Common home theater buying mistakes

Sometimes buyer's remorse is a valid response to having spent too much money or having made an impulse buy on something frivolous. However, when you've invested a lot of emotional capital into picking up something you know will be just perfect—and then it's not—buyer's remorse can feel like a crushing depression. You feel inadequate, you want to sulk in silence, and most of all you want to return that gear.

I'm here to offer help. No, it's not a twelve-step program for home theater addicts. What's offered here is a list of the most common buying mistakes when looking at HDTV, home theater, or audio gear. I figure I'm uniquely qualified, since I've made every single one of these mistakes.