Would you sell me a car without a steering wheel, my HD rant.

[sirdizzy]

I am starting to think the whole HD thing is one big freaking scam. First off anyone who invested in an HDDVD Player got screwed (both Best Buy and Circuit City are offering $50 gift cards to their stores if you purchased a player there and you don't have to give back the HDDVD player). But that was to be expected one side or another was going to win it was just inevitable.

But recently I bought an 50" plasma 1080p HD Tv and have been real excited about seeing some HD content on it. So the first thing I bought was an Upscaling dvd player (heck I have over 1200 dvds this seemed the best route to go) and I even considered getting an HDDVD player because they are now cheap and heck you can still use them for upscaling plus the movies will probably plummet in price. So I go to hook it up and the only thing they included was a standard audio/video cable. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS, YOU FUCKING ADVERTISE UPSCALING AND HD AND YOU CAN'T EVEN FUCKING DO IT WITH THE EQUIPMENT INCLUDED.

So you have to go out and buy an HDMI cable which runs another $70-80. The same goes for HDDVD players my friend at work bought two of them to use as upscalers and they didn't include HDMI cables either. I mean it comes down to my analogy would you sell me a car without a steering wheel. Oops sorry the steering wheel is extra and oh you don't get tires or an engine with this model. WHAT THE FUCK, that is a freaking scame. He congradulations you just spent $500 on a PS3 to watch some bluray movies oh and by the way it doesn't fucking work unless you fork out another $80 for the cable sucker.

[MISFITS_Fiend]

I don't know where you live, but I did pretty much the same thing that you did (47" 1080P, Upconversion DVD player), and I got a cable at Wal-Mart for 30 bucks. It works just fine.

But yeah, it would have been nice if the DVD player included the cable.

[bonoferox]

Agreed. I was talked into buying the HD cables when I bought my TV and they were just about 29.99 if I remember correctly.

I think they're called YBR(?) monster cables or something like that.

[electriclite]

Here's your second mistake: You bought a Plasma screen.

In 5 years the screen will be completely black and in 2-3 years you're going to see that shit dim. Basically you're going to have to buy a completely NEW Plasma screen.

Shoulda gone with an LCD. All you have to do is replace a bulb for $120 every 3-4 years instead of the whole machine.

[sirdizzy]

I got the cable off my rewards site at work, didn't want to fork out more money for something that should have been included.

[MISFITS_Fiend]

YBR Monster cables sound like regular Yellow-Blue-Red component cables; I could be wrong though. I do know that the HDMI Monster cables were going for $75 for a 4-foot cable and $99 for a 6-foot cable at Circuit City. I doubt they are that much better than what I bought; then again Circuit City likes to jack their prices up, so who knows.

[someguy]

Here's your second mistake: You bought a Plasma screen.

In 5 years the screen will be completely black and in 2-3 years you're going to see that shit dim. Basically you're going to have to buy a completely NEW Plasma screen.

Shoulda gone with an LCD. All you have to do is replace a bulb for $120 every 3-4 years instead of the whole machine.

I'm sorry, what?

Plasmas go black/dim after a few years, yeah, maybe if it was back when they first started coming out. Today plasma televisions last much MUCH longer before going dim (some televisions have fifteen to twenty-five years before it loses half of its brightness).

You're also confusing LCD with DLP. A DLP has a bulb which has to be replaced every 4 or so years for something more like 200 - 300 dollars. Besides, projection televisions are slowly dying off now with people buying up LCD or plasma in much larger numbers.

About your rant, I agree that items with HD compatibility should have the proper cables if they are using it as their main draw. If you paid $80 for a cable then you must have gotten ripped off with something like Monster Cable. A good site for any A/V cables you need for cheap prices is www.monoprice.com. You could probably get a cable just as good as Monster Cable for a quarter of the price (maybe even less).

[sirdizzy]

I'm sorry, what?

