Remember: You Don't Need To Buy Expensive Cables For That New TV
Adam writes in with a reminder for those of you who got a new TV, Blu-Ray player, or video game system this holiday season: you don't need to spend a fortune on fancy HDMI cables.
We've been saying this for a while, and we're not alone. Those $50 cables you see at Best Buy aren't any better than the cheap ones you can find on Monoprice or Newegg. Our reader also recommends PCH Cables and Blue Jeans Cable (which is clearly not bundling any site design costs into its cable prices). Other suggestions?
(Photo: Getty)
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Comments:
Somehow I feel I really should buy overpriced Monster cables simply because you never know when you're gonna watch Monsters Inc., or anything else with the word "Monster" in it.
Maybe I just need to take my meds.
I've always bought terrific products from cablesforless.com They happen to be local to me so I can just pick it up and I rarely see better prices.
Personally, I rented a couple of cables from wal-mart. I bought them on Sunday (my TV arrived early) and returned them on Friday, after my box from meritline arrived...
@htrodblder: I'd rather go with Blue Jeans Cables if for no other reason than that they were able to successfully tell the overpriced cable beast brand to STFU.
I actually found a 12 foot HDMI cable while Christmas shopping at Tuesday Morning. They had a bunch of them for about $6.00. I just figured out how to record TV to my computer, so I'll probably go back and see if they have any left.
I have used www.firefold.com SEVERAL times for sub $10 HDMI cables.
@Chris Lehr: AMEN. I've used Firefold for everything - excellent customer service, unbeatable guarantee and return policy, and I'm running a 35' HDMI cable (unboosted) to my projector with zero signal loss or wonkiness. The cable was around $40, compared to over $250 for its Monster Cable cousin.
Firefold. Do it!
Shouldn't you still take note of what version the hdmi cables are? i don't know too much about the specs and have never had the differences pointed out to me but i would think you shoudl make sure your HDMI cables are version 1.3 and not anything lower.
Well, sir, there's nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monoprice!
What'd I say?
Just had 4 six-footers delivered for 19.98. Check out everydaysource on ebay. Gold ends, 1.3, etc....
@custommadescare: a little haiku in honor of my friend monoprice:
expensive cables
only Monster schmucks buy them
go to monoprice
Damnit! And I was just on my way to a Monster Mini-Golf location to pick up several HDMI cables for my new setup!
@bravo369: HDMI version depends on what you're using the cable for. HDMI v1.3 is the newest spec that will allow for audio and video upscaling to 1080p (this is the necessary if you have an upscaling receiver setup to pass the audio to begin with).
Version 1.1 & 1.2 allow for video upscaling. I believe that 1.2 does accomodate to 1080p audio passthrough (which is different than audio upscale).
I only know this because I've been doing research for the past couple months for a new home entertainment system.
Speaking of Monoprice, I just tried to hook up my new PS3 via HDMI through their HDMI switch to my Westy and it didn't work. They offered virtually no solution. Where do I go to fix a problem like this?
I just got a new sony blu-ray player - so are the cables that came with it good enough? I knew better than to buy the $80 cables sony suggested, but should I still buy cables (instead of using the ones it comes with)?
@1964F100: I just looked up Blue Jeans response to Monster's threat. That was frickin awesome. The owner of Blue Jeans has some big brass ones.
@homerjay wants Boston Legal back!: Hey Homerjay, you may want to go directly into the tv from the ps3 if you can.
Depending on the model, it may not be HDCP compliant. That means that there is no handshaking going on between the ps3, the switch, and anything else you have plugged in.
This does not mean that other hdmi electronics won't work, just that the ps3 may not be passing through.
/.02, hope that helps!
It's getting so bad Harbor Freight is now selling HDMI cables. I'm waiting until the farmer down the road from me harvests his new crop of 8 foot HDMI cables.
@hillsrovey: The cable that came with it should be just fine. Sony is not going to include a cable that makes their Blue Ray player look bad. The one I bought at Costco came with a free cable, and it worked just fine. I'm not sure if it's 1.3 or not, but it worked fine for me.
@dianabanana: The Blue Jeans Cable link above is great for the research. I wrote in the original letter above and, just after I submitted it, we went out looking for bargains. While at a huge electronics store, I saw a young couple in the Playstation aisle holding a game and a "Playstation HDMI" branded cable. I looked at the shelf behind me and saw they were $99.99 (!!). I couldn't hold my tongue and let them know that, unless they needed the cable that day, there were better options. They immediately wrote down the web addresses and put the cable back on the hook.
@homerjay wants Boston Legal back!: I have the Joytech 3 switch and it works great. I have it hooked up with my PS3, 360, and WD Media unit.
