2. OLED TVs

Why you should wait to buy: Cutting-edge OLED technology is untested -- and pricey.

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TV screens are thinner, brighter and more energy-efficient, but "as close to straight-out-of-research as you can get," says Glenn Derene, senior tech editor for Popular Mechanics. (Popular Mechanics is published by Hearst Corp.; SmartMoney.com is a joint venture of Hearst and Dow Jones.) OLED technology uses organic chemicals that emit light, so TVs don't require a backlight like conventional sets. The displays are "absolutely stunningly gorgeous, super-promising," enthuses Derene. "They certainly have a future."

But for right now, the technology is simply too new to assess how it will hold up over time, says Derene. The thin screens are more fragile, while blue pixels wear out faster than other colors. Any color distortion over time is undesirable because it shortens the life of the screen, he says. Although the screens are high resolution, they're not high-definition. And then there's the price. Sony's 11-inch XEL-1 costs a whopping $2,500.

Buying an OLED will make sense a few years down the line. General Electric announced earlier this month that it had developed a plant to produce the flat, flexible screens in a method similar to newspaper printing, where sheets are printed from roll to roll. Although its Niskayuna, N.Y., plant will focus on OLED lighting, it won't take long for the advancements to make production in the consumer-electronics segment cheaper and faster, says Derene.