Monster Cable. I know you hate ‘em and you’re not planning on reading this post because of that, but these new power centers are kind of neat so I implore you to read on. It’s the hip thing to go green and these latest power centers from Monster Cable will help with that.
The Monster GreenPower IR Control is featured on the remote-control enabled EPIR 2450, EPIR 3650, and HDP 2550 PowerCenters. Designed for use with home entertainment systems, these PowerCenters let users eliminate stand-by energy waste with their remote control. Each of these PowerCenters features remote controlled outlets that can be completely switched off using any universal learning remote. Users simply plug their HDTV or other energy wasting electronics into these outlets and add the PowerCenter to their remote. They can now use their remote to completely cut power to AV components that would ordinarily use electricity even when their home theater isn’t on. EP IR 2450 has 3 outlets, EP IR 3650 has 4 outlets and HDP IR 2550 has 2 outlets that can be turned on or off by remote control.
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Monster Cable has a history of suing companies with the word ‘monster’ in their name. An indoor glow-in-the-dark mininture golf company named Monster Golf felt Monster Cable’s wrath last May. This time, it’s Denco’s apple or sweet corn flavored Monster Deer Block.
Why anyone would confuse an overpriced, AV cable and hunting bait is beyond us. So thankfully, Monster Cable’s lawyers withdrew their challenge after the defendants filed for a dismissal on the claim there is considerable differences.
For Monster Cable’s sake though, we would like to remind everyone that Monster Deer Block is not made by Monster Cable.
Monster Cable, the makers of cable, just sent the new Beats by Dr. Dre, a pair of noise cancelling “studio” headphones aimed at the mid-range audio consumer. At $349, these are priced at exactly the same point as the Bose QuietComfort 3, these headphones closest competitor. I’ve been wearing them for the past hour and found them on par with the QC3s in terms of noise reduction. They have very crisp tight bass and a nice separation as well.
Best of all the, the Beats use AAA batteries instead of the QC3’s battery pack, which means you’re not stuck if you forget to recharge. I’ll be taking a flight tomorrow and I’ll bring these along to test – I’m just about sold on the QC3s when it comes to noise reduction but I’m game to try these out in a real-world scenario.
The ear cups are quite nice and isolate the ear well and the styling is slightly younger and cooler than other massive headphones out there. Monster is entering a wireless age and they have to excel at stuff that doesn’t get electrons from point A to point B just to survive. In my brief testing, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on these.
It’s no secret that I love my Monster Outlets To Go power strip. It’s the most used gadget in my gear bag no matter where I am. Such a simple device with so many perks like instant friendship with the hot girl waiting at your gate. It won’t get you laid, but you’ll look cool in front of the other nerds. The release isn’t very clear on how many USB ports there are, but I’d assume it’s just one. There is no image attached either, so we’ll have to wait on that. However, the Outlets To Go 3 USB will retail for one penny less than $30 and comes in black.
I’m not going to chime in on the big Monster Cable debate — I’ll leave that to the real audiophiles to fight out — but it’s nice to see Monster suing a mini-golf park into submission for riding on their amazing brand recognition. What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the name Monster Mini Golf of Warwick, Rhode Island. HDMI cables, right?
Monster Mini Golf was founded by Christina Vitagliano and her husband four years ago. The indoor glow-in-the-dark golf concept has spawned 22 franchises across the country.
The couple said they will not be bullied by the cable products company and that they have no intention of changing the name.
“It’s a little out of hand right now. It just needs to stop. I would say pick on somebody your own size, but I don’t think they should be picking on anybody,” Vitagliano said.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and court records, Monster Cable has gone after several other notable monsters, including The Walt Disney Co. for its hit film “Monsters, Inc.,” Bally Gaming for its Monster slots, the Chicago Bears for their nickname “Monsters of the Midway” and even Fenway Park for using the “green monster” wall.
According to published reports, in most cases Monster Cable has been able to work out a settlement or nominal licensing agreement.
So if sales dry up due to improved wireless audio they can always sue-sue-sue their way into the sunset. Then again, Monster Mini Golf also calls itself the “Millennium Falcon of mini golf,” which could confuse those who need a starship that can do the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs and instead find themselves staring at a Skee-ball machine.
(via AOL)
I’m trying to find the source on this, but someone compared Monster Cable speaker wire to audio run through coat hanger wire and, in a blind listening test, found no noticeable difference. The jury is out on this topic — and gets very enraged when you talk about it — but let’s just say I’m leaning towards the “wire is wire” camp unless you’re dealing with supercolliders.
UPDATE – Here’s the thread.
Speaker Wire discussion
Do coat hangers sound as good as Monster cables? [BB]
So the Consumerist published a post about how Monster Cables are overpriced and unnecessary, and don’t really add that much, if anything, to the listening experience. So Monster wrote back, drafting a letter detailing that it’s the retailers who set the very high prices, not Monster. Sadly, Monster doesn’t do any damage to the (true) claim that the cables are just hogwash, but that’s another post.
Head over to the Consumerist for the whole rundown.
Monster Responds To “Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff” [The Consumerist]
What’s the best way to deal with having way too many cables running around, tripping you, so that you fall and crunch your teeth together in a bone-jarring bite? Why, make them into one, giant cable, of course!
Or so thinks the monsters at Monster Cable, who have put together the Cable•It (their dot, not mine) cable clutter management system. It’s a tube that you run all of your favorite cables through, and has ports along the side to let them out at the appropriate destinations. Genius!
And because it’s monster cable, you know it’ll cost them $2 to make, but of course they’ll sell the piece of plastic tubing for $20! Get yours today!
Monster Cable Cable•It [Product page]
Confusion about HD components and interconnects has spawned so much misinformation from all sides — including retailers, journalists, manufacturers, and forum-posting electrical engineers — that it’s time to set the Blu-ray discrecord straight. Monster Cable is the current target of somewhat misguided accusations because of this lack of understanding. The issue is: Does a better HDMI cable give you a better picture on your HDTV?
The answer is that a high-end cable has absolutely nothing to do with improving the quality of your HDTV picture in the way that audiophile-grade cables can improve the sound of your high-end home stereo. For the most part, high-end cables are about future-proofing rich people’s custom installations and supporting technologies that aren’t even available yet.
Does that mean Monster is justified in selling hyper-expensive cables to the rest of us? Of course not. That falls under consumer responsibility; you wouldn’t buy expensive racing tires for the family minivan. But does that justify people being up in arms about claims Monster is not making? No.
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Monster Cable, the company that charges insane amounts of money for copper wires, actually came up with a fine idea for its iFreePlay headphones, silly name notwithstanding. The ‘phones are designed for the second generation iPod shuffle and connect directly to the diminutive portable audio player. That means there’s no cords to deal with, something that joggers will no doubt appreciate. The headphones wrap around the back of your head, further eliminating the need for clips and other widgets that get in the way of high intensity aerobic exercise. That they’re only $50 is most surprising. I didn’t think Monster Cable made anything that cost less than a small fortune.
Product Page [Monst Cable via iLounge]
Jobs gains support of Yahoo!, Monster on DRM issue [Apple Insider]
