Best Buy: Consumers baffled by HDTV

[rkr0923]

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/24/news/companies/bestbuy_hdtveducation/index.htm

 

[VinceT3]

I'm not suprised.. if you heard some of the bull that comes out of the employee mouths you would be shocked.. no wonder why people are confused, they can't get a straight answer..

 

[charper1]

Yep, and they like it that way if the truth be told.

 

[Andrewwski]

I'm not suprised.. if you heard some of the bull that comes out of the employee mouths you would be shocked.. no wonder why people are confused, they can't get a straight answer..

Best post of the day!

 

[8bitbytes]

Here's a handy little video from Wall Street Journal about HDTV. I have sent this to several people to help them see a quick overview of what you need to be thinking when you decide to get an HDTV.

http://online.wsj.com/public/page/8_0006.html?bcpid=86195573&bclid=132209461&bctid=987396045

 

[adavis720]

I like the part about forgetting to budget for outrageously over priced a/v cables.

The dude @ BB told my poor, unsuspecting parents that they NEEDED a $200 monster cable. I told them not to worry and gave them an extra monoprice HDMI I had.

 

[diogen]

...BB told my poor, unsuspecting parents that they NEEDED a $200 monster cable.

That is cheap!
Just look at those
Product Review
$5,400 for 6'...

Diogen.

 

[KimmiKat]

I was with a family member at Worst Buy that was buying an HDTV when the sales person came over with a $200 Mon$ter cable and I said we had cables already. The sales person kept trying to sell the POS cables and I told him they were a POS. He got irritated and prolonged the sales process. We said fuget about it and left and went to another store that sold them the same TV an asked if we had cables. I said yes, and he said ok and finished the sale.

Ironic thing a Mon$ter rep came after us and said how their cables are required for all hook-ups, I told him he was full of it and any decent cable would do.

I like the part about forgetting to budget for outrageously over priced a/v cables.

The dude @ BB told my poor, unsuspecting parents that they NEEDED a $200 monster cable. I told them not to worry and gave them an extra monoprice HDMI I had.

 

[Andrewwski]

Yup. It's the profit they make on those cables that make the salesguys push them on you.

 

[JohnL]

I was with a family member at Worst Buy that was buying an HDTV when the sales person came over with a $200 Mon$ter cable and I said we had cables already. The sales person kept trying to sell the POS cables and I told him they were a POS. He got irritated and prolonged the sales process. We said fuget about it and left and went to another store that sold them the same TV an asked if we had cables. I said yes, and he said ok and finished the sale.

Ironic thing a Mon$ter rep came after us and said how their cables are required for all hook-ups, I told him he was full of it and any decent cable would do.

KimmiKat,

The problem with most large Consumer Electronics stores is their Staff are low wagers that for the most part don't truly know what they are talking about.

I was in BB yesterday, looking for a particular Blu-Ray disc. My local BB store had them located in three different areas of the store, so I was waiting to talk to somebody (couldn't find the right area with the disc I wanted). These two employee's were "answering" questions about satellite HD service. While waiting, I had to correct their "information" at least TWICE. At that point they quickly asked me what I wanted so I wouldn't be interfering with their PITCH anymore.

The Biggest Wrong "facts" I remember correcting; 1) All you need for OTA reception is a $10 set top antenna, Which in most cases will NOT work properly, or at all, depending on your location. 2) All the local HDTV channels are available on DirecTV, wrong in our market NO DBS provider has the local Network HDTV channels, if you want the locals in HD you need an OTA source or Cable.

I wish I had enough time to talk to this Lady Customer, but alas she was being railroaded into a quick decision and I had to leave. I tried to tell her that she needed to do some of her own research on this topic and not to depend on the accuracy of the "information" BB was providing.


Oooh, and the price for cables at BB is OUTRAGEOUS. I'll say it again here, some Audio/Visual snobs will try to dispute this but HDMI cables will either Work or not and there is NO difference in PQ from $20 or $200 HDMI cables, except for the nice feeling of having ones' Pocket picked.


John

 

[Gregg Loewen]

hi guys

Oooh, and the price for cables at BB is OUTRAGEOUS. I'll say it again here, some Audio/Visual snobs will try to dispute this but HDMI cables will either Work or not and there is NO difference in PQ from $20 or $200 HDMI cables, except for the nice feeling of having ones' Pocket picked

I do not consider myself in any way to be an AV "snob", but this statement is simply not in any way correct with HDMI / DVI cables. There can be all kinds of issues with the image quality relating to cables, especially as you greaten the length of the digital cable. This comment is "somewhat" correct when considering a digital audio cable but not in any way with digital video via HDMI. Even a poorly designed digital audio cable can still pass the audio info but can at the same time create interference in the HT system.

Regards

Gregg

 

[vurbano]

hi guys



I do not consider myself in any way to be an AV "snob", but this statement is simply not in any way correct with HDMI / DVI cables. There can be all kinds of issues with the image quality relating to cables, especially as you greaten the length of the digital cable. This comment is "somewhat" correct when considering a digital audio cable but not in any way with digital video via HDMI. Even a poorly designed digital audio cable can still pass the audio info but can at the same time create interference in the HT system.

Regards

Gregg

Id say that as long as they work, have good connectors, proper conductors and are sheilded well then they are all the same unless length is an issue. You cannot change any of my HDMI cables and make the picture any better than it already is. best Buy and monster is the biggest cable ripoff scam there is.

 

[diogen]

There can be all kinds of issues with the image quality relating to cables, especially as you greaten the length of the digital cable.

That is true.
DVI/HDMI as a standard have very tight timing requirements i.e. all conductors (cables) inside have to be the same length.
The more such cables and the longer the run, the more chances you will run into problems and introduce skew (color shift, ghosting, etc.)

But that is all theory.
The question is, does a Monster cable have any advantages over a Monoprice cable at 3'? 10'? 50'? 100'?
From reading any respectable reviews - NO! Monster cables is a complete rippoff, just like Bose!

Diogen.

 

[BobMurdoch]

The average Joe still doesn't know the difference between a composite cable and a component cable. You think they will understand the difference beween 1080i and 1080p?

 

[dantheman77]

That is cheap!
Just look at those
Product Review
$5,400 for 6'...

Diogen.

hey, dont knock this product!!
i use them on my 12" b&w in the kitchen. and let me tell
you, the picture is nice!