Electronics not coming with the basic cables to use them straight out of the box

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Hobchild

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#205149 31-Oct-2016 19:10

Is this common? I purchased a brand new Sony blu-ray player yesterday and was shocked that it did not include an HDMI cable thus I could not use it until I bought one. I feel this should at least be mentioned on the box and I also feel the salesman didn't know either otherwise surely he would have tried to upsell one.

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#1661642 31-Oct-2016 19:12

Yep, common. One of my Blu-ray players came with an SD composite cable and nothing else!

Hobchild

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#1661648 31-Oct-2016 19:22

Behodar:

Yep, common. One of my Blu-ray players came with an SD composite cable and nothing else!

Well I didn't even get that, literally only the power cable.

sbiddle

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#1661655 31-Oct-2016 19:32

It's the way the consumer electronics market has worked since the beginning of time.

It's no different to printers never coming with Parallel cables in the old days..

Hobchild

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#1661660 31-Oct-2016 19:41

I guess I've been ignorant as now that I think about it I don't think I've ever bought a stand alone disk player of any kind before as I've always just used consoles which always came with at least the basic cables to use them. Still surprised if this is so common that the salesman didn't even ask if I had one.

scuwp

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#1661667 31-Oct-2016 19:46

It normally says on the box whats included. I scour them carefully nowadays given how common it is for essential items such as cables to be left out and needing a separate purchase.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

kiwifidget

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#1661668 31-Oct-2016 19:49

I just bought a Canon camera that has ports for an AV cable and an HDMI cable, neither supplied.

I can understand perhaps not supplying the HDMI cable, they are fairly common, I could probably rustle up a mini HDMI cable but I'm not sure what the AV cable would look like.

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richms

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#1661669 31-Oct-2016 19:51

Cameras dont come with memory cards, do you think they should as well since that is essential to have them work?

IMO, research. Also who doesnt have a crapload of HDMI cables already? I get really annoyed when things come with needless crap in the box. Just thrown out about a dozern random foregn plug pins that clip on to the adapter for external HDDs. I will never be taking my HDDs to the UK or USA so have no need for them. Yet they are in the box because it makes it easier for western digital to have fewer skus to sort out.

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Hobchild

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#1661692 31-Oct-2016 20:22

richms:

Also who doesnt have a crapload of HDMI cables already?

Me unfortunately.

I agree with you I should've researched it but ignorance got the best of me because everything I've bought previously has had any necessary cables to use it even is this is only to it's most basic functions. Even all the cameras I've bought have all had limited internal storage to take a few photos.

But I will admit I now feel slightly foolish as I just had another look at the box and it is indeed on there in tiny writing right after "requires HDTV".

RunningMan

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#1661707 31-Oct-2016 20:35

I bought a Sony Blu-Ray player a couple of weeks ago - quite surprised that it did come with an HDMI cable.

gregmcc

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#1661710 31-Oct-2016 20:43

it is a pain having to spend more money buying the necessary cables, I think the fair trading act would be the go to legislation in this case, don't know exactly where it says, but doesn't the item have to be fit for purpose, without the necessary cables it isn't fit for purpose. I can understand a printer that has wifi, as no usb or network cable would be required. What about if you brought a car and you discovered that an essential component wasn't supplied, let's say the wheels, but you can buy them as a separate item? I may have a spare set of wheels at home, or be able to borrow some from a mate, it would be reasonable to expect them to be supplied, same for a HDMI cable, without it the rest of it is useless

Behodar

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#1661715 31-Oct-2016 20:53

gregmcc: I can understand a printer that has wifi, as no usb or network cable would be required.

But taking your argument to the point of absurdity, you could claim that a Wi-Fi router should also be included. There can be a fine line between what "should" be included, vs what actually is.

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MikeAqua

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#1661727 31-Oct-2016 21:09

Personally I would rather buy my own the correct length than pay for a one size fits all cord with the appliance.

Mike

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#1661737 31-Oct-2016 21:28

Seems common yes.

Similarly, Sony selling their new flagship phone with Quickcharge 3.0 capability....and no quick charge enabled charger in the box! That'll be another $60 please....

mattwnz

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#1661738 31-Oct-2016 21:32

sbiddle:

It's the way the consumer electronics market has worked since the beginning of time.

It's no different to printers never coming with Parallel cables in the old days..

Funnily enough my first printedrfrom the 90's did come with a parallel port cable included, but sometime after it became common not to include USB cables. But those were the days when a printer was a grand. However if you ask the retailer, 'does this come with everything I need' to get it running, and you get it home and find it doesn't, you can ask them to provide you with the missing parts you need to get it working. Normally though they will tell you the cables that are missing, and will try to upsell you on expensive cables.eg DSE and their stockpile of hdmi cables.

mattwnz

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#1661742 31-Oct-2016 21:36

Geektastic:

Seems common yes.

Similarly, Sony selling their new flagship phone with Quickcharge 3.0 capability....and no quick charge enabled charger in the box! That'll be another $60 please....

My sony tv needed a $120 wifi dongle to allow me to turn it into a wireless smart tv, and a generic wifi dongle wouldn't work.

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