HDMI cables. First, yes I've been slacking in my blog posts. I'm sure y'all are so upset about it. Let me introduce what I'm sure will become a regular feature here at the BFPC, Things I'm Currently Pissed About... If any of y'all are like me, you've been lured into the world of High Definition television like a moth to a flame. The intoxication of 1080 progressively scanned lines of resolution illuminating the soft glow of electric sex finally became more than I could bear. For anyone still sitting on the fence, the prices have come down to the point that you might as well take the plunge. I'm pretty happy with my Sammy. You can make out on the rear projection units. Lots more bang for your buck, unless you just have to be one of THOSE people who has to hang their TV on the wall. The new microdisplay technology in the RPTVs means that these things aren't much larger than the flat pannels anyway. My Samsung has a 46" screen, but it's less than 12" deep and weighs less than 30 pounds. All this and it was under $800. So what are you waiting for? You've not seen Brandon Cox throw an interception until you've seen him throw one in HD. So you may be asking what, exactly, am I pissed about? Well, although prices on hardware are certainly coming down, all the big box stores are making up for it by bilking people on ridiculously overpriced cables. HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) cables are the standard way to hook up your HDTV to receive HD programing. You see, those little yellow cables on the RCA bundles don't cut it for HDTV. Those are analog. You must have a digital to digital interface connection in order to receive the HD programs you're paying all that money for. The two common ways to achieve this are through A.) HDMI and B.) Composite video. HDMI is by far the more popular of the two, in large part because HDMI carries both audio and video signals. The problem is the same person who sales you your new HDTV is going to tell you in order to receive the best picture you need to pay $100 for this 3' cable. "Your picture is only as good as the cable". Bullshit. Seriously, a digital cable is a digital cable. Just because it's "gold plated" and comes in a fancy package doesn't mean it's a better quality cable. People are obviously falling for this scam left and right, because you can't find a HDMI cable for under $40 at Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Brands Mart, etc... And most of them are in the $75-100 range. I spent the better part of 3 hours driving around town trying to find a cheap HDMI cable Friday (I picked up one of those $99 HD DVD players at WalMart and I was determined to hook it up). The salespeople at Brandsmart and Best Buy actually laughed at me when I asked them if they had any HDMI cables under $20. Well, I finally found one for $24 at Tiger Direct, but you can do even better if you are more patient than I was willing to be. Try $5. That's right. Don't buy the shit they're selling you.
