On the first day of the annual Taipei Digital 3C Exhibition, which kicked off on Friday, crowds were busy checking out the latest technology products and making price comparisons for the best buy.
The show was a reflection of the latest trends in the 3C (computers, communications and consumer electronics) world that consumers can expect in the near future.
"Five megapixels is the mainstream resolution for digital cameras this year. Three and four megapixels are no longer classed as entry-level models," said Tony Sun (孫亞藍), sales manager of Heng Leong Hang Co (恆隆行), a distributor which displayed an eight-megapixel camera from the Japanese manufacturer Ricoh.
It is expected that six megapixels will take the center stage next year, while three megapixels are being phased out and four is turning into the low-end model, he said.
Before consumers decide to splash out on the highest-resolution models, they should understand their exact needs, as a four mega-pixel camera, which can produce a printout of 11 by 17-inch with good clarity, will do just fine for most needs, he said.
Sun's statements are echoed by Christopher Chute, a senior research analyst with International Data Corp (IDC).
"Those models below five megapixels will be withdrawn from the market by 2008 as technologies evolve, five-megapixel models will become low-end cameras available at a cheap price by then," he told a media gathering in Taipei on Sept. 8.
Notebooks, one of the hottest products at most consumer computer and electronics shows, remained so at the Taipei Digital 3C Exhibition.
"As most specifications are similar nowadays, brands and after-sales service have become the most decisive factors when consumers purchase a portable computer," said Henry Wu (吳旻哲), a sales engineer from Three Well Computer Chain Supermarket (三井電腦連鎖超市).
Smart buyers will opt for models with functionality such as a DVD burner, Bluetooth and Centrino wireless technology, as these have become standard for the newest laptops, he said.
A survey released early this month by the Chinese-language PC Shopper (電腦買物王) magazine supported this, as its results revealed that after-sales service are the top concern when consumers make a laptop purchase, while the second concern is the brand.
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), Acer Inc and Hewlett-Packard (HP) Taiwan Ltd, took a combined 71.5 percent of the domestic market for laptop computers in the second quarter of this year, according to statistics provided by IDC.
Another eye-catching product at the venue was a 56-inch rear projection TV from Vivitek Corp (麗訊科技), the largest TV screen displayed at the show.
The TV uses digital light processing (DLP) technology developed by Texas Instruments, and is said to have significantly resolved the problems that plagued previous generations of rear projection screens, including lack of brightness and contrast.
DLP is superior to liquid crystal displays (LCD) as it offers high-quality pictures during its entire life span while LCD screens deteriorate over time, said Gill Chen (陳俐伶), the firm's Pan-Asia regional sales manager.
Though rear projection screens are chunkier than both plasma and LCD panels, their comparatively low price make them ideal for people wanting to recreate the cinema experience in their living room, she said.
Citing current figures, she said that 60-inch plasma TVs on the market currently cost around NT$300,000 to NT$400,000 (US$9,050 to US$12,066) apiece, with the same-size LCD models soaring up to NT$900,000.
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