Diamonds No More.

CBS News

A plasma television is a girl's new best friend, says a U.S. study that found three out of four women would pick a plasma TV over a solitaire diamond necklace.

According to the Women's Watch: Girls Gone Wired survey, women are increasingly passionate about technology. The modern woman prizes cellphones, iPods and digital cameras over fancy shoes, holidays and even the iconic little black dress.

Fifty-six per cent of women said they would opt for a plasma television over a weekend holiday in Florida. Another 86 per cent said they would prefer a new digital video camera to a pair of designer shoes. The iPod narrowly edged out a little black dress.

The survey, which questioned 1,400 women and 700 men aged 15 to 49, found that women were making gains on the technology consumer front, owning on average 6.6 devices. Men maintained a slight lead, having on average 6.9 gadgets.

Four out of every five women in the study reported that they felt comfortable using technology and another 46 per cent said they were confident performing their own computer troubleshooting.

The survey, released Tuesday by market researcher Teenage Research Unlimited for the women's U.S. cable Oxygen network, said that women expected to make more use of digital cameras, cellphones, e-mail, camera phones, text messaging and instant messaging over the next five years.