DSE 5 #1 March 19, 2008 A great explanation of what makes a 100.00 HDMI cable better than a 10.00 HDMI cable. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #2 March 19, 2008 Haha, I thought you might be serious before I clicked the link. Monoprice for the win...www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
parachutist 2 #3 March 19, 2008 Plus some expensive gold-plated RCA cables are marked for directional orientation, claiming the signal flows better one way than the other. You don't get that kind of high tech for $1.99 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 5 #4 March 19, 2008 For the most part, that cartoon *is* serious. I walked into a Best Buy yesterday, and was told by the salesperson that I should _easily_ be able to see the difference between a free HDMI cable and the 79.00 Monster brand cable.A sucker born every second. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zee 0 #5 March 19, 2008 Quote For the most part, that cartoon *is* serious. I walked into a Best Buy yesterday, and was told by the salesperson that I should _easily_ be able to see the difference between a free HDMI cable and the 79.00 Monster brand cable.A sucker born every second. lol. That reminds me of when I went to Best Buy to pick up a cordless phone. I asked the guy if this particular 2.8Ghz phone would interfere with my wireless network. He said "No. Absolutely not. A telephone is a receiver only; it doesn't transmit any signals so it can't interfere with your network" What a complete knob. Action©Sports Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #6 March 19, 2008 I perfer the bent coat hanger for those pesky analog connections. Nothing says built to last like a 12 gague wire. Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 5 #7 March 19, 2008 Quote Quote For the most part, that cartoon *is* serious. I walked into a Best Buy yesterday, and was told by the salesperson that I should _easily_ be able to see the difference between a free HDMI cable and the 79.00 Monster brand cable.A sucker born every second. lol. That reminds me of when I went to Best Buy to pick up a cordless phone. I asked the guy if this particular 2.8Ghz phone would interfere with my wireless network. He said "No. Absolutely not. A telephone is a receiver only; it doesn't transmit any signals so it can't interfere with your network" What a complete knob. Uh...I don't get it. You mean a cordless phone DOES Xmit? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BMFin 0 #8 March 19, 2008 Quote I walked into a Best Buy yesterday, and was told by the salesperson that I should _easily_ be able to see the difference between a free HDMI cable and the 79.00 Monster brand cable.A sucker born every second. 79$ doesnt sound as ruthless as these prices. How about paying 899€ for a one meter digital XLR cable ? Though the best money comes from analog cables: Over 5000€ for a pair of 2 meter speaker cables.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zee 0 #9 March 19, 2008 Quote Uh...I don't get it. You mean a cordless phone DOES Xmit? Not the ones from Best Buy....I think they use ESP Action©Sports Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigway 4 #10 March 19, 2008 Here is a 10m cable for my pc to my Bravia. The courier left it at the door today when i was not home in the front yeard with two 1 year old puppies. Last time he did this it was 5 ink cartidges and they of course got to them as well. Next time it happens i am not complaining to the post office but going to take them to court for cruelty agaiunst animals. This is not the sort of stuff you leave in a dogs playground for them to eat!! .Karnage Krew Gear Store . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racine 0 #11 March 21, 2008 Quote Quote I walked into a Best Buy yesterday, and was told by the salesperson that I should _easily_ be able to see the difference between a free HDMI cable and the 79.00 Monster brand cable.A sucker born every second. 79$ doesnt sound as ruthless as these prices. How about paying 899€ for a one meter digital XLR cable ? Though the best money comes from analog cables: Over 5000€ for a pair of 2 meter speaker cables.. I learned my lesson on analog cables... no more cheapo brand from the grocery store. Not many applications call for more than about a $30 cable even iin analog, tho.Think, then type. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #12 March 23, 2008 I worked at a CompUSA back when I was in high school. Cables were the big ticket items for stores (even more so, if you can believe this, than extended warranties.) It was not uncommon to see 1000% markups. Later in life I interned at Motorola and had the fun and rewarding job of pulling and terminating dozens and dozens of cat5 runs through labs full of test equipment. Based on what they were paying me and the apparent lack of anyone else in the department who actually knew how to put an RJ-45 connector on correctly, I'd say they got those cables at a steal. Today if you want to talk about what I consider "really expensive cables", I could point you to high-speed digital wiring assemblies for spacecraft whose applications are so complex and demanding that designing, building, and testing them costs over a million dollars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilot-one 0 #13 March 24, 2008 QuoteThough the best money comes from analog cables: Over 5000€ for a pair of 2 meter speaker cables.. I myself own very high end hifi audio gear. Believe it or not without the right cables (that happen to cost thousands of dollars) it is impossible to enjoy the sound the gear was made to produce. I'm not so sure about the digital cables though. It seems to me that bytes are bytes. But you never know. A little snake oil can go a long way to make a digital picture look much better.....go figure. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laszloimage 0 #14 March 24, 2008 It's just like the MiniDV tapes for HDV. People bougth them for 3-4 times more money. I've been "warned" to if I want to have the HD quality I have to buy those "HD tapes". Also before putting tags onto HD TVs saying "Full HD" (what a term for 1080p) most of those displays had only 768 lines horizontal. So I asked the guy in the store how can I watch 1080i video on it. His answer was 1080 is interlaced so all I need is 540 lines to watch 1080 content. ...I was thinking these guys would convince the Snow Man the hot water is good for him. Best Buy also charges $150(!!!) to install an ati-virus software and make the updates. I sholuld start to run my own computer store, because actually people buying such a services without a blink. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigway 4 #15 March 24, 2008 Average Joe has to believe someone. 