Usability Views Article Details  home | timeline | recent | popular | e-reports | userati | books | about  Tweaks for Geeks (11 Jun 2005) When those of us who are into "gadget porn" look at the latest state-of-the-art home entertainment gear, and then check its prices against our dwindling bank accounts, we can't help but feel embittered. Our technolust is bust. But we want that US $1500 DVD player; we crave the best audio and video that money can buy. Lucky for us, much of the good stuff in the top end components has trickled down into very affordable equipment. Digital processing chips, which are the brains of audio and video players, are relatively inexpensive and universally available. But if a DVD player is selling for $150, the manufacturer's costs were probably not much more than $30, and that cost includes labor. So manufacturers skimp wherever they can: on the cases, the capacitors and resistors, and connectors—common components that they can purchase for pennies. Article URL: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/jun05/0605geek.html Read 87 more articles from IEEE Spectrum sorted by date, popularity, or title. Next Article: A lexicon of teen speak     This site is a labour of love built by Chris McEvoy