With better looking fake tress can you tell the difference? Still hoping I'm not the only one now deciding on this. For those of us late in the game deciding whether to buy a real tree - the good ones are probably all gone already. Where were you, seriously? They've been out since late October. If you're still here, the great Holiday debate remains to be the big "Should I buy a tree this year?" I for one love the smell - except when you leave it an extra month after Christmas and it starts to smell like putrid egg water. Other than that, they're obviously beautiful! Except when they poke you in the eye when you reach down low to get your gift (that looks like Santa really didn't want you to have, as it's pushed strangely near the egg water.) It becomes more of a problem when pine needles fall every four seconds, which gets worse if you leave it for three months like I do and they really become desiccated rotten egg-leaves.