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HDMI cable quality

M

meinzorn

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 12, 2003
Messages
1,327
OK, I know this is a highly debatable topic.. but cable quality with HDMI.

Am I going to get a better picture if I spend $40 on a cable from best buy vs $4 on one from ebay with a lifetime warranty?

I guess I'm asking if anyone has purchased these types of cables and had good luck with them.

Thanks

edit: one other thing, HDMI vs Component.. which do people think is better?
 
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When I've looked on monoprice they are good prices, but the shipping seems high. Does monoprice use paypal?

6 dollars shipping for 3 cables. 50% of the cost of the cables. I could usps them for 2 dollars in an envelope that comes free from usps, which is what they'll be sending it in.
 
Don't get suckered in and raped with ridiculously priced HDMI cables. Its totally not necessary. Go to monoprice.com and call it a day.
 
Is there a reason you suggest straying from ebay for the cables?

what sort of a warranty does monoprice put on their cables?
 
Monoprice has a lifetime warranty for the products. They also, hands down carry the best products and have amazing customer support. There's not a better place to buy A/V cables anywhere.
 
I do like the lifetime warranty thing. I might go with them if thats the case.

Thanks for your input!
 
monoprice? expensive shipping? what?

ive always been impressed by how cheap their shipping is!
 
meinzorn said:
When I've looked on monoprice they are good prices, but the shipping seems high. Does monoprice use paypal?

6 dollars shipping for 3 cables. 50% of the cost of the cables. I could usps them for 2 dollars in an envelope that comes free from usps, which is what they'll be sending it in.
Click to expand...

You're complaining about $6 shipping on 3 items, but are considering purchasing a $40 cable from best buy? I bet you're getting all 3 of those cables for less than $40, and that includes shipping.

I have 7 HDMI cables from Monoprice in my living room right now. I haven't had a single problem with them. I bought them all for ~$40 shipped and each one is a different color so I can quicly identify which cable is which.

The reason to avoid ebay is becuase they can't beat monoprice. Their cables are fantastic quality and the connectors are well constructed. They fit firmly into an HDMI port and provide an excellent signal between devices. You just can't beat monoprice...

Shipping might be 50% of the cables, but look at the overall value. You're going to get a cable that rivals that $40 cable for what... $4-$5 shipped?
 
Monoprice often has HDMI cables deals.

I remember buying 6 cables (3 meters long) for like $3 shipped.

I wouldn't trust ebay sellers on lifetime warranty. They can easily disappear from the world within a minute.

And no... a $40 HDMI cable vs $1 HDMI cable vs $10000 jillion dollar HDMI cable would not matter in quality.
 
DTN107 said:
Monoprice often has HDMI cables deals.

I remember buying 6 cables (3 meters long) for like $3 shipped.

I wouldn't trust ebay sellers on lifetime warranty. They can easily disappear from the world within a minute.

And no... a $40 HDMI cable vs $1 HDMI cable vs $10000 jillion dollar HDMI cable would not matter in quality.
Click to expand...

Beyond a certain length, the quality would matter..
 
Doh!

Forgot about cable length as a factor.

For now assume that I was referring to 3 meter long cables. heh
 
I have two cheap hdmi cables from Amazon, and they're both great. I always check amazon too, as sometimes the shipping makes it a slightly better deal than monoprice.

Monoprice is a great company. They ship very fast, and I've never had a problem with them.
 
I got a few $10 ones from Newegg, no problem w/ quality what so ever.

Hell, if you have a Publix grocery store nearby they might have one for about $12, mine does.
 
well, I wasn't actually considering buying the $40 one from best buy unless I really needed to. That was more just to compare what I meant between different cables.

And I do think that spending 6 dollars to ship something that I know I could ship for less than 2 myself is a little silly. Especially considering they probably get a large volume discount of some sort.

I'll probably go with monoprice on this one since everyone does speak so highly of it. and I do see that they accept paypal as a payment method, which is easier for me since I already have the money in there. Does anyone have any input on the component vs hdmi thing?
 
meinzorn said:
When I've looked on monoprice they are good prices, but the shipping seems high. Does monoprice use paypal?

