4 ms·

Monoprice.com. That is all.

by singer 17y ago

joezydeco 17y ago
Except when you're buying a new TV and you're at the checkout, you realize you need a cable to finish your hookup. This is why you never see a $10 cable in a retail store, like the poster above mentioned. It's all about the psychology of needing it now instead of being able to wait 4 more days.
- mrcharles 17y ago
  This is why you use monoprice.com. Every time you need a cable, you actually order 4. It's still 1/4 the price of buying it from a retail store, and then when a friend needs a cable for that new tv he just bought, you can hand him one, for 1/4 the price of what he'd pay in stores, and he thanks you, AND you've just paid for your own cables. Really, just don't ever buy a cable in a store. Ever. Getting a TV? Plan it ahead of time. Buying new tech? Make sure you have the cables already. We're talking about an average 20x price markup on these cables, and sometimes significantly more (network cables I'm looking at you!). Knowing your options is the first step in not getting screwed.
  - dpcan 17y ago
    The original poster is precisely correct from my experience. The only time I purchased a cable online was when I bought someone a gift that required the HD cable. All the other times, we ran around the corner to Shopko and paid whatever their price was because we had a new HD system setup and wanted it in HD. Now. I really don't think it's a casual purchase for most people, and I certainly never considered buying more than one at a time.
    - Frazzydee 17y ago
      Also, when you're buying a $3,000 TV, $100 for the cables doesn't seem that bad, relatively speaking.
      - Psyonic 17y ago
        And when you've paid $150 dollars for a disneyland park hopper pass, that $12 slice of pizza and small soda doesn't seem that bad either, but you're still being taken to the cleaners.
- dhyasama 17y ago
  HDTV was new enough to me the last time I made a purchase that I assumed an HDMI cable would be in the box. It wasn't and next time I will plan ahead. Not everyone will do that so, so maybe a little business for same day delivery of cables to people would earn an enterprising college student a few extra bucks for beer. It could work where the population is sufficiently dense.
- blhack 17y ago
  Does your city have a Fry's electronics? Last time I was there, they had HDMI cables on sale for something like $4; I bought a gaggle of them. If you don't have a Fry's, you're missing out on something wonderful. Every Fry's about a hundred people who absolutely and completely despise every single aspect of their jobs, and have been forced to wear white button-down shirts with ties. Fry's sells everything. From green laser pointers, to 2 post telco racks, to embedded computer parts, to washing machines, to televisions, to cheap chinese toys, to candy bars, to tasers and pepper spray and home security gear.
  - joezydeco 17y ago
    Yes, my city has a Fry's. And I've had the same experience as you. I've never seen a store so stocked with salespeople (and 70 cash registers!) but with so little interest in the process of selling and supporting material. But my original point was that the typical person sitting at a checkout with an HDTV doesn't know what the HDMI cable does, much less that they can buy it at Fry's or Monoprice for 25x cheaper.
Frazzydee 17y ago
Just make sure you pay by google checkout or paypal. I'm surprised people don't seem to be angry about the way they've handled the data breach issue.
- TheBranca18 17y ago
  You mean the fact they store your password in their database as plaintext? Yeah kinda scary to be honest.
  - Frazzydee 17y ago
    That's unfortunate. I guess it goes to show how much value those "Hacker Safe" badges are. But how do you know they store your password as plaintext? I was talking about the way they handled it in general. They didn't email any customers, and they still don't know which cards/orders were affected. I think they should at least be able to tell me which customers have been complaining (ex. those who made orders between DATE_A and DATE_B) Also, they deleted data that they previously assured me would be kept & accessible (last 4 digits of credit cards, so that I can check the appropriate bill). It took me over a week and at least 5 different CSR's to find this out- I was given the runaround before that. Live support & phone support both told me they couldn't help, and claimed that the email support team is the only group that could. Over a week later, I still have not received a response.
    - TheBranca18 17y ago
      I forgot my password and when I used their system instead of having them generate a temporary password for me they sent me the password in an email.

