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Currys and HDMI cables |
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#51 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 14,718
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Quote:
How long before someone posts a link to the £3k HDMI cable
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#52 |
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Reading
Posts: 27,896
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Quote:
How long before someone posts a link to the £3k HDMI cable
![]() Now that everyone is going online for their entertainment (or so these young people keep telling me ) it is obviously essential these days to have the very best connection to your router. So of course you will need a load of these cables to plug your kit up to your router to experience all that online video and audio in the very best quality.http://www.futureshop.co.uk/audioque...5m-p-5848.html |
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#53 |
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 21
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Yes I've been waiting for that, good job I didn't bet on it as I'd have lost money.
I did cast a eye over Currys cable bar. Nothing under fifteen quid and mostly over thirty. The two quid toslink including arrived within 36 hours off eBay..... Crap packaging mind. |
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#54 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 959
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Quote:
In my hifi days I bought a mains cable for £125 quid ( the guy had built my kit amp for free, normally £300) It was the polite thing to do and I got to try out the fabled 'cable effect'. Maybe I have cloth ears.... All his box mods were audible, but the cable stuff was iffy to be polite. I had a dedicated 5amp feed and all that stuff. It still sounds fantastic but cables hasn't much to do with it IMHO.
I did cast a eye over Currys cable bar. Nothing under fifteen quid and mostly over thirty. The two quid toslink including arrived within 36 hours off eBay..... Crap packaging mind. ) bother to have an electrical inspection carried out on the house wiring?
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#55 |
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 24,092
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Poundland is fine, but leave Currys alone. Let them make a few bob, otherwise, the stores will close, and there will be no shops left on the high st ..........
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#56 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,684
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I wonder if Dave Gorman is aware of this discussion?
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#57 |
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,569
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I wonder if the people who buy these mains cables (not you berylll
) bother to have an electrical inspection carried out on the house wiring? |
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#58 |
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Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: SouthWirral 1986-2002 & 2004-?
Posts: 7,070
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HDMI just relies on a yes/no digital signal being received so being charged a fortune for a better constructed cable should be a con, having said that I did have a cheap cable prone to interference which would put little dots across parts of the picture and break up the sound a bit, it was on a PS3. so a good screened cable will ensure perfection. But it doesn't have to cost anything like £80, if enough people refuse these purchases surely they'll have to give up on these dishonest extra commission sales.
Interestingly I found that 1080p 60 frames per second was what the cheap cable struggled with, if you put the PS3 down to 720p or 576p it became perfect again, no picture interference or sound dropouts, at a lower rate there must have been just enough compensation to get over the interference but now at 1080p. So if you get interference and dropouts on your HDMI cable, you could set your equipment to output at a lower quality until you get the replacement. |
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#59 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 6,450
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I'm going to ask Scottish Power to upgrade their pylons on the Pennines to Russ Andrews oxygen-free cable. Should give me more mid-range clarity.
It's the substations that need need to be reworked if you want midrange clarity.
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#60 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 6,450
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Quote:
HDMI just relies on a yes/no digital signal being received so being charged a fortune for a better constructed cable should be a con, having said that I did have a cheap cable prone to interference which would put little dots across parts of the picture and break up the sound a bit, it was on a PS3. so a good screened cable will ensure perfection. But it doesn't have to cost anything like £80, if enough people refuse these purchases surely they'll have to give up on these dishonest extra commission sales..
For a start, what's though of as On/Off digital pulses _I¬I_I¬I_ aren't like that at all in a HDMI signal. There's a latency in the switching so the pulses look more like this _/¬\_/¬\_ Electrical properties in the cable (Capacitance and Inductance) cause the transitions between the high and low voltage states to be slewed or tilted. The greater the data transmission rate then the more pronounced the effect. The result is that the signal is closer in form to a clipped analogue sine wave. That's what the Eye Pattern represents. IMAGE LINK If the cable isn't made to a sufficiently high standard then the space in the middle of the eye pattern will be too small to support the bandwidth required for higher resolutions and refresh rates at 1080p and greater. This is why a poor cable can give sparklies at 1080p but be okay at 720p/1080i and lower resolutions. |
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#61 |
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 21
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![]() Quote:
I wonder if the people who buy these mains cables (not you berylll
) bother to have an electrical inspection carried out on the house wiring?
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#62 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,332
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I worked in retail, not selling, you have to feel a bit sorry for them, they do have targets and they're plastered on the back walls for everyone else to see, if they don't make the grade I imagine they are out of a job.
You would think they would try to get a better profit margin for the TV's to counterbalance this annoying obsession with selling cables at a huge markup, anyone know why they can't, maybe it's the cost of being bricks & mortar.
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#63 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,782
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Quote:
You would think they would try to get a better profit margin for the TV's to counterbalance this annoying obsession with selling cables at a huge markup, anyone know why they can't, maybe it's the cost of being bricks & mortar.
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#64 |
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Join Date: Nov 2012
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Many years ago I was a driver for Currys in York. The boss used to give the sales staff a pep talk every morning before opening, which mainly consisted of 'don't let anyone leave without selling them coverplan' - extended 5 year warranty (prob called something else today). I guess the theory was that stuff either broke down in the 1st few weeks (covered by manufacturer), or after many years of use (coverplan expired). Either way, coverplan was pure profit.
