HDMI cables from bricks and mortar shop

Neilw

Hi all,

I'm getting a new tv and need to pick up some hdmi cables before next Thur. I never got round to ordering on-line so need to get them in a shop in Dublin.

Can anyone recommend a place that sells decent cables? The sales man was trying to sell me some €100 monster cables, he told me they are the only ones that will work for "full hd" :rolleyes:

Budget is €15-20 per cable.

Thanks,
Neil.

Klingon Hamlet

Neilw wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm getting a new tv and need to pick up some hdmi cables before next Thur. I never got round to ordering on-line so need to get them in a shop in Dublin.

Can anyone recommend a place that sells decent cables? The sales man was trying to sell me some €100 monster cables, he told me they are the only ones that will work for "full hd" :rolleyes:

Budget is €15-20 per cable.

Thanks,
Neil.

That's cos Monster Cables provide retailers with 50% margin or more (especially with those ridiculous surge protected sockets for 200e plus).

I got a 1m HDMI from Power City for €8. It's a cheap brand but a good make. Anyone will tell you---HDMI is the same across the board. Like USB or any other cable that transmits digitally. (The fact that salespeople claim only some cables handle FULL HD is totally out of order! The retailer should be reported! Was it Currys?)

DonJose

Looked at the same ones in Hardly Normal, €100!!! Walked down the road to Woodies/Atlantic Homecare, I got a 1.2m for €14.99.

Klingon Hamlet

DonJose wrote: »

Looked at the same ones in Hardly Normal, €100!!! Walked down the road to Woodies/Atlantic Homecare, I got a 1.2m for €14.99.

I read the back of Monster packaging: they make claims that the higher the pricetag, the higher the available bandwidth. Then they use this lie to perpetrate another: that the highest priced cables have the highest bandwidth which means only they can sustain a 1080p signal consistently.

Er, no.

God love anyone who fell for it. Which could be alot of people. Spend a grand or more ona telly and Blu-Ray etc...and a seemingly well-versed salesperson can convince you that you need to spend another hundred to get your moneys worth. The b$stards :rolleyes:

crosstownk

I got a HDMI cable in Power City for €20 - it does the job just grand. I can understand some of the reasoning behind high-end analogue cables but with digital I'm not sure if quality is as critical on short cables. I'm sure there are some advocates of quality digital cables who will disagree. But that's my 2c.

Zonda999

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055196511&highlight=hdmi

Just one of the threads discussing hdmi cables before on boards. Don't pay more than 10€ for a cable in a shop!

Neilw

Thanks guys, much appreciated

I won't be spending €100 euro's on a cable.

HappyHarry

I got a 1m Wharfdale cable there for €7.50, very happy with that.

Be aware that not all cables are capable of 1080p - Avoid the Tesco 'value' cable if you are planning on using 1080p.

BopNiblets

They have cables for £0.01 on Amazon so all you pay for is shipping to Ireland, just find a cheap delivery seller, got a 1.8M one with gold connectors just there.

Neilw

BopNiblets wrote: »

They have cables for £0.01 on Amazon so all you pay for is shipping to Ireland, just find a cheap delivery seller, got a 1.8M one with gold connectors just there.

I ended up ordering from dealextreme, got 4x hdmi's and 2 optical's. Have a loan of a single hdmi to do me till the others arrive, can't be without blueray on my new panny g10 plasma

coylemj

Unlike analog, there is no quality issue with digital data, it either arrives intact at the other end or it doesn't and unlike TCP/IP (your network at work), with TV there is no such thing as a 'retry' so what you see on the TV is what the cable is transmitting. Start with the cheapest HDMI cable you can buy (within reason obviously), if that doesn't work then step up a notch but the BS propagated by Monster and their proxy salespeople in the AV stores is nothing short of theft.