15 years ago it was all so much easier to make a purchase. Now so many options, so much bullshit. I fucking hate to think what it will be like in another 15-20 years. When i walk into an electrics store it is only after spending 10's of hours researching the product. There is no way i will listen to anything a salesman has to say to me. The other day, i had a guy telling me that it does not matter what factory the LCD panels are made in as they are all the same quality. I was talking to him about a $1500 tv. When he said that i told him i will not bother buying it and walked over to the next guy and told him straight away i wanted to buy a tv with the price tag of $4000, the guy did not even need to try and sell it to me, i was buying it. I hope the other guy realises he lost his massive commission because of his bullshit. (i got the tv alot cheaper than the marked price with a 30 day after sale price match and because of that i just got another $500 off what i paid for it yesterday. .Karnage Krew Gear Store . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #16 March 25, 2008 Quote I myself own very high end hifi audio gear. Believe it or not without the right cables (that happen to cost thousands of dollars) it is impossible to enjoy the sound the gear was made to produce. I'm not so sure about the digital cables though. It seems to me that bytes are bytes. But you never know. A little snake oil can go a long way to make a digital picture look much better.....go figure. No one ever told the cables that the signals they were made to carry were digital. That said, yes digital interfaces, particularly at the distances, bandwidths, and data rates associated with A/V equipment are going to be much more robust against signal distortions than are analog interfaces. The main problem I have with all the different cable pedigrees out there is the lack of knowledge / intentional misinformation about what actually makes a cable any better than another one. It's not uncommon to see a cutaway diagram of the cable body proudly displayed on the front of the package with eleventy thousand layers of crap surrounding the conductors, and meanwhile the cable has been folded up inside the package producing kinks all over it and the terminations were swedged on by a machine stamping them out as fast as it could. No one's home theatre / computer set up is under attack by cosmic noise forces conspiring against them that can only be stopped by space age shielding. Cable-related quality losses are introduced by phase and amplitude ripple which are, in turn, caused by discontinuities in the transmission path. (e.g. crappy termination of the connectors and kinks in the cable that distort the geometry of the transmission line) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #17 March 25, 2008 Quote No one's home theatre / computer set up is under attack by cosmic noise forces conspiring against them that can only be stopped by space age shielding. Cable-related quality losses are introduced by phase and amplitude ripple which are, in turn, caused by discontinuities in the transmission path. (e.g. crappy termination of the connectors and kinks in the cable that distort the geometry of the transmission line) Cosmic noise you say?!?! How much money do I need to spend to protect myself from this? (pulls out wallet)www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diablopilot 2 #18 March 25, 2008 Quote Quote No one's home theatre / computer set up is under attack by cosmic noise forces conspiring against them that can only be stopped by space age shielding. Cable-related quality losses are introduced by phase and amplitude ripple which are, in turn, caused by discontinuities in the transmission path. (e.g. crappy termination of the connectors and kinks in the cable that distort the geometry of the transmission line) Cosmic noise you say?!?! How much money do I need to spend to protect myself from this? (pulls out wallet) Well I found the proper protection HERE for $1.49, but you'll have to do some folding.---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Laszloimage 0 #19 March 25, 2008 There was another funny story about 2 weeks ago. I was at Tampa International Mall and stepped in Ritz camera. I tried to be a "dick" a little bit and ask the girl behind the counter which DSLR camera is the best. She pointed to one. Then I asked "why ?" Her answer was "Bacause that is on the top shelf". ...top shelf camera is just like top shelf liquore? Anyway, of course it wasn't the best camera available at the store, but the point of the sale was "Top Shelf" whitout any other available technical information. Also, still you can find Digital8 tapes in stores saying they will provide better colors and auidio on Digital8 cameras vs. regular 8mm video tapes. I guess I don't even have to say the Digital8 is lot more expensive. Is that legal to screw costumer over like this? This is nothing else but intentional missleading (scamming) for higher profit based on taking advantage of the avarege people lack of technical knowledge. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #20 March 25, 2008 Quote Well I found the proper protection HERE for $1.49, but you'll have to do some folding. My brain's worth way more than $1.49. Don't you have a premium version or something?www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #21 March 25, 2008 premium version Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
champu 1 #22 March 26, 2008 Quote premium version 28 mils? what is that going to accomplish? At the very least it also needs 5 mils of silver plating. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bomb420 1 #23 March 26, 2008 Another favorite, but along the same lines, is "starter" ink cartridges for printers and "starter" water filters for refrigerators. Man, I've had sales people tell me up and down that even though the part is the same model number, and in the case of the water filter, no feedback, that they will last a very short period of time. Best Buy is by far the worst about this! They must get it in training somewhere because its across the board. Suprised there has not been a class action lawsuit against them, because it is blatantly wrong! HYPOXIC Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #24 March 26, 2008 Hey, it's titanium - with titanium foil you only need 0.028mm and even that will give you 95 times more protection from cosmic noise than aluminium foil and with Grade 2 titanium you even get protection from super-cosmic noise, which aluminium foil fails to protect you from at all... blah blah blah, [insert meaningless salesman babble-bullshit here]... so you wanna buy some? Buy now and we'll throw in a free cable... it's only 55x the price for soooo much more protection... here look I'll even throw in a mounting diagram ---> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
