Markedly different preferences exist between men and women when buying consumer electronics products, according to the latest Personal Tech Radar study from CNET.

While there is agreement on baseline products and features across the most popular consumer electronics product categories, like digital cameras, cell phones, MP3 players, televisions, PDAs and DVD recorders, gender-based selection criteria must be considered when purchasing holiday gifts, the CNET Personal Tech Radar research finds.

Janice Chen, CNET editor-in-chief, notes that the CNET Personal Tech Radar data provide CNET's editorial team with valuable insights on shopper's real-life consumer electronics interests and buying motivations, so they can offer smart product recommendations that let consumers refine their choices.

Personal Tech Radar, based on monthly surveys of CNET's active shoppers, revealed that men prefer the more technical features and applications, while women are more interested in practical features and applications, as shown in the following samples.

Digital Cameras
Women favored the ability to take photos of friends and family (60 percent female vs. 50 percent male) and to capture major family events (47 percent female vs. 41 percent male). They also rated "ease of use" (56 percent female vs. 38 percent male) as a primary criterion for a digital camera, as well as good print quality output (52 percent female vs. 37 percent male).

Men, on the other hand, prefer a more robust camera including zoom lens (58 percent male vs. 52 percent female), an interchangeable lens system (21 percent male vs. 14 percent female) and a professional SLR-style design (19 percent male vs. 10 percent female).

Home Theater
Women want speaker systems so they can enjoy music throughout the house (53 percent female vs. 27 percent male). In addition, unobtrusive design (41 percent female vs. 29 percent male), set-up ease (54 percent female vs. 28 percent male) and comprehensive warranty (31 percent female vs. 13 percent male) are women's top priorities.

Men specify speaker systems with excellent audio quality, even if they have to pay more (39 percent male vs. 28 percent female). In the survey's greatest gender differentials, they prefer powered sub-woofers (33 percent male vs. 7 percent female) and five channel systems (24 percent male vs. 5 percent female).

Personal Tech Radar Methodology

This CNET Personal Tech Radar study drew 8,142 respondents from subscribers to CNET's Digital Dispatch e-mail newsletter. Future data will show trends over time, and new interesting findings from each monthly survey will be highlighted weekly on the CNET home page and the CNET Digital Living Web site.