HDMI rape by cable. It is happening daily to millions of uninformed consumers.

[Overmind One]

I just had to post this because it is just so exceptionally greedy it defies understanding. First, let me show you what I am talking about...the ubiquitous HDMI cable:

These cables are used to create a single cable connection between a computer and a digital television, or to carry the signal from a tablet to a monitor, or a number of other AV connections. Newer HDMI cables also have the ability to transmit Erthernet connections up to 100mbs. This is what Best Buy charges for them:

These are NOT typos. Here is the page:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemapper.jsp;jsessionid=AD1CE735DC3A302640ECCB9CE34F2E91.bbolsp-app02-163?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=7875479612079982675&id=abcat0107020&type=category&usc=abcat0100000&cp=1&sp=-currentprice skuid&nrp=15&qp=crootcategoryid##-1##-1~~q70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d30312d3031~~cabcat0100000##0##u8~~cabcat0107000##0##bt~~cabcat0107003##0##bi~~cabcat0107015##0##7m~~cabcat0107016##0##2v~~ncabcat0107020##0##1f&add_to_pkg=false&pagetype=listing&gf=y

Note, the center cable is 3'3". The top one is 52'5". So what is so silly here? These cables are marked up more than ONE THOUSAND PERCENT. Much more. And note the sad 5-star review given for the 50' one. . This cable goes for less than $60 on Amazon, and you get 60':

http://www.amazon.com/OSD-Audio-OSD-HDMI-60ft-Value-V14-Ethernet-60-feet/dp/B004Y8MHSW

People actually buy these cables...enough for them to sell out of them. The Magnolia guys are masters at selling these at "reduced prices" as long as you buy a large screen TV as well. They will sell you similarly marked up "earthquake mounts", mounting brackets and especially HDMI cables.

And people buy them because they dont know any better. The fact is that digital devices only need to get the signal at the minimum levels to transmit the data. Digital is either complete or incomplete and there is no factoring in of degradation like for analog. One achieves nothing by using gold to tip the connectors or using anything other than standard insulation to shield the cable. The uber super duper expensive cables at Best Buy are shielded in rubber like any other HDMI cable. There are literally hundreds of sources to find these HDMI cables, and none of them will come close to what Best Buy and some other retailers sell them for at ridiculously marked up prices.

But people buy them because they are not that sharp. but people don't like being ripped off. Once they know they have been ripped off, they may never buy anything from the store in question again. Perhaps this is why large retailers are on the ropes in this economy? Online is king in the 21st Century.

 

[Joelist]

If you look up the same manufacturer on Amazon the cables are a princely $1888.75

http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-Vo...id=1365668454&sr=1-1&keywords=audioquest+hdmi

So it isn't just Best Buy - it's Audio Quest that markets their cables as the best of the best and charges a massive premium. In fact, Best Buy has HDMI 50 footers from other makers in the $60 range also.

 

[Bluce Ree]

There's an electronics store around the corner from here. HDMI starts at $7.

You can find HDMI cables cheap just about anywhere except most American retail electronic chains.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240

 

[Gatefan1976]

there is a "2 dollar shop" near me that sells HDMI 3ft cable for 7 bucks.

 

[Overmind One]

If you look up the same manufacturer on Amazon the cables are a princely $1888.75

http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-Vodka-HDMI-Cable-16M/dp/B009RUS1JQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1365668454&sr=1-1&keywords=audioquest hdmi

So it isn't just Best Buy - it's Audio Quest that markets their cables as the best of the best and charges a massive premium. In fact, Best Buy has HDMI 50 footers from other makers in the $60 range also.

Second to the last paragraph in my OP says "retailers". I just singled out Best Buy because they are what triggered this thread. I know there are lots of retailers cashing in on the HDMI cables.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Second to the last paragraph in my OP says "retailers". I just singled out Best Buy because they are what triggered this thread. I know there are lots of retailers cashing in on the HDMI cables.

So, is the point of this to say "brick's and mortar" "speciality retail" is a dying breed?

