Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


--
Clive Page

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

In message on Sat, 07 May 2011 12:39:37 +0100
Clive Page wrote:

I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.

Well, I don't think HDMI was around when my Philips CRT TV was made, so I'm
sticking to the three SCART inputs for now ...

However, I suppose I'll want one one day, so I picked up a 2m one when I
spotted some in a pound shop a while ago. Whether I'll be able to find it when
I need one is another matter ...

--

Terry

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Sat, 7 May 2011 13:29:16 +0100
Terry Casey wrote:

In message on Sat, 07 May 2011
12:39:37 +0100 Clive Page wrote:

I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my
newish laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections
(which I've no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI
cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there,
but their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other
local shops like PC World had prices which were similar or even
further into the stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number
of on-line retailers selling them at around £5 which seemed more
reasonable. Then to ebay where I've just got one from a UK dealer,
delivered in under 2 days, for £1-19 including postage and
packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item
where there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing
retailers.

Well, I don't think HDMI was around when my Philips CRT TV was made,
so I'm sticking to the three SCART inputs for now ...


You have SCART inputs? How modern! I still have a working Decca set,
with only a coax input. It's going to be for the guest room, now we
have upgraded to Digital.
--
Davey.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

"Clive Page" wrote in message
...
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've no
experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need?

On short runs, any cheap cable will do fine.
If you start to go to 5-10m lengths then cheap cables will show signal
deterioration before good ones, but I'm talking about the difference between
a £5 and £20 cable. Once you start going past that then I'd be amazed if
anyone can justify it.



--
Alex

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

Clive Page wrote:
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


The large chain retailers make most of their money from warranties,
batteries, scart leads, and HDMI leads. When you see the staff bonuses
paid for the sale of each item you realise the truth of this. £1 bonus
for the sale of a telly; £3 for the sale of an HDMI lead.

CPC sell leads in attractive retail packaging at about the £7 mark.
These are destined for sale in small retail shops at £20 to £60.

Of course the days of making money on sales of large items are gone,
thanks to the Internet. People come in the shop, decide what to buy,
then bugger off and buy on line, often whilst sitting in the carpark
outside the shop.

As an aerial installation firm, at one time we could make good money
from selling sat boxes. Now I can only get Freesat and Freeview HDD
boxes at a bout £40 less than the internet price. There's no way that
covers installation and a years on site warranty (which is what people
expect if you've installed it). So I say to people, yes, I'll
supply/install/guarantee the box if you want but it will cost about £60
more than you can get it on the internet. They can then chose which
route to take.

Bill

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On 07/05/2011 13:58, Bill Wright wrote:
Clive Page wrote:
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local
shops like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into
the stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line
retailers selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then
to ebay where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2
days, for £1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item
where there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


The large chain retailers make most of their money from warranties,
batteries, scart leads, and HDMI leads. When you see the staff bonuses
paid for the sale of each item you realise the truth of this. £1 bonus
for the sale of a telly; £3 for the sale of an HDMI lead.

CPC sell leads in attractive retail packaging at about the £7 mark.
These are destined for sale in small retail shops at £20 to £60.


So are you saying that the leads which the OP has seen at vastly
differing prices are actually *identical* but with different mark-ups
applied - or is there any physical difference?

--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On 07/05/2011 3:50 PM, Roger Mills wrote:


So are you saying that the leads which the OP has seen at vastly
differing prices are actually *identical* but with different mark-ups
applied - or is there any physical difference?


it's whether the signal makes it through or not that matters.
an expensive usb cable won't give you better prints from your printer.
expensive memory sticks won't make your word documents look better.

--
Gareth.
That fly.... Is your magic wand.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

Roger Mills wrote:

So are you saying that the leads which the OP has seen at vastly
differing prices are actually *identical* but with different mark-ups
applied - or is there any physical difference?

There may be some physical differences. For example Argos has 0.75m HDMI
cables with nickel plated connectors at £4.99 or 1m gold plated at £12.99
(3 for £22.99).