Plasmas go black/dim after a few years, yeah, maybe if it was back when they first started coming out. Today plasma televisions last much MUCH longer before going dim (some televisions have fifteen to twenty-five years before it loses half of its brightness).

You're also confusing LCD with DLP. A DLP has a bulb which has to be replaced every 4 or so years for something more like 200 - 300 dollars. Besides, projection televisions are slowly dying off now with people buying up LCD or plasma in much larger numbers.

About your rant, I agree that items with HD compatibility should have the proper cables if they are using it as their main draw. If you paid $80 for a cable then you must have gotten ripped off with something like Monster Cable. A good site for any A/V cables you need for cheap prices is www.monoprice.com. You could probably get a cable just as good as Monster Cable for a quarter of the price (maybe even less).

Cool thanks for the info, the plasma I bought said manufactured in Dec 2007 and has a 2 year waranty. We look at rear projection but there weren't that great, heavy as hell and have all the lighting issues.

I didn't end up paying for the HDMI cable, I got it for free off from my work and the ones I was looking at Best Buy for were $70-80. walmart may be cheaper I just don't think that much so.

[MisterChristian]

NEVER BUY CABLES FROM BEST BUY or any other major electronics store where they want $70-$80. You may as well bend over the cashier's desk while you're at all. And no, there's no 'reach around'.

I second the MONOPRICE recommendation :) MONOPRICE (www.monoprice.com) is your friend. Great quality and great prices for all sorts of cables etc...

And Plasma TVs will last a hell of a lot longer than 5 years...

How long do Plasma TVs last (http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/plasmatv-lifespan.html)

and

Plasma vs. LCD (http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatvreviews/plasma-vs-lcd.html)

[unspoken]

Monster cables are no better than the generic name brand you'd find in a discount bin. Also, you can get cables off the internet for much cheaper.

Also, if you buy your stuff at a place where the salespeople work on commission, remember that the sticker price isn't the final price. They have plenty of room for negotiation, and at some places they'd go as far as to sell you something below cost rather than have you go elsewhere to buy it. Getting them to throw in cables for little/no charge is pretty easy.

[electriclite]

I'm sorry, what?

Plasmas go black/dim after a few years, yeah, maybe if it was back when they first started coming out. Today plasma televisions last much MUCH longer before going dim (some televisions have fifteen to twenty-five years before it loses half of its brightness).

You're also confusing LCD with DLP. A DLP has a bulb which has to be replaced every 4 or so years for something more like 200 - 300 dollars. Besides, projection televisions are slowly dying off now with people buying up LCD or plasma in much larger numbers.




Well a friend of mine, who bought a plasma screen almost 3 years ago, was already complaining his screen was getting dim.

The thing is the commercialized version of the Plasma technology is not 15-25 years old, so how do we actually know they will last as long as you say?

Also factor in how companies are making lots more money by creating products that don't last so long or need expensive components that need to replaced for a hefty sum. I can't tell you about the many places I've worked where people bitched about how quickly the newest appliance, gadget etc they bought that conked out in less than half a decade, and we're talking formally trusted brands. When I was kid growing up, oldschool TVs would definitely last to about 20 years. I had a Trinition my parents bought when I was born that lasted till my 20th birthday before it got too black and we had to chuck it.

[EVILxxx]

When I was kid growing up, oldschool TVs would definitely last to about 20 years. I had a Trinition my parents bought when I was born that lasted till my 20th birthday before it got too black and we had to chuck it.

It's the imitation wood paneling. :p

I think the cables are the biggest rip when it comes to how much something costs to produce and how much they end up costing at retail. Shop around a little online or otherwise and you'll happen upon one being sold at the proper price.

[sirdizzy]

NEVER BUY CABLES FROM BEST BUY or any other major electronics store where they want $70-$80. You may as well bend over the cashier's desk while you're at all. And no, there's no 'reach around'.

I second the MONOPRICE recommendation :) MONOPRICE (www.monoprice.com) is your friend. Great quality and great prices for all sorts of cables etc...

