HDMI Cable Rip-Off

[David Brent]

A friend of mine recently purchased a new flatscreen television and thought he had made a bargain buy.

That was until the salesman talked him into purchasing HDMI cable for his set at a cost of nearly $200.

The salesman's pitch was that the cable he was selling him was a vastly superior brand and quality.

My friend believed the spiel and not bothering to price check elsewhere made the purchase.



He could not believe it when I told him later that similar quality cable was being sold elsewhere for as little as $30.

Seems some stores are selling televisions at a lower price and then recouping their profit by selling overpriced cables and accessories to unassuming customers.



I have been told by a guy in the trade that he has seen the same HDMI cable being sold to customers as "necessary for your televisions high quality performance" for as much as $500



The lesson is - Beware the salesman's patter and shop around before buying those new television accessories.



Dave.

[lordtednfs]

A similar thing almost happened to me but with a vacuum cleaner. The salesman tried to sell me a brilliant hoover for 550 quid!!!!!!! I asked him to wait while I went to the loo, and checked on the net and found one on sale for just 55 quid. The salesman tried all sorts of different patter but I just showed him the door.



Another lesson - it's always cheaper elsewhere.



_______________

Hooked off the line

[Windthrop]

When I bought my Panasonic lcd last year I found that a HDMI cable was not supplied and bought one from a 'cheapo' shop for under £5. It works fine and I have been since told that there is no discenrable differnece between the cheapest and the most expensive an engineer.

[duffy moon]

Having watched Mr Littlewood a few times during the morning programme 'Don't get done..'on BBC 1 a while back, I now completely brass neck the situation by trying to squeeze as much out of the deal as poss, including cables, (HDMI + SCART, Strereo audio lead and component cable) before I ever agree on a price, which I did for my Panasonic Viera plasma 2 yrs ago.



It worked a treat and I ended up getting a whopping 800 euro off of the average price in other shops, plus all the leads thrown in.



You just have to be ballsy and look for any extras you would need. Same deal with a laptop I purchased, incl bag, extra power pack, optic mouse and screen cleaning cloths.



It has to be done, what have you got to lose? You already have a no if you don't ask.

[cinemal]

One of these gadget shows did a direct comparison with an expensive HDM1 cable and a run-of-the mill job. There wa no difference in the picture quality because,as the technical bod said, it's digital 1's and 0's not prone to analogue problems. the signal either gets there 100% or it doesn't get there at all.(His explanation, not mine)

Cinemal

[narabdela]

Would 1p for an HDMI cable from Amazon suit you? (£2 inclusive of postage)



These are listed under PS3, but they are standard HDMI cables.



[ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/4Gamers-HDMI-Cable-PS3/dp/B000Q7BOUM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1227812033&sr =1-1]HDMI Cable (PS3): Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo[/ame]





(price tends to fluctuate from day to day)

[Andy H]

These salesmen are a menace. When we bought our new HD TV, this guy tried to flog us a £69 HDMI lead 'for top quality'. You know the kind of spiel - 'you've just spent £800 on a superb TV, don't spoil the pictures with a cheap lead'.

I explained to him that I am (or was) in the consumer electronics business - an engineer for 20 years - and that as the signal from the HD set-top box is completely digital, the quality of the HDMI lead makes no difference at all. You could connect it with bell-wire and not make any difference. Companies like 'Monster cables' etc make wild claims about oxygen-free copper and exotic production methods, but the truth is a cheap lead will be just as good.

[Steve Crook]

name='Andy H']These salesmen are a menace. When we bought our new HD TV, this guy tried to flog us a £69 HDMI lead 'for top quality'. You know the kind of spiel - 'you've just spent £800 on a superb TV, don't spoil the pictures with a cheap lead'.

I explained to him that I am (or was) in the consumer electronics business - an engineer for 20 years - and that as the signal from the HD set-top box is completely digital, the quality of the HDMI lead makes no difference at all. You could connect it with bell-wire and not make any difference. Companies like 'Monster cables' etc make wild claims about oxygen-free copper and exotic production methods, but the truth is a cheap lead will be just as good.

If you've got the time to waste it's fun to ask exactly why these cables are necessary - just to see the kind of bullshit they come out with



Steve