet and look for realworld advice from specialist websites, blogs and forums (if you don't know where to start, just type in the product name in Google or any other online search engine). And if you're really careful, you can even find out about potential problems with the products — simply type the product's name followed by the words "problem," "faulty" or "not working" in any online search engine to find user discussion groups or official knowledge-based websites.