Help me with my intake decision!

I am new to the forum and this is the first time I have had a car worth customizing, so I am also new to customizing. One of the first mods I want to do is an intake. I have a few questions. Which is better, cold air intake or short ram intake. I was going to go with cold air but all of this talk about Hydrolock is scaring the crap out of me? Which has the better hp gain? Better brand, Injen or AEM?

Many people will say neither brand is better because it is cheaper and just as good (performance wise) to go with a no-name ebay tube and get a brand name filter to go w/ it (such as a AEM Dryflow filter).  As for SRI vs. CAI, it is usually a matter of preference, unless you live in a very wet area where you are always driving through tons of deep puddles. but if you have one season of rain (like i do in cali), it wont kill you. i survived my first rain season with my CAI, so i wouldnt be to worried about hydrolock. and  if you really want a CAI but you live in a wet area, just get a bipass valve.

Wow... that was incredibly fast and answered my question to the fullest. Thanks for the help bro and ... thanks for saving me some money! :P

also to help in your decision, with a sri you gain dont gain that much hp compared to the cai, but you wont lose low end torque like cai. So to sum up:
sri: low hp gains, but low end torque
cai: gains hp, lose low end torque

sri actually performs better...
 
but this is when dyno tested.
 
they put a fan blowing into the intake and the sri actually performed better.
 
note, sri also gives you more throttle response but.. it is inside the engine bay and
 
say hello to heatsoak :)
 

nate:  heat shields can negate heat soak ..... Injen