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A couple of things

Hacking Netflix has a cool idea using Yahoo Pipes, Netflix, and a PVR. Using your Netflix queue RSS feeds, it would be cool if movies being shown on cable could be recorded automatically from your Netflix queue, and removed afterwards so you don't have to rent them. The author mentions Yahoo pipes, a nice RSS mashup tool, but it's not totally necessary.

It's not currently possible, but it certainly seems doable, and something I'd use if it showed up on my TiVo.

The other thing worth sharing is "Beware the HDMI Scammers". It's about the proliferation of overpriced HDMI cables. A couple years ago, you could find a decent length of HDMI at many electronics places for maybe $50. Now, you'll often see them carrying prices of up to $300. I've heard that places like BestBuy carry cables that start at over $100. Even Radio Shack isn't immune to the greed -- my local store's cheapest cable was $69.

HDMI cables are all pretty much the same, it being a digital connection and all. You can find perfectly good cables in the $5-$20 range online at lots of places. Don't get snookered into overpriced cables the next time you buy a TV. Hold off and order them online for much less.

by Matt Haughey February 20, 2007 in News

Comments

I always find it shocking that people try to convince you that you need pricey cables for digital signals. It is just 1s and 0s and if the cable doesn't work perfectly then you will know! Look at IDE or SATA cables for hard drives - these are very cheap cables and if 1 bit is bad it can cause your programs to crash. Why should it be any different for digital video or digital audio cables? You should be able to use a coathanger as long as you can plug it in.

Posted by: Wayne at Feb 21, 2007 6:59:14 AM

HDMI for $5.71

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/hdmi-cable-ripoff-continues-cable-prices-go-even-lower-elsewhere-238443.php

Posted by: Samir at Feb 21, 2007 12:33:29 PM

It's worth mentioning that the "it's digital, so it either works or it doesn't" idea isn't entirely true. Just as a digital cell phone signal will sometimes garble because of lost bits of data, so can an HDMI signal loose bits and "garble". The spec for HDMI transmission has a set of guidelines for dealing with lost bits.

I'm not saying you need to a $200 cable, or even that the $5 cable is a bad one. But there is such a thing as a HDMI cable that works and sucks at the same time.

Posted by: Grover at Feb 23, 2007 1:19:01 PM

I've also had a lot of good luck with inexpensive HDMI (and DVI and analog) cables from Monoprice.

Posted by: Dave Zatz at Feb 24, 2007 9:11:19 AM

Just wanted to post here and thank you for the monoprice pointer. Last week I bought a few cables from them for my new HDTV, and the whole experience, from website ordering to lightning quick shipping, was a beautiful thing to behold. I was delighted to get my cables on Saturday before the weekend set in. And no, I'm not a shill for them :)

Posted by: Chris C. at May 9, 2007 8:27:09 PM

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