this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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I saw this post and wanted to ask the opposite. What are some items that really aren't worth paying the expensive version for? Preferably more extreme or unexpected examples.

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[โ€“] ilinamorato 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (17 children)

Digital cables, like HDMI and USB. If they meet the spec, they should operate identically.

ETA: It's a digital signal: either it works or it doesn't. There's no "higher quality" version of the same image. Sure, if you have a 4K 120hz HDR signal you might need an HDMI 2.1 spec cable, but as long as it meets that spec, it'll either work or need to be returned. The signal won't be washed out, or crackly, or static-y (all the concerns we had with analog video cables back in the day); the signal might not work, or it might drop out from time to time, which means it doesn't meet spec.

Same with USB-C. If it doesn't charge your phone correctly, or have the transfer speeds you want, because you bought it at a Dollar Store and it isn't in spec, the problem isn't USB-C, it's the fact that the manufacturer sold you an out-of-spec cable.

[โ€“] TheKracken 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

USB -C would like to talk to you. So many bad terrible cables.

[โ€“] Bob_Robertson_IX 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"If they meet specs" is the important thing, and unfortunately that's hard to know, though that $0.99 cable at the gas station isn't going to cut it.

[โ€“] voracitude 5 points 1 year ago

that's hard to know

Hit the nail on the head there. I still need to find a decent retailer for cables I don't need a tester to confirm are in spec.

[โ€“] ilinamorato 5 points 1 year ago

Those bad terrible cables don't meet spec, I guarantee it.

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