Gouging for Dollars
Have you seen how much certain electronic superstores are charging for HDMI cables? A “Monster” 4-foot HDMI cable goes for upwards of $150! And it’s just a cable!
We bought ourselves a flatscreen TV in October (our CRT was on its last legs) and I found myself in the market for an HDMI cable. Fortunately, I was able to pick up a 6 foot cable for $15 locally through CompUSA. I’ve heard there are cheaper alternatives online, including Monoprice, but I haven’t tried them as yet.
The cable gouging I’ve seen reminds me of the days of yore when you’d hear electronics sales people attempt to convince customers that a 100 watt receiver sounds better than a 60 watt receiver. What nonsense!
Rant aside – enjoy the ‘toon! And don’t forget, PC Weenies books are on sale until December 15th – after which the prices go back up. “Rebootus Maximus” is the perfect geek gift to give for the holidays. And it’s world famous!
As always, my sincere Thanks for your support!
stay ‘tooned, :)
-Krishna
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Tell me what you think!
Bonez
December 2, 2010 at 12:22 amMonster Cable has been pulling this scam for years. Wire is wire is wire. There are no arcane secrets to make copper better than any other copper in any perceivable way.
Check out this for a good test of Monster Cables
http://consumerist.com/2008/03/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables.html
JackB
December 2, 2010 at 5:50 am$15??? Look at Amazon. You will pay closer $3 with shipping.
Krishna
December 2, 2010 at 7:52 amI know, Jack. But I needed the cable right away. CompUSA seemed like the lesser of two evils.
PatD
December 2, 2010 at 8:24 amAs a A/V installer I have used the mono price cables on both jobs and personally. they work great.
K.B.
December 2, 2010 at 8:38 amMost video game stores, like Game Stop and Play ‘N’ Trade, carry 4′ to 6′ cables for around $10, both new and used. Usually, “used” just means pre-owned. Not like it gets a lot of physical abuse once you plug the baby in, am I right? :P
Adrian Chrysanthou
December 2, 2010 at 11:38 pmCables unlimited is usually what I use from amazon.com. 2-3 Dollars for 6ft cables. 12ft cables are usually around 8. Anyway enough about that, great comic Krishna!
This is so true with local and big retailer chains!
Bartimaeus
December 3, 2010 at 5:19 amI bought a monitor adapter from Monoprice. Not only was the thing cheap, it came fast, too. I’m sold. :)
Jabrwock
December 3, 2010 at 12:00 pmAbsolute best laugh I had at FutureShop was the sales guy trying to convince me that gold-plated optical audio cables made for a better connection than regular optical cables.
Think about that for a second. :)
Jim J
December 3, 2010 at 12:52 pmMicrocenter in Houston pulled the same thing with SCSI cables. The same cable would be cheaper in their Mac area than in the PC aisle.
L.Z.
December 5, 2010 at 6:27 pmMonoprice.com FTW! I used to work at Best Buy and the markup is ridiculous on cables. A 6′ USB cable generally goes for like $10 or $20 depending on the brand. Employee price $0.50 or $0.75. Epic Fail!
Adam
December 6, 2010 at 8:50 amwith digital cables provided they’re not made out of string then you won’t thell the difference.
I saw some $4000 audio cables on Amazon. The user reviews were the best. They were hilarious. “Help the cable is strangling my daughter! But her screams are crystal clear”