They also sell more expensive 1m cables at £99.97 for people with more
money than sense (the identical branded Monster HDMI400-1M cable is on
Amazon for £9.99).

So the answer to your question is probably both.

--
Duncan Booth

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Sat, 07 May 2011 15:50:09 +0100, Roger Mills
wrote:

On 07/05/2011 13:58, Bill Wright wrote:
Clive Page wrote:
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local
shops like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into
the stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line
retailers selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then
to ebay where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2
days, for £1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item
where there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


The large chain retailers make most of their money from warranties,
batteries, scart leads, and HDMI leads. When you see the staff bonuses
paid for the sale of each item you realise the truth of this. £1 bonus
for the sale of a telly; £3 for the sale of an HDMI lead.

CPC sell leads in attractive retail packaging at about the £7 mark.
These are destined for sale in small retail shops at £20 to £60.


So are you saying that the leads which the OP has seen at vastly
differing prices are actually *identical* but with different mark-ups
applied - or is there any physical difference?

Some of them may be physically different. This is a comparison of the
types supplied under the Lindy brand:
http://www.lindy.co.uk/tips/hdmitable.html

For a 2m length prices start at £3.99 and go up to £64.99.
http://www.lindy.co.uk/2m-hdmi-cable/41372.html
http://www.lindy.co.uk/2m-flat-white...ble/41162.html
http://www.lindy.co.uk/2m-premium-hi...ble/41112.html
http://www.lindy.co.uk/2m-premium-go...net/37421.html

The cheaper ones use solid core, the more expensive ones starnded core.

I'll leave it to someone who knows about these things to comment
further.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

In article , Clive Page wrote:
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.

The fact that you're asking this means the only thing you're missing is
gullibility, an all too common property in too many others.

For the expensive cables, you'd be paying for packaging and bull****. For
some people, technical sounding bull**** presented in a convincing way
seems to be taken as a substitute for peace of mind, the reasoning
apparently being that the extra money pays for something terribly clever
and technical that they couldn't possibly understand but which will save
them from the cost of repairs or the services of somebody with real
knowledge later on. In reality, cables are just made of metal wires, and
the electrons can't read the price labels.

Rod.
--
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On May 7, 9:13*pm, Roderick Stewart
wrote:
In article , Clive Page wrote:
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). *So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. *I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. *Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. *It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? *I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.

The fact that you're asking this means the only thing you're missing is
gullibility, an all too common property in too many others.

For the expensive cables, you'd be paying for packaging and bull****. For
some people, technical sounding bull**** presented in a convincing way
seems to be taken as a substitute for peace of mind, the reasoning
apparently being that the extra money pays for something terribly clever
and technical that they couldn't possibly understand but which will save
them from the cost of repairs or the services of somebody with real
knowledge later on. In reality, cables are just made of metal wires, and
the electrons can't read the price labels.

Rod.
--
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software fromhttp://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/

This is the only reasonably scientific test I've seen, and this proved
that a properly constructed 2 quid cable gave exactly the same picture
as a hundred quid one:-

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...vs-hdmi?page=2

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Saturday, May 7th, 2011 at 12:39:37h +0100, Clive Page asked:

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need?

The only thing to keep in mind is the version of HDMI which the cable
supports, although the versions are backwards compatible.

Helpful summary at

http://en.wikipedia.ORG/wiki/HDMI

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

In message , "Brian Gaff, probably.."
wrote
Its the continuing erosion of margins of course. Back in the old days of hi
fi, you often read the letters pages from small shops saying that joe public
came in, did an hours worth of demos, then pushed off and bought the item
cheap at a box shifters warehouse. Now these themselves are being replaced
by internet shops, who don't need expensive accessable venues, jst a web
site and a storeage site.

They may not even need a storage facility. Often they just pass your
name on to the manufacturer/importer who deliver direct to you cutting
out the need to deliver to an intermediate warehouse.

