Going to a retail store for consumer electronics purchases can be both exciting and frustrating. After working at Best Buy for two years, I have a few opinions to share that you might want to consider before your next shopping trip.
1. We have no formal training in the field of consumer electronics.
Upon transferring to the computer department from home theater, I expressed concern to the manager: "Will there be time for someone to train me on laptops/desktops? What do these specifications mean?" His reply was simple: "Just do your best. A good salesperson can just read the labels and compare specs." Ouch.
Salespeople are not necessarily experts in the products sold in their departments, even if they are expert salespeople. Though many express a strong interest in the products they sell, your time spent at a retail store fishing for information about a future TV purchase could be better spent online researching the products yourself (I heard CNET has pretty great reviews).
"You need those HDMI cables, you know you do."
(Credit: Amazon) 2. We make little off the big-ticket items, so we smother you with accessories.
Remember the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? Well, if you tell a salesman you're going to buy a TV, he's going to want to sell you a DVD player to go with it. Once he sells you the DVD player, he's going to want to get you to buy an HDMI cable, too.
Managers at Best Buy (and possibly all retailers) tell employees that the store profits surprisingly little from video game consoles and computers. Cables, accessories, mice, and other components, however, have a huge profit margin-- stores can make about $120 from a $150 Monster HDMI cable. Angry yet? The point is, we're going to work really hard to convince you to purchase that big item, but once you've said "OK" you've opened Pandora's Box.
Here's my advice: Grab the big item, and run. Purchase all accessories online, including memory cards, cables, traveling cases, and so on. Amazon, Monoprice, and Newegg are all reputable discount Web sites. You'll find what you need at a much lower price.
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CNET's Jeff Bakalar has dreamt of this day since he got his new MacBook.
(Credit: Monoprice)Are you a new MacBook owner getting frustrated with Apple for not yet releasing a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter? Sure we all are. Well, maybe some of us.
I mean, you could shell out $900 for the Apple "I only use Mini DisplayPort" (not an actual quote from the monitor) LED Cinema Display, but seriously, unless you're an AIG exec, who has that kinda scratch these days?
Anyway, Apple has yet to release an official adapter that would allow you to connect your pretty little MacBook to an HDMI-based external display. Thank goodness then for the free market.
Monoprice to the rescue. The company recently made available the answer to all your problems--a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter for only $14.25.
Yay!....what? Oh, the display you wanted to connect to your MacBook doesn't have an HDMI connection? No problem, 'cause BAM! Monoprice has a Mini DisplayPort to DVI and Mini DisplayPort to VGA for $15.20 and $18.85 respectively.
Apple offers its own versions of those last two adapters, but is currently charging $29 for them.
Doesn't this sound familiar? Denon is selling an "ultra premium" $500 Ethernet cable (the AK-DL1), for the audio sucker, I mean, enthusiast, reminding us all of Pear Audio's $7,250 cable from not long ago. Officially, the AK-DL1 is a Denon Link cable--a proprietary audio connection used between Denon products--but any Cat6 Ethernet cable will do. So why should I drop $500 on a Cat6 cable with "high purity copper?"
You shouldn't. Copper is copper, and like with any digital connection (HDMI or Ethernet), you either have a high-quality connection or you don't. Think of it like a on or off light switch. This isn't like the ol' analog days, where high-end cable may have meant something.
Be sure to check out CNET's Quick Guide to HDMI Cables for a further explanation. Looking at Monoprice.com, the same "high quality" Ethernet cables run for 22 cents a foot vs $100 for Denon's cable. Take your cash and put into a better television or AV receiver, unless you're the guy who has money to burn and already has the Pear Audio cable.
Source: PC Pro via Pocket-lint
Cable for Life: The futureproof guarantee
(Credit: Monster Cable)Monster Cable today announced a new upgrade program intended to guarantee forward-compatibility for the company's high-end HDMI cables. Beginning in mid-September, Monster's Home Theater Ultra 1000, M Series M1000HD and 1000HD cable lines will be emblazoned with the new "Cable for Life" logo. Monster is pledging to replace said cables, free of charge, when and if future products eventually appear that make use of higher bandwidth HDMI connections. For instance, current 1080p video streams max out at 8-bit color and 60Hz frame rate, which require about 4.46 gigabits per second of data bandwidth, but Monster is anticipating 12-bit, 120Hz 1080p video streams a few years down the road, which will require more than three times the throughput capacity. So the HDMI output on a 120Hz-capable Blu-ray player that hits the market in, say, 2010 may exceed the current bandwidth capacity of existing cables--and if you've got one of Monster's "lifers," you can swap up to a new one at that time. (Note that the "Cable for Life" guarantee is separate from the lifetime warranty found on many Monster Cables.)
To be sure, the Cables for Life guarantee sounds great--but is it worth it?
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