If you strained this Thanksgiving to hear a child's voice or a conversation across the table, you may be ready for your first hearing aid. "Around the holiday times, people miss things without hearing aids," says Andrew Tewksbury, a retail marketing executive for Starkey, the nation's largest manufacturer of custom hearing aids. No wonder the company ramps up its promotional events every December.

If you're starting to look now for aids, check out our shopping video at right, as well as our comprehensive hearing aid report, including evaluations of features in more than 35 different models. Keep in mind, though, that shopping for a hearing aid isn't like shopping for, say, a pair of glasses. You can't just put on an aid or aids and expect to suddenly hear better.