Monoprice.com. That is all.

by singer 17y ago

Monoprice.com. That is all.

Except when you're buying a new TV and you're at the checkout, you realize you need a cable to finish your hookup. This is why you never see a $10 cable in a retail store, like the poster above mentioned. It's all about the psychology of needing it now instead of being able to wait 4 more days.

mrcharles 17y ago
This is why you use monoprice.com. Every time you need a cable, you actually order 4. It's still 1/4 the price of buying it from a retail store, and then when a friend needs a cable for that new tv he just bought, you can hand him one, for 1/4 the price of what he'd pay in stores, and he thanks you, AND you've just paid for your own cables. Really, just don't ever buy a cable in a store. Ever. Getting a TV? Plan it ahead of time. Buying new tech? Make sure you have the cables already. We're talking about an average 20x price markup on these cables, and sometimes significantly more (network cables I'm looking at you!). Knowing your options is the first step in not getting screwed.
- dpcan 17y ago
  The original poster is precisely correct from my experience. The only time I purchased a cable online was when I bought someone a gift that required the HD cable. All the other times, we ran around the corner to Shopko and paid whatever their price was because we had a new HD system setup and wanted it in HD. Now. I really don't think it's a casual purchase for most people, and I certainly never considered buying more than one at a time.
  - Frazzydee 17y ago
    Also, when you're buying a $3,000 TV, $100 for the cables doesn't seem that bad, relatively speaking.
    - Psyonic 17y ago
      And when you've paid $150 dollars for a disneyland park hopper pass, that $12 slice of pizza and small soda doesn't seem that bad either, but you're still being taken to the cleaners.
dhyasama 17y ago
HDTV was new enough to me the last time I made a purchase that I assumed an HDMI cable would be in the box. It wasn't and next time I will plan ahead. Not everyone will do that so, so maybe a little business for same day delivery of cables to people would earn an enterprising college student a few extra bucks for beer. It could work where the population is sufficiently dense.
blhack 17y ago
Does your city have a Fry's electronics? Last time I was there, they had HDMI cables on sale for something like $4; I bought a gaggle of them. If you don't have a Fry's, you're missing out on something wonderful. Every Fry's about a hundred people who absolutely and completely despise every single aspect of their jobs, and have been forced to wear white button-down shirts with ties. Fry's sells everything. From green laser pointers, to 2 post telco racks, to embedded computer parts, to washing machines, to televisions, to cheap chinese toys, to candy bars, to tasers and pepper spray and home security gear.
- joezydeco 17y ago
  Yes, my city has a Fry's. And I've had the same experience as you. I've never seen a store so stocked with salespeople (and 70 cash registers!) but with so little interest in the process of selling and supporting material. But my original point was that the typical person sitting at a checkout with an HDTV doesn't know what the HDMI cable does, much less that they can buy it at Fry's or Monoprice for 25x cheaper.

Frazzydee 17y ago

Just make sure you pay by google checkout or paypal. I'm surprised people don't seem to be angry about the way they've handled the data breach issue.

TheBranca18 17y ago
You mean the fact they store your password in their database as plaintext? Yeah kinda scary to be honest.
- Frazzydee 17y ago
  That's unfortunate. I guess it goes to show how much value those "Hacker Safe" badges are. But how do you know they store your password as plaintext? I was talking about the way they handled it in general. They didn't email any customers, and they still don't know which cards/orders were affected. I think they should at least be able to tell me which customers have been complaining (ex. those who made orders between DATE_A and DATE_B) Also, they deleted data that they previously assured me would be kept & accessible (last 4 digits of credit cards, so that I can check the appropriate bill). It took me over a week and at least 5 different CSR's to find this out- I was given the runaround before that. Live support & phone support both told me they couldn't help, and claimed that the email support team is the only group that could. Over a week later, I still have not received a response.
  - TheBranca18 17y ago
    I forgot my password and when I used their system instead of having them generate a temporary password for me they sent me the password in an email.