What NOT to buy for Christmas Gifts

[Bluez]

Sony PlayStation 3

It's all fun and games until the battery dies. Unlike its competitors, which use replaceable AA batteries, the PS3's remote control is glued shut. When the battery goes, Sony customers have to blow $55 on a new controller. Sony says there's an "environmental benefit" since gamers don't have to toss their batteries on a regular basis, but Isidor Buchmann, president of battery-equipment maker Cadex Electronics, says captive batteries are becoming common because it's cheaper for companies to eliminate the battery housing and hatch.

(more here link...)

Good enough reason to stick with XBox

[Jonboy]

Don't buy a Blackberry Curve 8520 for a loved one IF IT'S on VODACOM!

Apparently the BIS on Vodacom is so bad that users are demanding refunds. More here.

Got the same thing on MTN and have vastly superior service.

[Prime]

Just hack the remote and put in a charging plug (or coil) and NIMH's

As for the others:

Whirlpool: You get what you pay for

Villaware: Crappy Waffle Iron? Our Bosch Waffle iron is 25 years old and is still going

Panasonic: I am detecting a trend here. First DRM in shuffle earphones, now DRM in batteries.

Vizio: Asus has the same policy locally. If you buy an Asus Laptop or other similar Asus Product and it has to go in, it gets shipped up to Joburg. The only thing the dealers can do is pretty much format and reinstall and maybe minor upgrades.

[KALSTER]

Best presents for me: cash or gift certificates.

[DeathStrike]

Best presents for me: cash or gift certificates.

+1

[hamin_aus]

I have a rule for giving xmas presents:

If you are over 12 you don't get any from me.

[Ryan_Cooper]

my rule ...If you not one of my kids or my wife you get Nothing, maybe a card if you lucky

[Anakha56]

Give the gift that that shows you carer.

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv ... p_smear_ad

CBS’ pap smear gift PSA has versions for Christmas, Hanukkah, which says “schmear”
related news »
by Andy Dehnart / December 7, 2009, 7:10 PM

Perhaps the most awesomely unexpectedly entertaining part of The Amazing Race 15’s finale last night was a PSA that aired during one of the commercial breaks. It’s so random and amusing, if not a little jarring, that I thought it was a parody at first:

Yes, CBS wants you to give a pap smear as a present. The best part is that there’s also a generic holiday version (though with a Santa reference), and one targeted toward Jewish viewers that is the most fun of all, as it has both double-entendre and a reference to a “schmear”:

CBS senior VP Matthew Margo, who created the PSAs, wrote on the web site for CBS Cares, where you can watch all of the different versions, about where the idea came from: dinner (“I was waiting for my appetizer when I overheard two women diners talking about pap smears”).

Margo told the New York Daily News that “The menorah can mean different things to different people. It’s just a menorah, not a flamethrower. We exercised a lot of restraint.” He also said “If your main objective is to offend no one, than you’re on a fast track to being irrelevant. In the case of Pap smears, we knew in order to communicate more effectively, there was a possibility that some viewers — and it’s a real minority — might be offended.”

I can’t imagine who’d be offended by it, but they’re probably the same people who lead CBS to blur out crotches on reality shows. Medical advice and associated jokes about crotches: okay. Actual visible crotches: not okay.

There are vids on the page .

[MK4 GTI 20VT]

If you don't what to get me for xmas then don't buy anything.

I hate getting useless gifts.

Money is the best present.

[M1ke]

Agreed.

Some people say that giving money is a lazy man's form of an Xmas present - at least make the effort to go buy a Gift Card.

I disagree. Giving people money isn't lazy, it's damn smart. It never expires, can be spent anywhere and smells good.

[StarBound]

Money is too impersonal. But something that has become a trend is already made gift cards. A piece of black carton paper with merry christmas written in some metalic ink looks low budget but is far more unique and thoughtfull than a card printed by happy chappies.

[RiaX]

Best presents for me: cash or gift certificates.

+1

[Prime]

Money is too impersonal. But something that has become a trend is already made gift cards. A piece of black carton paper with merry christmas written in some metalic ink looks low budget but is far more unique and thoughtfull than a card printed by happy chappies.

Its about as personal it it gets. The Person gets to buy what they want which is far more personal than any gift card or voucher

[doo_much]

Want a REALLY personal gift?

How about a divorce voucher?

In an unusual take on the season of giving, a London law firm is offering Christmas gift vouchers for divorce advice.

The firm, Lloyd Platt & Company, which normally charges 325 pounds ($530) an hour, said it had been swamped with enquiries since it launched the vouchers early last week.

So far, more than 60 have been sold -- a snip at 125 pounds for a half hour session with a divorce lawyer.

The firm's founder, Vanessa Lloyd Platt, said she had been amazed at the response to the vouchers. "They seem to appeal to an enormously widespread spectrum of people looking for that 'must have' gift for Christmas," she said.

A spokesman for the Church of England called the vouchers sad.

I for once find myself agreeing with the Church of England....

[Anakha56]

I see it as innovative marketing . Think about it the LPC will now be known as the law firm that cares .

Thanks for the laugh doo .

[Prime]

and this is why I think lawyers are spineless and gutless individuals.

[doo_much]

No all lawyers are bad people...

I've met al least one that believed in what she was doing and didn't see it as a means of getting rich.

[HuNtingGoof]

No blowup dolls or chocolate body paint..

Got enough from Anakha thank you!!

[hamin_aus]

I've met al least one that believed in what she was doing and didn't see it as a means of getting rich.

Exceptions that prove the rule.

[Anakha56]

No blowup dolls or chocolate body paint..

Got enough from Anakha thank you!!

ROFL *cough cough* Last I recall your sister wanted to try the paint..

[doo_much]

I've met al least one that believed in what she was doing and didn't see it as a means of getting rich.

Exceptions that prove the rule.

Egads! And I though I was a cynic...

[Prime]

Do not buy rusty a gun, or anything sharp - you might get stabbed in the eye!

Oh and dae and cap will be delighted to receive Christmas trees!

[c0d3r]

I'll be happy with a case of Creme Soda, a pack of pink fizzers and a whole box of old books. Any books.

[doo_much]

I dropped two boxes of old Reader's Digest Condensed books, all my Terry Pratchett paperbacks and an assortment of other books at my local library on Friday.

If I'd known you'd be interested...

[Stuart]

Pretty big correction to the original post. Reporting at its very best.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the controller for the Sony Playstation 3 is glued shut; it's screwed shut, but the manufacturer recommends never removing the screws and never removing the battery until disposing of the controller and recycling the battery. The article also didn't specify that the battery in question is rechargeable.