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Choice Magazine has released a press release warning consumers to be wary of high tech rip offs
Choice Magazine has released a press release warning consumers to be wary of high tech rip offs.
Causing particular ire to the consumer watchdog were hi def digital cables and printer cartridges.
According to Choice, tests conducted with 13 multifunction printers showed that the cost of ink could rise to 1000s of dollars.
In the press release, Choice stated if you printed five B+W pages, three colour pages and one photo every day for a year over three years on brand’s printer cartridges could set you back just under $10,000.
While you can buy cheaper genuine replacement cartridges overseas you usually can’t use them with the Australian bought printer because the microchip attached to the ink cartridge must match the country in order to work.
“The printer manufacturers own the patents for the chips which means third party competitors can’t legally copy them. The competition is frozen out and consumers pay more,” said CHOICE spokesman Christopher Zinn.
Choice also warned buyers of HD TVs to not waste their money on upgrading to a more expensive HDMI cable as there was no difference in performance quality between a $40 HDMI cable and a $300 cable…
“Those with vested interests have been over-hyping the benefits of shelling out top dollar for HDMI cables with nothing but bluff to back up their case,” said CHOICE spokesman Christopher Zinn. “Our testing shows clearly that for once you don’t always get what you pay for and there are perfectly acceptable cables available at reasonable prices. The problem is that stores are not always making consumers aware of all the options.”
it would seem the clear message from the Choice results is buyer beware…
