Where's the "Any" key? New Tech Support Thread

[diesel_powered]

Well... not the absolute cheapest dental floss cable. But I've had good luck with the no-name bagged cables from Amazon. I think I got mine for about $9. Shockingly enough, considering how much they go for retail, we got another one free with the cable box from Comcast.

[andronicus]

I remember specifically printing out a price for a HDMI cable in a store I worked at, it was seventy five fucking dollars.  I am thinking, you have got to be kidding me.

[diesel_powered]

Yeah, I have absolutely no idea where they get off charging that for a glorified USB cable. And I'll tell you straight off, HDMI is the most shit interface ever designed. It's a shitty, overpriced blow job to copy protection and the fucking media companies that doesn't even work half the time.

Back when I worked at Best Buy, the discount was 5% over cost, so everybody in the A/V departments took it as an opportunity to buy the most absurd Monster everything and pay essentially nothing.

[milly balgeary]

Nah, go to monoprice.com, like 4 bucks for quality.

[diesel_powered]

Fuck yes, Monoprice is my go-to for cables.

[alistarr*]

i don't have a problem with spending a couple more $ just to know the thing's not going to fall apart, but wouldn't be buying a crazy expensive one anyway because i suspect it's not going to get used as much as it's going to get carried around in a laptop bag.

[Good Intentions]

Buy the monoprice or equivalent one, they're not going to fall apart.

For really robust technologies (S-video, RCA) I buy my cables from a dollar store. I'd at least give it a go for HDMI, if I were in your situation.

[alistarr*]

i will do as you (all) command.

[elpollodiablo]

I just bought two HDMI cables on Amazon for a penny apiece. Shipping was $6.

[alistarr*]

those were ones i was selling as a test. they're actually strings with tin cans at each end and i wrote "1080p" on one of them with some coloured chalks, but it didn't come out very well so i left it off the other one.

[Greg Nog]

I bought a cable from monoprice.com last night!  It'll hopefully work for connecting my laptop to the HDMI plug on my TV. 

[diesel_powered]

those were ones i was selling as a test. they're actually strings with tin cans at each end and i wrote "1080p" on one of them with some coloured chalks, but it didn't come out very well so i left it off the other one.

Don't you know those are the best quality HDMI cables? The string formulates the bits so you totally get 10x higher resolution.

[alistarr*]

yeah but they weren't compatible with my snes.

I bought a cable from monoprice.com last night!  It'll hopefully work for connecting my laptop to the HDMI plug on my TV. 

this is the purpose of my purchase also (but for someone else's laptop, not yours, don't worry!).

[diesel_powered]

Assuming you have DVI connector or an adapter to make a DVI connector, you should be golden. HDMI and DVI are essentially identical, but with different connectors.

[elpollodiablo]

DVi doesn't carry audio though

[diesel_powered]

This is true.

[C of heartbreak]

Hey, I know how you kids like to spill water/beer/pee all over your Macbooks. If anybody has a broken one sitting around that I can cannibalize for parts, I will give you money for it.

[lastclearchance]

Hey, I know how you kids like to spill water/beer/pee all over your Macbooks. If anybody has a broken one sitting around that I can cannibalize for parts, I will give you money for it.

What kind of parts?

I guess what I am saying is, if you end up with an extra topcase at the end of whatever you're doing, I'd maybe buy it off you. Depends on what the problem I'm having is. I really need to go get some kapton tape and just do this.

[C of heartbreak]

My optical drive took a shit. First it just stopped reading CDs, which was an inconvenience I could live with, but now that it can't play dvds anymore I'm gonna need a new one. I'm checking out a broken 13" Macbook on ebay right now--if I get it I'll let you know?

[diesel_powered]

FWIW, Other World Computing sells new drive upgrades for around $100: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/optical-drives/superdrives/

Buying new might be a better option since in my experience, Apple is incapable of making an effective optical drive. I've had two high-end Apple laptops in my time and both have had fucked drives. The one I'm typing on now is only a few months old and already the drive won't eject a disc unless you turn it on its side. I should probably get it repaired under Applecare, but I really only use the drive to install software.

[andronicus]

Why do laptops even come with drives anymore.  I mean if you want to watch a movie, illegally download it off the internet.  That is expressly what the internet was invented for.

[diesel_powered]

And for porn.

[clare]

I know this is going to sound weird, but bandwidth can be really pricey if you live outside the Continental US.  And slow too, so while the intertubes might be the one stop entertainment solution for some of you,it's not universal. MacBook Air didn't really take off here for that reason.

[diesel_powered]

How much is internet where you are? The U.S. is by far not a broadband paradise, mostly because the government here is to chickenshit to force the telecoms to upgrade the infrastructure.

[FreddyKnuckles]

I got this HDMI and it is X1000 times better quality than the piece of shit that came with my verizon set top cable box. 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009S5HQA/ref=oss_T15_product