--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On 07/05/2011 12:39, Clive Page wrote:
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


It's a digital cable. The bits get there, or they don't. You'd have to
be very (un)lucky to get a cable which would give you most of the bits
(so it worked at all) but dropped a few (so you get picture degradation).

Unless the plugs were loose - which would be pretty obvious.

What you are missing is of course the profit margin.

Andy

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

"Clive Page" wrote in message
...
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've no
experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


--
Clive Page

Indeed!

CPC, Micro Direct and Aria have them for sensible prices and expect them in
the pound shop soon.

Gold plating is only desirable for connections that will be made and broken
frequently (e.g. plugging in a video camera). Even then this does not jack
up the price that much: -

CPC - HDMI cable from 95p (1m)
CPC - HDMI cable with gold plated connectors from £1.57p (0.15m)

HDMI is a digital signal, so it either gets there or it doesn't - for
example your ADSL probably comes down a couple of miles of hair thin,
corroded and immersed aluminium cable from the exchange, but manages several
Mbps with BERR rates of maybe one a week (worse than ISDN that could go for
months).

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On 08/05/2011 20:56, R. Mark Clayton wrote:
"Clive wrote in message
...
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've no
experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


--
Clive Page

Indeed!

CPC, Micro Direct and Aria have them for sensible prices and expect them in
the pound shop soon.

Gold plating is only desirable for connections that will be made and broken
frequently (e.g. plugging in a video camera). Even then this does not jack
up the price that much: -

CPC - HDMI cable from 95p (1m)
CPC - HDMI cable with gold plated connectors from £1.57p (0.15m)

HDMI is a digital signal, so it either gets there or it doesn't - for
example your ADSL probably comes down a couple of miles of hair thin,
corroded and immersed aluminium cable from the exchange, but manages several
Mbps with BERR rates of maybe one a week (worse than ISDN that could go for
months).



EEK, but what about the skin tones? What about the audio transprency? I
feel like a veil has been lifted with my Russ Andrews HDMI cables. But
don't expect to see the same benefit yourself untill you have upgraded
your mains leads to at least mithrill or unobtanium.

My own amps have 33kv input transformers to avoid local load variations.
I pay for a 33Kv feed and meetering. It's totally worth it. The
sound is so un-veilled, I can imagine $celeb totally naked without even
going on the internet.

--
R




--
R

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

Roger Mills wrote:

So are you saying that the leads which the OP has seen at vastly
differing prices are actually *identical* but with different mark-ups
applied - or is there any physical difference?

Obviously there are physical differences because the leads are made in
different factories, and some will perhaps be more durable or more
pleasing to the eye than others. But HDMI is a digital interface, so to
put it crudely the lead is either going to work or it isn't.

Bill

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On May 8, 11:10*pm, Ron Lowe wrote:
On 08/05/2011 20:56, R. Mark Clayton wrote:





"Clive *wrote in message
...
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've no
experience of using before). *So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. *I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. *Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. *It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? *I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.

--
Clive Page

Indeed!

CPC, Micro Direct and Aria have them for sensible prices and expect them in
the pound shop soon.

Gold plating is only desirable for connections that will be made and broken
frequently (e.g. plugging in a video camera). *Even then this does not jack
up the price that much: -

CPC - HDMI cable from 95p (1m)
CPC - HDMI cable with gold plated connectors from £1.57p (0.15m)

HDMI is a digital signal, so it either gets there or it doesn't - for
example your ADSL probably comes down a couple of miles of hair thin,
corroded and immersed aluminium cable from the exchange, but manages several
Mbps with BERR rates of maybe one a week (worse than ISDN that could go for
months).

EEK, but what about the skin tones? What about the audio transprency? I
feel like a veil has been lifted with my Russ Andrews HDMI cables. * But
don't expect to see the same benefit yourself untill you have upgraded
your mains leads to at least mithrill or unobtanium.

