When we venture out into the world to buy our technology gifts (tis’ the season you know), we almost always end up with something that needs a cable—like a printer, router etc. Now when you end up with this product, you almost always get the perky salesperson who wants to add something to your purchase. There’s a rationale behind this.
Sales staff at the big box electronics stores are perky for a reason. While the Red Bull, Mountain Dew, and other small incentives help, it’s typically because their hours are determined by how much they sell. Sell a ton, you get to be full time, and maybe you’ll get some health care. Sell very little, and your hours get cut to the point where you quit, and move on. I could write entire column about it, but case in point – the things that they typically suggest make big margins for the store. Cables, service plans, ink, “hardware optimization,” the list goes on. In this particular column, we’re going to look at cables.
There are two types of cables that are typically used in the world of electronics – Analog and Digital. The first thing we’re going to look at is older analog cabling. The quality of audio, video or data when transmitted over an analog cable directly correlates with the quality of the cable your using. A good example is your telephone. If you have an older phone, flip it over. On the back it should say “complies with part 68, FCC Rules” and have an REN (ringer equivalency number). This means that your telephone is an analog phone. Now if you live in a historic (read: old) house, you should be able to pick up your line, and hear some static or hiss when you call someone. That’s what a bad analog line sounds like. Now, an analog signal is just a string of electrical pulses; imagine what that would do to music, data or a signal. Are you still with me?
We’re going to move on to the digital age, where we have the common accessories for cell phones, printers and computers. Most of them – USB, HDMI, DVI, and DiplayPort – are digital. What’s this mean? Digital cables for the most part are an on or off, working or not working piece of hardware. Hold onto your wallet – you can transmit a digital signal with an old copper coat hanger just as well as you can with a $100.00 Monster Cable! Just pay attention to what your product manual states you need, and go to some place like Lowe’s to pick up your HDMI cable. For computer cables, the same theory is true. If you pay more than ten or fifteen bucks for a USB or DVI cable, you’ve been had. We sell our USB cables here for around ten dollars each. They don’t come in a fancy blister pack, and there are no space aliens, foot ball players, musicians, Apple Logo’s, or any of the other fun stuff on them. Yes, they’re made in China, ten thousand at a time, just like most electronic items. The rubber wrap around the cable probably isn’t as pretty, and you won’t get 24k gold tips. Are you going to marry your computer? But are they functionally equivalent to the $50.00 USB cable at Best Buy? You betcha’!
If you’re having a hard time with this, you can take the Pepsi challenge yourself. Go to any big retailer, and buy a Monster HDMI cable. Then go to Amazon.com, or Lowes, and buy the cheapest one they have. Take them home, unpack them, and have someone else plug in each cable, and see if you can tell the difference. You won’t be able to. You can do the same thing with a USB printer cable. Go out and buy the most expensive one you can find, and then come see me, and I’ll let you borrow one of the cheap ones. They work exactly the same way, and you printer, scanner, and any other peripheral won’t care. This is the magic of the digital age.
There are plenty of people out there that will tell you that they see a difference. I choose to believe in science; where digital is zeros and ones, and it either works or it doesn’t.
So, to sum it up – If your technology gift is digital this year, spend the money on a better product, and save yourself some coin with your cables. Your technology won’t care, and the recipient of your gift will thank you for a higher quality item. Just make sure that you purchase the kind of cables your manufacturer specifies. There are different speeds that need to be matched appropriately to your hardware, as well as how long of a cable run you’re going to have.
Alex Smolens owns and operates Atlantek Computer Systems in Chestertown. Considering Spy readers are de facto computer users to some degree, we thought it nice to have Alex answer the more common questions that arise in his store each day, and questions Spy readers want answered.
Harriet Olsen says
Alex, I appreciate your comments about cables and found it very interesting. Maybe you can explain my recent experience with an HDMI cable. We bought a new blue ray player and of course needed to buy a HDMI cable to go with it as these never come in the box. When we hooked up the system, it would not work. The product stated it had to be a “high speed” HDMI cable. I had not realized there were different levels of HDMI cable and the sales person never suggested it. Back to the store we went to trade up to a faster cable. The new cable worked like a champ. I guess that is my “Pepsi Challenge”.
Ed Plaisance says
All you ever needed to know about this topic: https://reviews.cnet.com/2719-11276_7-226-1.html?tag=page;page
The issue of “high speed” is marketing hype. I suspect the first cable you used was somehow defective. When I bought my Blue Ray at Best Buy, the guy wanted to sell me a 6-foot HDMI cable for over 50 bucks. I had read the CNET article and bought 2 12-foot cables from monoprice.com for somewhere around 12 bucks each, if I remember right…anyhow they were cheap and work great.
It pays to do a bit of homework on Google.
Alex says
Harriet,
Some more expensive devices do require a faster cable. “Faster” refers to the amount of data the cable can transfer from one device to another. This article addresses the equivalent technical ability of an expensive digital cable versus a cheap one. As I mentioned above, the correct cable is important, and can preclude your device from working properly. What you experienced was an issue of correct vs. incorrect, not expensive vs. cheap.
I’m very surprised that the sales rep didn’t mention it, it’s usually the easiest way to upsell to a more expensive cable. Cables make big profits for stores, and selling a bunch of them usually equates to at least a pat on the back, if not some kind of financial spiff. I certainly don’t want to out anyone, as jobs are a hot commodity these days, but I have to ask: Where did you purchase this item? Wal-Mart and Target don’t actively upsell, however Radioshack and Best Buy do. There’s no susbstitute for a sales person who knows what they’re talking about. Unfortuantely technical knowledge usually means they get paid more, which transfers into higher prices, and most sales staff only know a little bit more than you do.
Joe Diamond says
Alex,
I wouldn’t change a word of your article; words to live by! The next article could be “Fittings and Plugs.”
Having done telephone and satellite system installation I observe there are many fittings that the average homeowner is not set up to work with. Coaxial cable and telephone line require that fittings be crimped correctly with the correct technique and tool. Correct test equipment is not just an add on…it is required.
Beyond that , USB, HDMI….the list continues….these just are not user serviceable. Get the correct length or live with the cable snake behind the set.
But for whatever reason, most techs still have to repair-by-removal the attempts to lash cables together using pliers, aluminum foil, paperclips and rubberbands. I expect this problem to get worse as landline phones fade into the past and the cost of cable TV increases.
More articles like the one you posted will fill a growing need.
Joe
Harry says
75 Ohm cables (cable TV cables) can vary a lot. Often, the cable is good (or even excellent), but the connectors are garbage. I bought some gold-plated connectors that became intermittent, simply because they were only screwed around the shielding and not crimped. I now have a good quality crimping tool and make my own. The warning here is to inspect cable ends for a tight crimp; the cable shouldn’t twist in the connector. This can be especially troublesome with short jumpers that go between a splitter and a TV, or a set-top box or a DTA and the TV, where the cable can actually flex when you move things around. Price tells you absolutely nothing about this problem.