I suppose with the extended warranty scam now completely exposed and with stiff competition from the internet the bricks and mortar retailers have to fall back on some new trick but people just need to be wary of the last minute 'gotcha' when your guard is down and you can't wait to get your new piece of kit home. Caveat Emptor.

slowlydownwards

Good man Neilw, you dodged the bullet. The internet is full of mad/scary stories related to "monster". Here's a little sample, have yourself a good laugh.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/03/do-coat-hangers-soun.html

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/23/monster-hdmi-difference-scam-still-kickin-in-frys-electronic/

Neilw

slowlydownwards wrote: »

Good man Neilw, you dodged the bullet. The internet is full of mad/scary stories related to "monster". Here's a little sample, have yourself a good laugh.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/03/do-coat-hangers-soun.html

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/23/monster-hdmi-difference-scam-still-kickin-in-frys-electronic/

LOL, the monster difference scam, thats well dodgy!

Yeah dodged the bullet alright, well I knew 100euro cables were a marketing ploy. I asked the sales man in the shop to throw in a cheap hdmi cable with my tv, I was told I wouldn't get "full hd" with a cheap cable :rolleyes: he said I'll sell you a monster premium cable for 80 euro's....I told him I'd pick one up myself

viperirl

to make things even more confusing for customers I had a quick glance through that sh*t rag mag 'What HiFi' last weekend and they had a review of cheap HDMI cables ranging from a around a quid up to 30 sterling. No surprises that they awarded all these cables around 1 or 2 stars out of 5. Some of the reasons why they came up with the ratings where laughable. "poorer picture, faster motion with an expensive cable, better sound, etc etc". Unbelievable.

As for the salesmen in the shops, sometimes I wonder if they are blatantly ripping off customers or if they themselves dont actually have a clue.

dotzy

those monster ones arnt worth €100 but do spend a few bob on a decent one...gold plated at least

Neilw

dotzy wrote: »

those monster ones arnt worth €100 but do spend a few bob on a decent one...gold plated at least

I did, bought 2m gold plated hdmi 1.3's from deal extreme. $17 each delivered, they should be fine

dotzy

Neilw wrote: »

I did, bought 2m gold plated hdmi 1.3's from deal extreme. $17 each delivered, they should be fine

thats the jobba jobba

coylemj

It's bad enough when people get conned into paying through the nose for 'superior' AV cables, read this BS from an Irish audio forum (not on boards) and take note that this moron is talking about power cables....

These superb <snip> cables are what real high quality cables are all about - Letting you hear your system and the music. Nothing more. Nothing less. Ive had my equipment in standby mode since tuesday morning with these new mains cables connected and probably had music playing for 20 hours so allowing proper current to flow through the cables to run them in.

There's one born every minute! Now forgive me for blowing my trumpet but I did honours physics in the Leaving and the above is scientific heresy, nothing more, nothing less.

Idleater

coylemj wrote: »

There's one born every minute! Now forgive me for blowing my trumpet but I did honours physics in the Leaving and the above is scientific heresy, nothing more, nothing less.

Did you do anything about energy transfer between different materials on the Leaving Cert?

Poor Mr Ohm....

Slaphead07

coylemj wrote: »

There's one born every minute! Now forgive me for blowing my trumpet but I did honours physics in the Leaving and the above is scientific heresy, nothing more, nothing less.

You can put your trumpet away son. The post you quoted is about listening to music not multi-meters. By all means post such opinions on a science forum but those of us who have been involved in high-end hifi for a while are fully aware of the effects of poor mains on a system. We're generally (but not all) disinterested in the science of it and trust our ears.

The Ritz

Mod Comment:

@coylemj,

Nothing sponsors as much heated and pointless debate on hifi/audio/home entertainment/whatever forums as the topic of cables. It's bad enough without folk digging up what they consider to be controversial statements elsewhere and displaying them here.

If you disagree with a statement made elsewhere, then by all means make your view known there, not here.

Some people choose and buy their cables based on what their ears tell them and some folk believe that science tells them they shouldn't hear any difference and they don't hear a difference.

@Nereid and Slaphead07, thanks.

@anyone else - I hope to have a general purpose Cables post available shortly, after which questions on cables will be pointed at the standard advice and any trolling or fecking about on the subject will be dealt with summarily.

I'm locking this in case anyone else tries to do themselves some damage.


Ritz.