My own amps have 33kv input transformers to avoid local load variations.
* I pay for a 33Kv feed and meetering. *It's totally worth it. *The
sound is so un-veilled, I can imagine $celeb totally naked without even
going on the internet.

non of which is any use unless you have the following:


http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/w...comments/4309/


--
R

--
R- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On 08/05/2011 20:56, R. Mark Clayton wrote:
"Clive wrote in message
...
I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've no
experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


--
Clive Page

Indeed!

CPC, Micro Direct and Aria have them for sensible prices and expect them in
the pound shop soon.

Gold plating is only desirable for connections that will be made and broken
frequently (e.g. plugging in a video camera). Even then this does not jack
up the price that much: -

CPC - HDMI cable from 95p (1m)
CPC - HDMI cable with gold plated connectors from £1.57p (0.15m)

HDMI is a digital signal, so it either gets there or it doesn't - for
example your ADSL probably comes down a couple of miles of hair thin,
corroded and immersed aluminium cable from the exchange, but manages several
Mbps with BERR rates of maybe one a week (worse than ISDN that could go for
months).



I have had problems choosing cables from CPC -
basically down to "how cheap should I go"? Are the £1
ones likely to fall apart when you open the packet?
Will they have the "almost-fitting" type of connectors
that are either a struggle to install or else will
work loose just with normal levels of case vibration?

It's not quite the same as the OP's dilemma, as
there's very little price differential between several
different brands on sale. I just tend to avoid the
very cheapest. Even then, I don't think I've paid
more than £4.

I have had a problem with one cheap cable causing
interference with the TV signal. It's possible some
of these are not well screened. Sometimes the TV
fails to see connected HDMI devices and I end up
unplugging the cable, but this could be down to the TV
or device interfaces. It doesn't seem the most
reliable technology, but I wouldn't know how far to
blame the cables. More likely, problems are caused by
varying interpretations of the interface specifications.

As for ADSL, my line is currently showing errors every
second, but it still works, mostly. I'm not sure HDMI
would survive that.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On 09/05/2011 15:53, Jim wrote:

As for ADSL, my line is currently showing errors every second, but it
still works, mostly. I'm not sure HDMI would survive that.

HDMI wouldn't. ADSL has error correction.

As someone who is on the wrong end of "a couple of miles of hair thin,
corroded and immersed aluminium cable" I know this...

Andy

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On May 9, 3:53*pm, Jim wrote:

I have had a problem with one cheap cable causing
interference with the TV signal. *It's possible some
of these are not well screened. *Sometimes the TV
fails to see connected HDMI devices and I end up
unplugging the cable, but this could be down to the TV
or device interfaces. *It doesn't seem the most
reliable technology, but I wouldn't know how far to
blame the cables. *More likely, problems are caused by
varying interpretations of the interface specifications.

As for ADSL, my line is currently showing errors every
second, but it still works, mostly. *I'm not sure HDMI
would survive that.

HDMI has a very high bit rate and no error correction on the payload,
so it is possible to make a HDMI cable so crap it won't work properly,
however the problems will be obvious, not subtle. The tricky bit is
telling the 3 quid cable that's made properly to HDMI v1.3b spec. or
whatever and the one that's a 50p cable made from string and sold with
a higher profit margin.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.


It's a digital cable. The bits get there, or they don't. You'd have to be very (un)lucky to get a cable which would give you
most of the bits (so it worked at all) but dropped a few (so you get picture degradation).

Unless the plugs were loose - which would be pretty obvious.

What you are missing is of course the profit margin.

Andy

Plus the fact that "There's a sucker born every minute" (P. T. Barnum.)

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Sat, 07 May 2011 12:39:37 +0100, Clive Page
wrote:

I decided it would be useful occasionally to be able connect my newish
laptop to our TV, and found that both had HDMI connections (which I've
no experience of using before). So off to buy an HDMI cable...

Messrs Maplin have a shop near us so I often get such items there, but
their prices were £25 and upwards which surprised me; other local shops
like PC World had prices which were similar or even further into the
stratosphere. I then Googled and found a number of on-line retailers
selling them at around £5 which seemed more reasonable. Then to ebay
where I've just got one from a UK dealer, delivered in under 2 days, for
£1-19 including postage and packing. It works fine.

