Currys Sandstrom cables rip-off

wubu

I remember working for Currys/PC World and the poor kids used to believe it when the managers said "it gives better picture quality". They didn't know any different and used to tell all the customers.

I don't think I ever used to sell them unless someone for some odd reason wanted one. Maybe if I got comission but seeing as it was a minimum wage job, people could have whatever they wanted.

vrbarreto

dacouch wrote: »

A HDMI cable is the conduit for binary, basically a series of 1 and 0, they either get through the cable or they don't so the notion of a £70 cable being better than a 99p shop one is stretching it

Yeah but think of the quality of the 1's and 0's in all their shiny gold plated glory!

I can't believe that this con is still going on... Oh for the days when a cable was thrown in for free with a purchase...

Wickedguy123

Yeah can confirm this con is still going on, was offered the cable in a bundle, at £30 off, such a bargain! Not.

SpammyTheSpammer

Went to Currys/PC World yesterday to pick up a backup device and spotted these behind the counter at £79.99 (?). Asked the assistants if they sold many and they said "Oh yes, these are far better cables and will last a lifetime". So I guess those staff members were on commission....

paddyrg

In fairness, they probably are better build quality than a 99p stores special, and will last until the spec is functionally obsolete. Of course £80 is having a laugh, but these extras are pretty much the shops entire margin these days - internet pricing means single digit percentage markup on a lot of stuff!

Azari

paddyrg wrote: »

In fairness, they probably are better build quality than a 99p stores special, and will last until the spec is functionally obsolete. Of course £80 is having a laugh, but these extras are pretty much the shops entire margin these days - internet pricing means single digit percentage markup on a lot of stuff!

It's definitely worth paying around £3-5 for one of these cables as the cheap ones can be very poorly made, and an intermittent connection can be the very devil to diagnose - much more so than with cables carrying analogue signals.

peter_the_piper

SpammyTheSpammer wrote: »

"Oh yes, these are far better cables and will last a lifetime"..

What is a lifetime?
Human 75 years
Dog 15 years
Computer 5 years
Cable ??????????

Kernow666

was browsing PC world last night and they had a special offer of a gold plated HDMI cable for just £10 ( usual price £49.99 ) when you bought a selected TV over £499.99

takman

A few years ago I went to Currys with my grandparents and they tried to sell them one of these £50 HDMI cables and said it would improve the picture quality. I then explained to the salesperson the difference between analog and digital and how his claim is false but he didn't seem bothered about it.

I have one HDMI cable that i know is over 7 years old and cost around £1-2 from eBay and it still works fine to this day.

pappa_golf

I bought one , now I can swim with the dolphins and play the piano , wonderful cable.


without them we would be doomed to a low resolution life