@hillsrovey: You should be fine. I've bought HDMI cables from Monoprice for around $2-3 and they've worked perfectly. I've gotten all my family to buy from Monoprice.
Pass it along. Don't let your loved ones be victimized by the floor salesman pushing them overpriced HDMI cables.
I have purchased all 3 of my HDMI cables from Cables Plus USA but I get them via Amazon. They cost 9.95 via Amazon and I've yet to have any issues at all.
Yes, I did rent a cable from Walmart for a few days. The cheapest 1 meter cable they had was 35 dollars and I could not tell one difference between the two once my 9.95 ones arrived.
So check out Cables Plus USA as well.
We were at BestBuy picking up a BluRay player to hook up to a 120hz LCD TV. The guy said that not all HDMI cables could transmit the 120hz signal. How does the copper in the HDMI cable care?
Trutech cables at Target. An HDMI cable was less than $10 there. We have a bunch of other A/V cables from Target (same brand ones) and not a problem. Most of the other cables we picked up were about $3.
Blue Jeans, with their legal stance against Monster cable, deserves the patronage just for that.
@ToadKillerDog: Hmm. No. Theft is when you steal something and keep it. This is buying it and then returning it. It's not so great for Wal-Mart, but they don't lose product or cash.
If the people at Wal-Mart don't ask any questions at return, as most don't, the OP doesn't even have to lie.
Anyhow. It could be called fraud, but never theft.
I've seen them at Big Lots for real cheap.
Beware the too-cheap cable. While the signal is the same, or pretty darn close, the quality of the cabling sometimes leaves a lot to be desired, i.e. fraying, warping, etc. Then again, at 5$ a cable, you can afford to buy some mo'.
Definately recommend monoprice.com. Never been to some of these other sites mentioned, but no one should have to pay $30-$150 for an HDMI cable.
Most ludicrous thing I saw at Best Buy before Christmas was buy an HDMI cable of at least $70 and 10 Blu-Rays, get the Blu-Ray player for free.
I keep reading about the cheap cable vs the expensive cable debate. It has a lot to do with the length of the cable. And I think I am being illogical about it, but I cannot get myself to use cheap cables when I spent decent $$$ on the rest of my equipment.
As a compromise I ended up buying the "cheap" Monster cables, which I believe are the 300 series. The lifetime warranty and the extra shielding it had sold me on it. $35. I have seen cables though over $100, that is nuts.
I noticed Home Depot had some crazy overpriced General Electric HDMI cables in the store, $40 for what should be a $10 cable. So I would avoid going there. I had a gift card and I still put the cable back on the shelf.
@custommadescare: Sorry, but your research is flawed. 1080p has been part of the HDMI spec since HDMI 1.0. HDMI 1.3 has nothing to do with upscaling. 1080p and audio have nothing to do with one another. There is no such thing as "audio upscale".
HDMI 1.3 added the following features:
- Support for bitstreamed high bitrate audio (Don't worry...if you don't know what this means, it doesn't apply to your system)
- Up to 48 bit Deep Color - while HDMI supports this, Blu-ray, cable, satellite, etc. don't, so again, it doesn't matter.
- Auto lip-sync calibration
- And a few other things.
That is all. "HDMI 1.3 rated" cables are mostly hype right now, and a lot of the cables sold as 1.3 aren't even officially certified.
@homerjay wants Boston Legal back!: Buy a quality switcher.
If somebody bought cheap speakers, and it sounded bad, they'd blame the speaker. If their switch doesn't work, blame them.
Of course, Monoprice doesn't actually manufacture anything - all they do is buy from cheap Chinese OEMs. That means they have little technical knowledge about what goes on in the boxes they sell, and can't really solve problems with anything other than a refund.
Monoprice is great when it works...when it doesn't, you're stuck with a refund.
@DeliaAchilles: Not necessarily true. A lot of BD players only come with composite cables, which aren't even capable of showing HD.
If it came with Component (red, green, blue) or HDMI, you're fine. Otherwise, buy some new cables.
Monoprice is the only place I get my hdmi cables, best buy rips you off at nearly 75-100 a cable but I recently talked to an employee who told me that employees get the cables at cost which is around $5.00
@AlphaWolf: Part of the point that wasn't touched much on here is the fact that this is a digital signal. You will either get the signal or you won't. As for quality, I suggest you read the Blue Jeans Cable section on HDMI. Cheap vs. good is probably not the argument that should be being made -- this is really about value vs. overpricing.
That said, if you are happy with your purchase, that's fine too.
Just do some research in what cables you need and buy the cheapest ones on Amazon or newegg. I recently hooked up and bought cables for my comp & xbox to hook up to my TV (dvi - hdmi, audio, hdmi - hdmi) for a total under $10. Everything works great so far.