Is there something I'm missing about the need for gold-plated (and
presumably diamond-encrusted) HDMI cables in some situations, that
obviously I don't need? I can't think of any other commodity item where
there's a price ratio of over 20:1 between competing retailers.

That stalwart of quality hi-fi and video etc, Russ Andrews, sells,
probably to those people who are so stupid they must be dead from the
neck up a 0.5 metre HDMI cable for £207.00 (Delivery is FOC!!)

His description is:

Kimber's HD-29 HDMI cable is the top of the range HDMI cable in
Kimber's range. It uses very large gauge silver-plated conductors, the
plating of which is thicker than in their HD-19 HDMI cable.

Additionally, all cables are individually hand tested to ensure they
meet Kimber's exacting electrical specifications.

And the result of this precise manufacture? Stunning images and
crystal-clear sound. We've seen clear improvements in image quality,
with less noise and finer colour detail; sound was also more detailed
and has better three-dimensional resolution.

HD-29 is classified as High Speed, meaning that it will pass 1080p
High Definition pictures at all lengths upto 20m and supports 3D
images.

Please note
For technical reasons we are unable to Burn-In or DCT any of the HD-29
cables.

Sad I know, but people must purchase from him.

--
Cheers

Peter

(Reply-to address is a spam trap, please reply to the group)

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Wed, 11 May 2011 14:23:37 +0100, Peter
wrote:

That stalwart of quality hi-fi and video etc, Russ Andrews, sells,
probably to those people who are so stupid they must be dead from the
neck up a 0.5 metre HDMI cable for £207.00 (Delivery is FOC!!)

How about 0.6 metres for £669.60:

http://www.petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz...mi.shtml?fshop

I particularly like: "72V Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) saturates and
polarizes insulation, greatly reducing digital-audio distortion".

Richard.
http://www.rtrussell.co.uk/

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 14:23:37h +0100, Peter wrote:

HD-29 is classified as High Speed, meaning that it will pass 1080p High
Definition pictures at all lengths upto 20m and supports 3D images.

So it is already obsolete -- the latest HDMI cables support up to 1440p.

Of course, if you need a *really* long cable (1080p and v1.3 3D capable),
then it is going to be expensive.

http://www.hdtvsupply.com/at14030l-55.html

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 14:23:37h +0100, Peter wrote:

HD-29 is classified as High Speed, meaning that it will pass 1080p High
Definition pictures at all lengths upto 20m and supports 3D images.

So it is already obsolete -- the latest HDMI cables support up to 1440p.

Of course, if you need a *really* long cable (1080p and v1.3 3D capable),
then it is going to be expensive.

http://www.hdtvsupply.com/at14030l-55.html

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On 11/05/2011 15:02, Richard Russell wrote:

I particularly like: "72V Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) saturates and
polarizes insulation, greatly reducing digital-audio distortion".

I've only recently become aware of this dielectric bias thing. It's
certainly taking audio bull**** to a whole new level - try this:

http://www.servo.lv/images/productsV...114754.DBS.pdf

--
Andy

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 00:20:59h +0100, Andy Wade wrote:

http://www.servo.lv/images/productsV...114754.DBS.pdf

QUOTE
It has long been noted that cables (and all audio components) sound
better after having been left turned-on for a number of days.
QUOTE

Is there any evidence whatsoever to backup this claim with respect to
cables?

Or is the scientific evidence as good as the proof for cold fusion?

--

The Believers http://vimeo.COM/15067203 now in post-production

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Thu, 12 May 2011 00:33:36 +0000 (UTC), J G Miller
wrote:

On Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 00:20:59h +0100, Andy Wade wrote:

http://www.servo.lv/images/productsV...114754.DBS.pdf

QUOTE
It has long been noted that cables (and all audio components) sound
better after having been left turned-on for a number of days.
QUOTE

Is there any evidence whatsoever to backup this claim with respect to
cables?

