Resourceful consumers think they’re saving a lot of money when they discover cheap alternatives to traditional CE products and services.
But are they really getting a good deal?
Here are some presumed money savers that might not be such good ideas after all:
Costco TVs
Ooh, it’s so tempting to pick up one of those Mitsubishi, Panasonic or Samsung bigscreens on the cheap. But look closely. Despite the name brands, many of these TVs have limited functionality for control.
For instance, they may lack discrete IR codes. That means you’ll have a very tough time operating them with a universal remote control. The controller won’t know if a TV is on or off, so it could get messy.
CE Online
A couple of caveats on the online buying thing. There certainly are some reputable resellers, but others are not authorized by the manufacture to sell their TVs, loudspeakers and other electronics online.
That means your products are not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, and just try getting tech support. When in doubt, check the vendor’s Web site for authorized resellers.
When you see “new” products being sold at a huge discount, there’s a good chance that the seller is not authorized.
The other hidden expense involves shipping and handling. What some of these folks don’t tell you up front is that your big screen may be delivered by one guy who is told to leave the box at your door.
If you want to bribe the delivery guy to help you carry the behemoth into your house, you better make sure someone is at home to help. Cha-ching: a lost day at the office.
And don’t forget the cost and hassle of returning a defective product. It’s on your dime.
Who Needs Prewiring Anyway?
You’re building a house, and the low-voltage guy wants to charge you $5,000 or $10,000 to run a lot of Cat 5 cables for audio, video, automation and other purposes.
But noooooo, you don’t need no stinkin’ cables. Everything’s wireless, right? Just try to get WiFi to penetrate a giant mirror, steel beams, equipment racks or other obstacles between your PC and the router.
Nobody is trying to push the DIY out of the game but anybody that says there is no difference in HDMI cables is either on crack or doesn’t know what they are talking about. Wait until bitrate increases across the board and then get back to me on this. A good resource for those in doubt is dplrating.com
The “field” is in my house, my family’s houses, and my friend’s houses… these aren’t Crestron & Fireball systems feeding whole-house video, but they are far more than an HTIB and an LCD. With these systems I’m as liable for the performance as any CI and I’m on-call nearly 24/7/365.. especially weekends and holidays. And in every instance long runs of Monoprice HDMIs, DIY pre-wiring, smart online shopping (including refurbs and closeouts), plenty of devices without discrete codes, and especially Harmony remotes ALL operate without fail day-in and day-out.
Just because a site/magazine is CI oriented doesn’t mean it, and more vocally its readers, need to spread overcooked propaganda to try and push capable people away from DIY.
You guys are idiots! You seriously don’t have a clue! I was born in this industry, (Literally)
If you spend any time in the field you would know exactly what she is talking about! Do you have the first clue about how HDMI works beyond a single cable? How about bit-rate or HDCP? Do you know the tolerance over an entire system before things go wrong. Being that this magazine is intended for professionals, your ability to spew diarrhea from the mouth without any knowledge of what you’re talking about embarrasses me.
Good work Julie, keep it up.
I disagree with literally every single point made in this article. This article should be entitled, do you enjoy being ripped off? Read how!
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Again people are guessing about something thats not even out for sale yet. People… 
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And saying that you can’t reliable results out of inexpensive solutions is JUST as short sighted.