6 dollars shipping for 3 cables. 50% of the cost of the cables. I could usps them for 2 dollars in an envelope that comes free from usps, which is what they'll be sending it in.
Click to expand...

Shipping isn't based on what something cost, doesn't matter if it's $3, or $3000, it's based on weight, and size, and 3 3m+ HDMI cables for $6 shipped is a good deal. Monoprice.com's prices are very inline with USPS prices, them and SVC.com are two of the best when it comes to NOT ripping people off for shipping. The Post Office does not offer volume discounts on shipping either. You could NOT ship 3 HDMI cables for $2 through the mail. I ship packages all day, everyday. The reason that 3 of the cables is $5.95 to ship is because together they weight over a pound which automatically bumps it to Priority Mail, which starts at $4.95. Most places would overcharge by a least a buck as they always overestimate in calculations, $5.95 is probably almost exactly what the Post Office would charge.
 
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meinzorn said:
edit: one other thing, HDMI vs Component.. which do people think is better?
Click to expand...
sometimes it depends on what equipment you're using but hdmi and dvi will almost always have a sharper look to it -vs- analog (component and vga).

when in doubt you'd go with hdmi first.
 
Love Monoprice. Just orderd 3 HDMI cables, 100' of Cat 6 network cable, and 100' of RG-6. All for $40 shipped. :D
 
Apallohadas said:
Yes, but isn't that length something like 50 feet?
Click to expand...
Actually that length is supposedly around 15ft or so, after that then hdmi/dvi cable quality begins to reveal itself.

You are partially right though because with the best built cables that limitation is around 50ft or so before repeaters are needed.
 
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HDMI cables aren't exactly going to "degrade" your picture or sound quality the way component cables will tho. It's a digital signal it either gets there in one piece or it doesn't, but from what I've read the DVI/HDMI standard kinda sucks for long haul more than it should which was part of the reason the DisplayPort initiative was started, but I'm digressing.

The point is unlike analog cable you won't see ghosts or static you'll see the picture either tile or just not sync properly or some other fairly obvious "this just isn't working" thing so any cabling issues should be much more obvious in a digital world, get the cheap ones, if you see any picture quality problems get better ones, at worst you're out 5 bucks, at best you've saved 35.
 
The price you spend on a HDMI cable doesn't make it better. A HDMI cable has to meet a specific HDMI Specification. so a $5 cable vs $100 cable still BOTH have to meet the same requirements and standards.

But like everyone else is saying MonoPrice. i buy all my cables from them. HDMI,CAT5e,CAT6, Serial. and they are work as expected.

A year or so i purchased a $4 HDMI cable from ebay and then i purchased a $70 Monster Cable HDMI cable and connected them to my PS3 and put in a blu-ray and i couldn't notice any VIDEO difference, the audio on the other hand i noticed on the ebay HDMI cable the sound was a little weaker when it came to high volumes like explosions or loud/screaming voices. but whatever $4 or $70


Hope this helps
 
There shouldn't even be an audio difference as the audio should be digital as well...
 
TechHead said:
Beyond a certain length, the quality would matter..
Click to expand...

i had this issue, i bought a 15ft cable from my local computer store, no name one, solid feel, had awful signal on it, things werent clear, so yes, i went and got a $35 belkin cable and things are crystal clear!
 
Last time I read through a thread similar to this a couple people had linked this article:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/how-long-can-hdmi-run.htm

Its a good read if you want to see what's really going on with regards to cable choice and certifications and stuff.

There was also this thread on [H], there's a lot of.. how should I put this... stubbornness, but as a whole there is a lot of valuable information in here as well. The whole "it's digital it's impervious to noise" argument is addressed in there as well.
 
yep degradation but only at really long lengths like over 50ft will u be able to tell the diff with more expensive cables. at the usual 6 ft. lengths monoprice all the way..
and digital > analog!
 
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