Or is the scientific evidence as good as the proof for cold fusion?

Now hold on just one little minute!

I attended a public lecture on cold fusion by Martin Fleischmann, one of
its proponents. Most of the people in the lecture theatre were
physicists. As befits the subject matter, their reception of the topic
was frosty. I came away with some sort of understanding of why he
thought that cold fusion might be possible even though it hadn't been
demonstrated.

I suspect the probability of so-called cold fusion happening is higher
than that of the claim above.

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Thu, 12 May 2011 02:04:15 +0100, Peter Duncanson wrote:

I suspect the probability of so-called cold fusion happening is higher
than that of the claim above.

I hope you will watch the documentary film when it is released.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

In article , Andy Wade [email protected]
ell.myzen.co.uk scribeth thus
On 11/05/2011 15:02, Richard Russell wrote:

I particularly like: "72V Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) saturates and
polarizes insulation, greatly reducing digital-audio distortion".

I've only recently become aware of this dielectric bias thing. It's
certainly taking audio bull**** to a whole new level - try this:

http://www.servo.lv/images/productsV...114754.DBS.pdf


Boggle;!!!....
--
Tony Sayer

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

In article , J G Miller
wrote:
On Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 00:20:59h +0100, Andy Wade wrote:

http://www.servo.lv/images/productsV...114754.DBS.pdf

QUOTE It has long been noted that cables (and all audio components)
sound better after having been left turned-on for a number of days. QUOTE

Is there any evidence whatsoever to backup this claim with respect to
cables?

As is often the case in 'audio' you have to distinguish carefully to
answer.

A) There are countless examples of people *saying* that the sound will/can
change (usually said to be an 'improvement') as some cables are used.

B) No example I know of where anyone has demonstated - either by
measurement or by a controlled listening comparison - that there was any
change, except for fairly trivial cases like cable connector corrosion
changes.

The difficulty here is the common one in audio. There are so many other
factors that can alter what we hear that it is easy to make a
misattribution as to the 'cause' of what is perceived.

Unfortunately when asked to take part in a controlled test to focus on
testing the claimed 'cause' of the asserted change, the standard reaction
is for claimers to refuse to participate.

Or is the scientific evidence as good as the proof for cold fusion?

Much like the above apart from more willingness to actually put their ideas
to a critical test. :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

J G Miller wrote:
On Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 00:20:59h +0100, Andy Wade wrote:

http://www.servo.lv/images/productsV...114754.DBS.pdf

QUOTE
It has long been noted that cables (and all audio components) sound
better after having been left turned-on for a number of days.
QUOTE

Is there any evidence whatsoever to backup this claim with respect to
cables?

Or is the scientific evidence as good as the proof for cold fusion?

See:

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/...f-suckers.html

I don't think James Randi would be offering $1 million if he thought he'd
lose.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Thu, 12 May 2011 01:21:56 +0000 (UTC), J G Miller
wrote:

On Thu, 12 May 2011 02:04:15 +0100, Peter Duncanson wrote:

I suspect the probability of so-called cold fusion happening is higher
than that of the claim above.

I hope you will watch the documentary film when it is released.

Certainly, but equally certainly I'm not holding my breath waiting for
it. :-)

--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Thu, 12 May 2011 01:21:56 +0000 (UTC), J G Miller
wrote:

On Thu, 12 May 2011 02:04:15 +0100, Peter Duncanson wrote:

I suspect the probability of so-called cold fusion happening is higher
than that of the claim above.

I hope you will watch the documentary film when it is released.

Since so-called "cold fusion" has been mentioned I'll summarise what I
understood Martin Fleischmann to be hinting at in his lecture. (I didn't
join in the Q&A session and I didn't get to speak to him privately after
the lecture.)

He is a chemist who knows about catalysis. Oversimplifying a lot, a
catalyst works by assisting two molecules of different types to come
together and react. In the absence of the catalyst the chances of the
molecules meeting under the necessary conditions are much lower.

