Ten Things To Buy New and NOT buy new

Last week I ran across two MSN articles outlining the 10 things you should and shouldn't buy new. Flogger likely saw this too as she tends to cruise Lifehacker as well. [Article 1 and Article 2]. Here are the items the author listed with some thoughts added:

Things to buy USED:

1. Books: Only if you are not looking for something in particular
   
2. DVDs: This is a good one...just make sure there are no scratches. Even the second hand ones at the movie store chains are a bit overpriced if you ask me.
   
3. Kid Toys: This is a great one...especially right around the holidays when everyone is clearing out old toys
   
4. Jewelry: Not so sure about this one...I guess that would depend on the level of quality.
   
5. Sports Equipment: Amen. Every spring I see at least 20 weight sets out on the curb at those tag sales.
   
6. Timeshares: Hmmm...not sure.
   
7. Cars: Depends on the deal. Not sure a thousand here or there is worth the potential aggravation but anything over $5K under what you could get on the lot is probably worth the risk.
   
8. Software: As long as it is legit ;-) Many pirate or bogus versions running around.
   
9. Office Furniture: If you are a home office kind of person. Not sure how that mahogany desk would look in the living room ;-)
   
10. Hand tools: Who couldn't use a few more cheap screwdrivers.

Things to buy NEW:

1. Laptops: Maybe. If you can fix/upgrade computers then this may not be true.
   
2. Car Seats: Absolutely - never trust your kids safety to anything less than the best.
   
3. Plasma TV: Makes sense since these are damned $$$ to fix.
   
4. DVD players: These are so cheap...why not buy new. Heck, the same is true for VCR player - yeah we still have VHS rolling around our house for the kiddos.
   
5. Vacuum cleaner: I hate all vacuum cleaners so who cares.
   
6. Camcorder: Camcorder technology is moving so quick that new is almost a requirement...like the Elura-100 :-)
   
7. Shoes: Huh? Do people really buy used shoes?
   
8. Mattress: Gross - is this something we really need to point out? I hesitate to list other things that fall into this category (underwear, toilet paper, toothbrush, etc).
   
9. Wet Suit: Huh? Maybe Jacque Custo cares about this one...but not me.
   
10. Helmet: A repeat of car seat in my mind (go ahead and add things like airbags, Kevlar jacket, pepper spray, fire extinguisher, etc.)

Add your DOs and DON'Ts own in the comment section!