5 things to watch out for when buying electronics

[qwertyaccount 15793]

Some audiophiles also swear by gold plated $300 USB cables - there's one born every minute!

[1iceman1 331]

You can get some HDMI cables at pretty good price at http://www.monoprice.com which is located in California. They will send them via Canada Post to your location.

 

Several years ago I ordered six HDMI cables for $2.68 each. Higher number of HDMI cables will reduce the price on each cable.

[cinelli 22184]

HDMI is a system, not really just a cable. It has an integrated error correction function. The quality of the wire, gold plating etc is irrelevant.

HDMI cables either work or don't work. There is no such thing as a better or worse one.

The whole Monster Cable scam drives me nuts. Like the other poster I see friends getting scammed by salepeople all the time.

One of my friends was a manager at a Future Shop and said they could have zero margin on their TVs because they make all their money on cables and the other notorious scam: the extended warranty.

[backrubman 64800]

...and the other notorious scam: the extended warranty.

 

In the case of Future Shop I agree that extended warranties are a scam with one exception. I bought a big screen TV and these things have a history of power supply problems and other types of early failures. So when the power supply did actually die they came in a van the same day, replaced the set with a loaner, packaged it up and shipped it for repair and then came back to re-install it when it was fixed - no charge. I wasn't willing to keep the box it came in around and it made the whole break down totally hassle free. Also at the time I bought it they were offering a free delivery and installation promotion which was also nice as I don't own a truck or a van.

 

For what it cost me it was well worth it for this level of no hassle service.