Another Pet Peeve Addressed!

"This one goes to 11!"

When I bought my first HDMI-capable TV, the salescreature attempted to convince me that I needed to spend $100 on Monster HDMI cables.  I smiled and asked for the cheapest HDMI cables they had.

"But sir, don't you want the best signal possible?"
"Sure, sell me the cheap ones and I'll have just that!"
"But these Monster cables are the best!"
"You mean you make the most margin on them, right?"
Silence.

I then proceded to explain to him the difference between analog signals, where cable quality makes a significant difference, and digital signals, where quality is less critical to success.  You want a lot of high-quality conductor to your speakers because they're analog.  But your HDMI TV? Not so much...

I knew then what I know now, you don't need to spend a fortune on HDMI cables.  Ever.  HDMI, a digital signal, either works or it doesn't.  Now a store in the UK is officially challenging this scam.

"When you buy a TV from John Lewis, Currys, or countless other high street stores, you will be offered hideously expensive accessories such as HDMI cables," the company said in a blog post. "These cables are sold with absolutely ridiculous markups, many multiples of the actual cost of the items."

"These stores are trying to trick people into thinking they need an HDMI lead costing over £100 after buying a Full HD TV. This is simply not the case. You shouldn't be spending more than £4 on an HDMI cable," it said.

"An HDMI cable is an HDMI cable," Kogan added. "It's a digital cable. You either get a picture or you don't. Don't get conned into buying a 'fancy' HDMI cable because it will make no difference!"

Amen!