Fw: [ukha_d] £99 HDMI HD Media Player Bargain!?

[Gareth Cook <g@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Not =A399 anymore...

Gareth Cook
IT Architect / Project Manager, SWG Sales Europe
Office: +44 (0)1784 445166 - Mobile: +44 (0)7980 445166
email: g@xxxxxxx

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----- Forwarded by Gareth Cook/UK/IBM on 09/05/2007 12:00 -----

Discussion
Main Topic

ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Today 09:20

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Subject:
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RE: [ukha_d] =A399 HDMI HD Media Player Bargain!?
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Category:



You miss the point.

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These sorts of boxes are produced to meet a price point in a retailer,=20
they
are what I refer to as ?cost engineered? and built to a price, not a
specification. Believe me, I've seen it happen and seen how it?s done,
especially from Far Eastern companies but the Europeans and Yanks play the
same game. So if the producer thinks that they can get away without a=20
widget
that costs $0.05 they will do so. You also have to remember that, as a=20
rough
guide, the cost on the production line will add approximately three to=20
four
times that at point of sale as everything is generally calculated in
percentages on top of gate price.

=20

Quite often with these low cost items what you get is a cheap DVD player=20
or
whatever knocked out at $20 landed, then sold in stores for $50 for a set
period. Then the excess stock is sold off at a stupidly low price just to
shift them. Even with a high failure rate on the initial ones of 30% or=20
more
there?s still room to simply swap them out or repair them, customer
satisfaction is just not on the agenda with these sorts of products, it?s
all about margin and volume.

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It?s the old story, you get what you pay for and if you buy cheap all too
often that?s just what you get.

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Consumerism, gotta love it.

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K.

=20

From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Mal Lansell
Sent: 09 May 2007 06:57
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] =A399 HDMI HD Media Player Bargain!?

=20

Well it's only =A399 at Amazon - twice as much elsewhere. The shortfalls=20
I mention are frustrating because they could be addressed without the=20
device costing very much more. The ifo/iso one in particular is just a=20
software issue, and judging by the forums Netgear realise they have=20
messed up, and are working towards new firmware (how long it will be is=20
anyone's guess, though).

As for HD playback, if you're going to the trouble of making a box that=20
can output at 1080p, it would seem sensible to make sure it can handle=20
the bitrate. The extra horsepower would put the price up of course, but=20
it would still be very reasonably priced.

Mal

Kenneth Watt wrote:

> > I've done a bit more reading around, and unfortunately it looks
like
> > this device has too many shortcomings to be useful.
>
> For =A399 did you really expect much else?
>
> K.
>
>
>=20

=20



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