And Plasma TVs will last a hell of a lot longer than 5 years...

How long do Plasma TVs last (http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatv/plasmatv-lifespan.html)

and

Plasma vs. LCD (http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/plasmatvreviews/plasma-vs-lcd.html)



yea that's why I ordered them through my reward site from work. We have a pretty cool reward site that they do contests for and you can earn credits for and you can order pretty much the entire amazon catalog off (they actually ship from amazon). I have gotten an ipod touch, the upscaling dvd player, battlestar galatica season 3, a cool piggy bank, the hdmi cable, enchanted on dvd and mario party for my ds in just the last year.

[The Postmaster General]

Well, I think the steering wheel analogy is a bit much... Its more like buying a sports car that doesn't come with racing tires...

You still complain for a worthy cause, though. Fuckers.

[shoe1985]

Wow, you guys are really being ripped off for the HDMI cable. Go here http://www.amazon.com/Super-Resolution-Cable-DVI-Gear/dp/B0002L5R78/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1206188836&sr=8-1

.15 cents for 6 feet and it works perfectly.

[Badbird]

Wow, you guys are really being ripped off for the HDMI cable. Go here http://www.amazon.com/Super-Resolution-Cable-DVI-Gear/dp/B0002L5R78/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1206188836&sr=8-1

.15 cents for 6 feet and it works perfectly.

What he said. Got those exact ones and they work fine.

Never, ever but Monster cables. You're paying for a brand name, nothing else.

[sirdizzy]

Well, I think the steering wheel analogy is a bit much... Its more like buying a sports car that doesn't come with racing tires...

You still complain for a worthy cause, though. Fuckers.

its actually a very good analogy, because I bought the player for the upscaling and HD features. If I just wanted a regular dvd player I could have gone to walmart and got one of those nice little tiny ones for $30. So I bought it for one use in mind and it doesn't do it unless I buy something else, that pissed me off.


And god damn those cables are cheap, wish I had known about that before, I got mine for free but damn I could have saved 6000 of my reward credits and got a steelbook instead (just discovered are reward site has like 10 steelbooks on it).

[The Postmaster General]

its actually a very good analogy, because I bought the player for the upscaling and HD features. If I just wanted a regular dvd player I could have gone to walmart and got one of those nice little tiny ones for $30. So I bought it for one use in mind and it doesn't do it unless I buy something else, that pissed me off.


If you bought a car just to race it, and it had no racing tires, you could still drive it just not to its full potential. If it had no steering wheel, it would be worthless beyond what you want it for. Your DVD, without HDMI cables, is not worthless beyond what you want it for. You just have the equivalent of a race car that you can't race to its full potential, not a car you are unable to drive at all.

It doesn't matter though, because you're still right about this sucking - You shell out that much money they should throw in something like that just because.

[plantpage55]

What he said. Got those exact ones and they work fine.

Never, ever but Monster cables. You're paying for a brand name, nothing else.

True that. And reminds me of a true story:

When I bought the PS3, I went to Best Buy to search for some HDMI cables. The cheapest I could find were 60 bucks. "Heh, yeah right" I said to myself. I went back home and found an 8 footer for $1.99.

I printed out the amazon.com web page, took it to Best Buy, and taped it over the HDMI cable area while no one was looking.

I realize it isn't Best Buy's fault, but no one should ever have to pay that much for a cable.

[blk_flower]

I'm sort of the fence too.

got myself a tv, great- 800, 26in
but now I have to pay extra to get HD channels
more to buy blu ray discs
blu ray player itself
hdmi cable that doesn't come with the PS3


it does cost more than what I want and if it isn't the best looking picture I will break down a new tv with a new movie player and a movie to go with it would be a little more than 1300$ Fucking right I want the best quality.

On the plus side being that I'm getting into the film buisness in the next few years all this stuff is great because I have newer technology to work with and put my finish products on.