 

[Overmind One]

So, is the point of this to say "brick's and mortar" "speciality retail" is a dying breed?

Its the LARGE retailers who are doing this. Not the brick and mortar shops. The manufacturers of these pricey cables work with home theater retailers to sell their overpriced cables in a bundle. The ripoff happens when you ask why it is so expensive and the salesperson will go into how the cable is "special" and allows a cleaner signal etc.

 

[shavedape]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I think about the HDMI cable scams out there. It's mind blowing. Sadly, I know people who are stupid enough to fall for such scams. They always have to have the "best" when it comes to electronics, which is just code for wanting to flaunt how much money they (think) they have. No amount of explaining seems to sink in with status whores like this.

I once spent a huge chunk of time trying to explain to an acquaintance of mine that there is no difference in terms of the data that HDMI cables carry. They convey digital data, 0's and 1's. It's not like an "analog" signal that can be degraded; with HDMI cables either the 0's and 1's get thru or they don't. Having gold plated cables does nothing to "enhance" the resolution or clarity; the picture is either there or it's not, period. So a cheap HDMI cable does exactly the same thing as an expensive one in terms of function.

As it is I bought a couple of HDMI cables online about 2 years ago for $2 a piece with free shipping. They work great and I've had no problems with them.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Its the LARGE retailers who are doing this. Not the brick and mortar shops. The manufacturers of these pricey cables work with home theater retailers to sell their overpriced cables in a bundle. The ripoff happens when you ask why it is so expensive and the salesperson will go into how the cable is "special" and allows a cleaner signal etc.

Is scratching head now............

 

[Overmind One]

Is scratching head now............

Best Buy is an example of a chain retailer who also sells home theater systems and large screen TVs. Online shops and 99c stores are examples of brick and mortar, right? Correct me...

 

[Gatefan1976]

Best Buy is an example of a chain retailer who also sells home theater systems and large screen TVs. Online shops and 99c stores are examples of brick and mortar, right? Correct me...

Brick and mortar= real physical store, be it a massive chain or a little corner shop.

 

[Overmind One]

Brick and mortar= real physical store, be it a massive chain or a little corner shop.

Ah...okay I was misunderstanding that term. The real physical stores (especially the large chain stores) are the most guilty of this rape. Best Buy is an easy example because they also have an online component. But the little local market has them hanging on hooks for about $7.00 or even less. There are a few graphics card manufacturers which include one cable free in the box. At Best Buy, the sale of these uber expensive cables are facilitated by the Magnolia salespeople (Magnolia is the home theater retailer operating within Best Buy). Funny, they were doing this same thing with S-Video cables but the prices were not marked up quite this high.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Well, that's the "catch-22" with new tech, it cost ALOT to design and make, but once you know how to do it, it's relatively piss easy. Either the R&D teams have to take a hit in pay, or the "must have it now" consumer pays more. Of course, salespeople playing to the ignorance of people does not help either.

 

[Overmind One]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I think about the HDMI cable scams out there. It's mind blowing. Sadly, I know people who are stupid enough to fall for such scams. They always have to have the "best" when it comes to electronics, which is just code for wanting to flaunt how much money they (think) they have. No amount of explaining seems to sink in with status whores like this.

I once spent a huge chunk of time trying to explain to an acquaintance of mine that there is no difference in terms of the data that HDMI cables carry. They convey digital data, 0's and 1's. It's not like an "analog" signal that can be degraded; with HDMI cables either the 0's and 1's get thru or they don't. Having gold plated cables does nothing to "enhance" the resolution or clarity; the picture is either there or it's not, period. So a cheap HDMI cable does exactly the same thing as an expensive one in terms of function.

As it is I bought a couple of HDMI cables online about 2 years ago for $2 a piece with free shipping. They work great and I've had no problems with them.

Bolded = BINGO. In the analog days, signal degradation was a factor to some extent. Not so much for a home but definitely in a commercial building or for long runs of cables. There were "signal boosters" and amplifiers, and the presence of gold on the contacts or shielding in the cable could measurably be seen as better. But in digital everything has changed. Its all 1s and 0s.

