I grew up w/ the fake tree thing,I swoar I would go with only real in my own place.
Well the wife & I went w/ real trees for 4 yrs.we were lucky,a friend of ours owned a tree farm so the trees only cost a 12 pak
Our house had forced hot air for heating w/ no humidifier,so once that poor tree got in our house it was needleless in about 2 weeks, not to mention a fire hazard
,it looked nice but what a mess.So we've been faking it for 8yrs.
Now that we bought a newer,bigger & better house (with forced hot water) I'll bet next year we will go back to the real thing
I think real is the true way to go plus it smells good too.
If you have the choice in the matter I'd go w/ real.