With the 13th month pay coming in as early as the first week of December, some of you might already be contemplating which tech gizmo to buy. A laptop? A mobile phone? You might want to check out some of the gadgets that I featured in my earlier posts.

But what if you consider getting a digital camera? If you're not ready for a dSLR yet, then a point-and-shoot is perfect for you.

Sure, digital cameras can also capture and record video but in most cases we have to contend with VGA quality (640 x 480 pixels) that is probably only good for YouTube uploads. If you intend to view the videos in your wide screen 42" HDTV then you need a digicam that is also capable of capturing video in Hi Def.

For this purpose, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ15 is my choice. It boasts of a 720p-quality (1,280 x 720-pixel) HD video-recording function. Though there are camera models from Sony and Samsung that are also capable of doing such, what sets this 9.1 megapixel shooter apart is its 10x optical zoom.

For aspiring movie-makers, the HD video feature would probably (and initially) fulfill the need for a separate video camera.