 

[Bluce Ree]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I think about the HDMI cable scams out there. It's mind blowing. Sadly, I know people who are stupid enough to fall for such scams. They always have to have the "best" when it comes to electronics, which is just code for wanting to flaunt how much money they (think) they have. No amount of explaining seems to sink in with status whores like this.

I once spent a huge chunk of time trying to explain to an acquaintance of mine that there is no difference in terms of the data that HDMI cables carry. They convey digital data, 0's and 1's. It's not like an "analog" signal that can be degraded; with HDMI cables either the 0's and 1's get thru or they don't. Having gold plated cables does nothing to "enhance" the resolution or clarity; the picture is either there or it's not, period. So a cheap HDMI cable does exactly the same thing as an expensive one in terms of function.

As it is I bought a couple of HDMI cables online about 2 years ago for $2 a piece with free shipping. They work great and I've had no problems with them.

Conductive components can increase speed, though. Depending on how much data flows through, especially with very high resolution TVs that also carry HD sound, the throughput speed will make a difference. I had to get a better quality HDMI cable for my PS3 because my TV would simply go blank periodically. A better cable only cost me $9 online though.

 

[shavedape]

Conductive components can increase speed, though. Depending on how much data flows through, especially with very high resolution TVs that also carry HD sound, the throughput speed will make a difference. I had to get a better quality HDMI cable for my PS3 because my TV would simply go blank periodically. A better cable only cost me $9 online though.

Oh I'm not disputing what you say about speed, rather my comments are directed at the quality of screen resolution and audio quality. This seems to be a selling point for proponents of high priced HDMI cables. They try to claim that there's an actual difference in quality due to degradation of the signal from point A to point B (I've actually heard this argument), but that's impossible in terms of how the data is transmitted. The 0's and 1's either make it to the destination or they do not as evinced by your example of your TV going blank. It's safe to assume your picture didn't go fuzzy nor did the clarity of the screen seem foggy or grainy like you'd see with an old video tape. Sure you can get that pixilated look when it locks up, but that proves my point -- either the data makes it to the device or it does not.

As for the speed issue, the fact is that we've both found inexpensive HDMI cables that work perfectly fine, which again proves the point that there's no need to spend tons of money on HDMI cables to improve some imaginary difference in quality.

In other words: the cake is a lie.

 

[Overmind One]

Oh I'm not disputing what you say about speed, rather my comments are directed at the quality of screen resolution and audio quality. This seems to be a selling point for proponents of high priced HDMI cables. They try to claim that there's an actual difference in quality due to degradation of the signal from point A to point B (I've actually heard this argument), but that's impossible in terms of how the data is transmitted. The 0's and 1's either make it to the destination or they do not as evinced by your example of your TV going blank. It's safe to assume your picture didn't go fuzzy nor did the clarity of the screen seem foggy or grainy like you'd see with an old video tape. Sure you can get that pixilated look when it locks up, but that proves my point -- either the data makes it to the device or it does not.

As for the speed issue, the fact is that we've both found inexpensive HDMI cables that work perfectly fine, which again proves the point that there's no need to spend tons of money on HDMI cables to improve some imaginary difference in quality.

In other words: the cake is a lie.

Exactly correct.

 

[shavedape]

Exactly correct.

As usual we're right and Bluce is wrong. You'd think we would have learned not to even try by now.

 

[Overmind One]

As usual we're right and Bluce is wrong. You'd think we would have learned not to even try by now.

Well, not "as usual". But he would be wrong if he claimed that the strength of the signal (above bare minimum standard) had any bearing whatsoever on the digital data being carried. The data is either readable or it is not. Black and white. 1s and 0s.

 

[shavedape]

Well, not "as usual". But he would be wrong if he claimed that the strength of the signal (above bare minimum standard) had any bearing whatsoever on the digital data being carried. The data is either readable or it is not. Black and white. 1s and 0s.

He's no doubt trying to justify spending $1000 on HDMI cables, but like I try to tell him, when you're Romney rich you don't have to justify anything to anyone.