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#65 |
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: a land filled with trolls
Posts: 12,010
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While not intentional, when I got a few Now TV boxes because they came with 6 months of the entertainment pass, or 4 months of movies, I paid £15 for the voucher, a Now TV box, and a pretty decent HDMI cable!
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#66 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,332
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Quote:
If they increased the price of the TV's, then people would buy them elsewhere - it's not a difficult situation to understand.
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#67 |
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: a land filled with trolls
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I think they probably do negotiate pretty well, so some of the margins may not be quite as low as you think.
They also get (or certainly did) price protection, so they used to be able to claim back money if the manufacturer dropped the SRP. I assume most retailers have to take the hit themselves. Plus, as most people know, some products Curry's sell are exclusives for them. This means they can make up whatever SRP they want as it can't be directly compared between retailers. As such, I don't think anyone should feel too sorry for Curry's, and certainly nobody should think it's justified to have staff being made to upsell. But, I wouldn't have a problem if they sold, say, accidental damage cover for certain items, or sold reasonably priced HDMI cables on the basis that they had a better design (better connectors, more flexible, totally flat) or looked nicer if visible. If someone is honest and says 'you don't necessarily need this, but it will make your install look neater' then the customer can think 'you know what? it would look neater' and go away happy, not feeling s/he was ripped off. Because they're on most high streets or retail parks, I can see why people buy things in desperation, although with Prime Same Day and Argos now delivering same day, I no longer feel I'd ever really need to go there now. |
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#68 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 6,450
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Quote:
I think they probably do negotiate pretty well, so some of the margins may not be quite as low as you think.
They also get (or certainly did) price protection, so they used to be able to claim back money if the manufacturer dropped the SRP. I assume most retailers have to take the hit themselves. Quote:
Because they're on most high streets or retail parks, I can see why people buy things in desperation, although with Prime Same Day and Argos now delivering same day, I no longer feel I'd ever really need to go there now.
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#69 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,782
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Not raising the price they charge, just getting a better deal from the TV makers.
![]() Even assuming they DID get a better deal, then they would simply sell them cheaper in order to try and compete. |
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#70 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 14,636
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Makes you wonder why Currys are a rip off.
I've mentioned before that there's a local electrical retailer near me - small regional chain, family owned. Their prices are very good (some of the stuff I bought was cheaper than online), if the manufacturer offers a free extended warranty they tell you about it / offer to register it for you, they still run a local service operation and can repair locally, plus they offer free same day delivery (or let you collect it). Unlike Currys etc they also keep things in stock - whether it's a £100 cheapie or a £2k Panasonic 4K flagship TV, there's a good chance you can take it home immediately. Oh, and their HDMI cables are "retail reasonable", like a tenner each, and they don't push them on you when you buy I haven't bought an appliance or TV from Currys etc in a very long time. |
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#71 |
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Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 21
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The problem with Currys is their staff have to know about every product from a 4K 55inch tv to a kettle for a tenner. Naturally they fall over. Recently I wanted to compare a HD to a 4K TV in 40 incher. The former was better. I had to collar a member of staff to set them up so I could genuinely compare. They should have been setup already? No shame on Currys staff but they have been mostly useless whenever I have asked anything other than their name.
I spent ages looking at TVs in various stores before buying online from none of them. They need to find a way to capture me... |
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#72 |
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 278
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Right, in for a penny, in for a pound...
Currys are great. They carry a lot of stock of the things MOST people are going to want. They give you opportunity to actually get hands on - see the TV's play with the tablets, and maybe even try the cameras if they've remembered to charge them. If they try to fob you off with a gold HDMI, say no. If the salesman insists, get the supervisor or manager - they will also have a quick go at selling it to you, but normally a second "no" works. And seriously consider the extended warranty. I used to pooh pooh it, but I often get it now, and I have had great results - replacement kit, new kit, upgrades, etc. |
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#73 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,684
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What nobody has mentioned is that the sound quality depends mainly on the type of electricity used. It's no good buying hdmi cables made of pure iridium and then using a dirty power source. Electricity generated by wind power is bound to give you higher fidelity, noise-free reproduction, even if using using cheaper cables.
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#74 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 7,975
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I've bought a couple of cables from these people, they are well built with nice thick cables and solid looking contacts.
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#75 |
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Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 551
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I was in there earlier and I was wondering if they were still pushing the HDMI scam. It would appear so.
I can remember being in there quite a few years back with a friend and we spotted a HDMI cable being sold for £40. We both commented on what a rip off it was as you can get much cheaper online. One of their sales assistants couldn't help but overhear, then he butted in with some guff about how a cheap cable will only last about six months before it's past it's best and you will see a decline in picture quality. He asserted that in the long-run it makes more sense to splash out for a £40 cable, as though it worked out less expensive than replacing cheaper leads roughly twice a year. Even if that first bit was true, £40 would be 20 years worth of £2 cables. Hardly the economical decision he was making it out to be is it?
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) it is obviously essential these days to have the very best connection to your router. So of course you will need a load of these cables to plug your kit up to your router to experience all that online video and audio in the very best quality.