Why You Should Never Pay More Than $10 For HDMI Cables

[Articlebot]

<p><img alt="Why You Should Never Pay More Than For HDMI Cables" src="http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/17/2010/03/500x_hdmi_cables_preview.jpg" width="500" /></p> <p>You've probably guessed that gold-plated cables for your home theater are entirely unnecessary. Still, there must be some small quality difference for all that price, right? Mint.com's blog lays out the answer: No, not at all.</p> <p>Teaming up with <a href="http://wallstats.com">WallStats</a>, Mint lays out the case against the gold-plated, gas-pressurized, terribly overpriced cables you'll find lining the shelves at electronics retailers. Monster is a main culprit of preying on those who haven't learned what Mint's very clever infographic illustrates: there is no difference that you can see with your eyes between at $6 HDMI cable and a $250 HDMI cable. Here's their full take:</p> <p><a href="http://www.mint.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/TheRipHDMI3.jpg"><img title="TheRipHDMI3" height="2812" alt="" src="http://www.mint.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/TheRipHDMI3.jpg" width="500" /></a></p> <p>The crying shame that is a $250 cable has been covered in-depth by <a href="http://gizmodo.com/282725/the-truth-about-monster-cable-+-grand-finale-part-iii">our HDTV-obsessed cousins at Gizmodo</a>, and the <a href="http://consumerist.com/2008/02/monster-cables-monster-ripoff-80-markups.html">cable accessory money trail followed by Consumerist</a>. If you've got a safe online or retail spot to order cheap cables, lead us to it in the comments.</p> <p><a href="http://www.mint.com/blog/trends/the-rip1">The Rip</a> [MintLife Blog]</p> <p><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5506219/why-you-should-never-pay-more-than-10-for-hdmi-cables">Why You Should Never Pay More Than $10 For HDMI Cables - Cables - Lifehacker</a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6214430959664794120-1551218368194766456?l=ooedbone.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div><br />

[Malice]

I've been saying this for years. I even educated the salesman at Bestbuy when I bought my LCD HDTV when he tried to sell me a monster cable. He was dumbfounded and said they send them to all kinds of training to teach them how much better the monster cables are. Sad.

[Ghost]

I'd think that if you got a really, really crappy cable though, the connector might give you some problems if you have to unplug it more than a couple times. I'd say just don't buy the HDMI cable with the packaging written in crayon. :)

[Dante]

But I like the crayon marketing. It makes me feel happy inside with all the colors.

[Murin]

The same thing applies for optical cables too. Spending $200 on an optical cable vs. $10 for another one means you just gave $190 to some retailer. It's digital!!

For composite and component cables, the cheap crap definitely looked substantially worse, as they'd let all sorts of video noise mess things up, but with a digital signal, as long as the connection is good, it's going to work. Not saying I'd spend the cash on a monster cable for composite/component either, just a good quality cable. ($20 instead of $10) :)

Good article!