Where to buy HDMI cables

03.18.13: You probably paid more than $60 for each HDMI cable.

If you aren't aware of HDMI (but want to read further), it is High Definition Multimedia Interface and it is the standard for connecting Blu-ray players to your HD TV.
It is not required for connection the TV audio to your receiver.

I have used Monoprice for all my hdmi purchases.

I have bought 6' HDMI cables for less that $6 from Monoprice.

Monoprice carry many different quality HDMI cables and their shipping cost is reasonable (via USPS).

My last purchase was ever better cables. Two 10' cables for less than $40 total cost (delivered thru my mail slot).

These last two cables are almost the highest quality available:

1 . 10ft 24AWG CL2 Silver Plated High Speed HDMI cable - $14.32

2. 10ft Slim Series High Speed RedMere HDMI cable - $17.43

Shipping Cost : $7.55

This pic illustrates the various HDMI products ranging from 28AWG to the ultra-professional 22AWG (long distances). 

The RedMere cable is much smaller (see pic) and is uni-directional. 
Where a lot of bending is required and/or getting thru small holes in the wall, the RedMere would be preferred if the quality is equal to the 24AWG cable.

I compared these new 10ft cables with a 4ft 26AWG flat cable and a 6ft 28AWG, on a 50" and 60" plasma TV and couldn't detect any difference

Various tech websites indicate 28AWG is good enough, for up to 16ft, for 1080p or blu-ray quality. 
There is another higher quality service coming in a few years and it may challenge the 28AWG solution.

Normally, I would go for a cheaper product if the quality is very close.

However, at these prices...

If you find better prices elsewhere, pls let me know.

Is a website a scam

02.03.13: In  my review of web products, i am seeing websites that are relatively new and not known by the general public.

Remember the adage "If a price appears to be too good to be true, it generally is".

While these new websites may be honest and sell authentic products, there are a lot of knock-off products on the market and they appear to be growing every day.

I do a lot of shopping on eBay and find a lot of these non-authentic products to be worth buying as the risk is low due to low price.

However, when it comes to more expensive items such as golf equipment, I prefer to authenticate the site or buy from sites I am quite sure of.

eBay is a very good site to buy from, as they have buyer protection (thru Paypal and thru eBay).

I am now seeing much better golf prices outside of eBay and wonder if I will receive what I purchase and it will be as good as the authentic product.

I say "as good as", as I bought a set of Taylormade Burner 2.0 irons a couple of years ago at 1/3 the retail price. They played better than I expected and I wasn't concerned if they were authentic.

I am now looking at a new set of Taylormade Rocketbladez irons and a Taylormade R1 driver.

On these specific sites, the driver is approx $260 (including shipping via USP ... which almost assures me no duties or taxes) and the irons are approx $395 (9 irons).

Both prices are approx 1/2 the retail price and well below the eBay prices.

Very tempting...

However, in checking sites I noticed the following websites (price includes shipping via USPS) that looked very similar:

1. www.usgolfbuy.com (R1 $265, irons $395)

2. www.officegolfshop.com (R1 $260, irons $400)

3. www.golfpurchaser.com ($R1 $262, irons $392)

4. www.buygolfonlineus.com (R1 $250, irons $390)

5. www.buygolfbase.com (R1 $251, irons $381)
6. www.olfcheapsite.com -> redirects to www.sitegolfclub.com (R1 $250, irons $390)

(aside: all the above are accessible without the "www" in the address, as with most websites)

These are excellent prices and worth buying ... if a legitimate site and you are assured the authentic order arrives and they have an acceptable return policy and problem resolution process.

A lot to expect and very hard to confirm validity before purchase.

One approach is to use a site like www.scamadvisor.com to validate a website or www.mywot.com to identify or report a website. 

When I used scamadvisor to validate www.buygolfonlineus.com,

here is what it indicated.



If you have any question about validity/authenticity of a website, and would like my help, pls let me know.

Good Quality Pictures

03.05.13: Comparison of DSLRs.


D5200 vs D7100 ($1,200) - better pic quality (84 vs 80), smaller, lighter.
D5200 vs Canon 6D ($2,700) - better pic quality (84 vs 82), Many more focus points, lighter.
D5200 vs Sony A99 ($2,900) - smaller, lighter, cheaper, many more focus points, less pic quality (84 vs 89).

What I miss from the NEX-5R is the touch screen, wifi and smaller size.

The D5200 has a lot more functions/features and I am starting with AUTO, P, and video modes.

So far, I am impressed with the pic quality improvement and the video quality.
Helen enjoys the viewfinder and quick pics. 


03.04.13: I have tried everything, to avoid carrying a heavy camera requiring more than one lens ... a DSLR (digital single lens reflect) camera.

The camera industry has done a very good job of controlling our purchasing. 
If you want to pay less, you must buy a "digital camera".
If you want high quality pictures, you must buy a DSLR.

Sooner or later, a breakthru will occur - high quality pictures with a small low priced camera with ONE lens.

However, I want very good pics TODAY.

My plan is to make do with one lens (18-55mm) and later on decide if a high zoom digital camera is required for distance landscape pics.

After a lot of analysis (DSLRs under $1,000) and reading reviews, the best value for under $1,000 I came up with was the Nikon D5200.

It cost approx $200 more than the equivalent NEX-5R ... a digital camera with interchangeable lens.

Aside: I am continually impressed with the close-up pictures taken with my Samsung Galaxy Note (above) ...

I have 14 days to complete the quality testing phase: 
Is the picture quality good enough?
Is the ease-of-use good enough?
Are the tech features good enough?

Stay tuned.