He seems to think that fusion, the bring together of two protons to
create a helium nucleus, could be assisted in a similar way, Rather than
having a catalyst that grabs hold of one or more of the molecules the
protons would be restricted in their movement by being in the network of
gaps between atoms in a solid or liquid. Two protons hurtling toward one
another in a vacuum are very likely to veer off to the side of one
another by their natural repulsion. It will be rare that two protons
will be heading exactly towards one another so that they will collide.
His idea was that if the protons are flying around in a network of gaps
between atoms their ability to move sideways will be limited. This would
increase the probability of collisions.

Even if this is correct it does not mean that the effect is sufficiently
large to form a source of energy.



--
Peter Duncanson
(in uk.tech.digital-tv)

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

"Andy Wade" wrote in message
...
On 11/05/2011 15:02, Richard Russell wrote:

I particularly like: "72V Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) saturates and
polarizes insulation, greatly reducing digital-audio distortion".

I've only recently become aware of this dielectric bias thing. It's
certainly taking audio bull**** to a whole new level - try this:

http://www.servo.lv/images/productsV...114754.DBS.pdf

If only you had the technical expertise and business acumen of Mr Andrews :)
--
JohnT

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

In article , Peter
Duncanson
wrote:
On Thu, 12 May 2011 01:21:56 +0000 (UTC), J G Miller
wrote:

On Thu, 12 May 2011 02:04:15 +0100, Peter Duncanson wrote:

I suspect the probability of so-called cold fusion happening is
higher than that of the claim above.

I hope you will watch the documentary film when it is released.

Since so-called "cold fusion" has been mentioned I'll summarise what I
understood Martin Fleischmann to be hinting at in his lecture. (I didn't
join in the Q&A session and I didn't get to speak to him privately after
the lecture.)

He is a chemist who knows about catalysis. Oversimplifying a lot, a
catalyst works by assisting two molecules of different types to come
together and react. In the absence of the catalyst the chances of the
molecules meeting under the necessary conditions are much lower.

He seems to think that fusion, the bring together of two protons to
create a helium nucleus, could be assisted in a similar way,

Yes, people believe all kinds of things. :-)

However AIUI the general evidence seems to show that he is either mistaken,
mislead by errors in his orginal experimental mathods, or the fusion is so
ultra-rare as to be of no real use. Depends on how generously you interpret
the "could be". Fusion "could" occur because two of the hydrogen molecules
in the gas burning in your gas oven fuse. This may happen at times. But be
so rare as to be of no use.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Richard Russell"
saying something like:

I particularly like: "72V Dielectric-Bias System (DBS) saturates and
polarizes insulation, greatly reducing digital-audio distortion".

Wow. Bull**** Bingo.

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Sat, 7 May 2011 13:29:16 +0100, Terry Casey
wrote:

However, I suppose I'll want one one day, so I picked up a 2m one when I
spotted some in a pound shop a while ago. Whether I'll be able to find it when
I need one is another matter ...

That's the big advantage of pound shops, when you can't find something
you go to the pound shop and buy a replacement, which guarantees you
immediately find the original but haven't wated as much money as you
would if you had to buy a second full price one

Amazing prices for HDMI cables
 

On Thu, 12 May 2011 09:00:39 +0100, Jim Lesurf
wrote:

B) No example I know of where anyone has demonstated - either by
measurement or by a controlled listening comparison - that there was any
change, except for fairly trivial cases like cable connector corrosion
changes.

I learned that one in spades when I had a Fiat. The electrics were
made of aluminium rather than copper. I took to carrying a wire brush
so when a bulb or switch appeared to have failed I could brush the
oxidised crud off the contacts and get it back to life.

I've read (but don't know if it's true) that silicone furniture polish
could affect electrical connections by migrating in between plug and
socket.

Certainly the first thing I try if one of my computers appears to be
going tits up is to pull and replug all the connectors, cards etc.
which often mends it.

I strongly suspect that in the audio world the effect of poor
connections outweighs the effect of the cable by several orders of
magnitude unless you're using piddly little bell wire.