How much should one pay for a HDMI cable?


Benign

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Jan 30, 2004
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I was shopping for a HDMI cable yesterday. It ranged from $10 to $100.

Now puzzled.........big difference between them?

Please advise?
 

Hi there, for my case, I'm just using a generic hdmi cable for both my PS3 to TV and from PC to TV. Its doesn't make any difference for me. I've tested with my friend's monster cable that cost much much more expensive and I couldn't tell any difference in quality between the 2 cables. My TV is not a very large one just bout 37" HDTV.

You can refer to the below article.


Monstercables-overpriced-HDMI-cables.jpg
 

I paid $23 for a 2m reinforced flat-type HDMI cable in China ........ they were selling the 1.3m one for $15

Mustafa sells them for about $20-30 for a 2m HDMI cable (brandless) i think
 

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i tend to agree that a digital signal is more robust and harder (not impossible) to degrade than an analogue one. However, the other factor not mentioned is the construction of the cable itself. i've had a cheap digital cable whose plastic parts near the connector just fall apart after a few month's use. This was in a situation where the cable was frequently plugged in and out and has some wear and tear (game console sharing screen with computer). So if your cable gets plugged in and is left untouched for years, i'd say go for the $10 version, but if you foresee a need to physically move the cable around a lot, a branded/stronger-looking one might be a better choice.
 

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Hi there, for my case, I'm just using a generic hdmi cable for both my PS3 to TV and from PC to TV. Its doesn't make any difference for me. I've tested with my friend's monster cable that cost much much more expensive and I couldn't tell any difference in quality between the 2 cables. My TV is not a very large one just bout 37" HDTV.

You can refer to the below article.

Like this article, got to share with fren! Thanks byteyou!

Hi TS,

Just for your reference,

I have bought two HDMI cables from ebay, one for my camera and one for my soundbar. All of them under 10SGD each, and working fine.

Just one point to take note, if you are streaming HD content, then HDMI cable is a must, but I have notice that if I played DVDs, it does not matter if the cable is HDMI or normal composite video cable.

cheers,
 

no fix price..but different brand got different quality. etc brightness of the overall screen, loss signal (the screen turn purple color occasionally)
 

Like this article, got to share with fren! Thanks byteyou!

Hi TS,

Just for your reference,

I have bought two HDMI cables from ebay, one for my camera and one for my soundbar. All of them under 10SGD each, and working fine.

Just one point to take note, if you are streaming HD content, then HDMI cable is a must, but I have notice that if I played DVDs, it does not matter if the cable is HDMI or normal composite video cable.

cheers,


that depends on if ur player has upscale ability for dvd
 

Thanks for the info everyone.

Currently, I am in Malaysia. This is what I found out...

Tesco is perhap the cheapest around 3M cable selling for $19.90 ringgits = Abt $8 Sgd. This is the one I am using right one....so far so good ;p

The Samsung guy advised me to go for Belkin 1.8m (6 feet)....saw it selling for $129 ringgits = $50 Sgd. It is Oxygen-free copper and 24k gold plated.
 

i tend to agree that a digital signal is more robust and harder (not impossible) to degrade than an analogue one. However, the other factor not mentioned is the construction of the cable itself. i've had a cheap digital cable whose plastic parts near the connector just fall apart after a few month's use. This was in a situation where the cable was frequently plugged in and out and has some wear and tear (game console sharing screen with computer). So if your cable gets plugged in and is left untouched for years, i'd say go for the $10 version, but if you foresee a need to physically move the cable around a lot, a branded/stronger-looking one might be a better choice.


Yes I agree, you might be more concern with the build of the cable instead. I think simlim tower sells the cable at a good price, the hdmi cable im using is from PS3 so I didnt exactly pay for it as I suppose its already bundled in. The other HDMI cable I found it somewhere in one of the boxes. The only thing i bought recently was a DVI to HDMI cable which cost me around 30 bucks from sim lim tower. Hope it helps
 

Thanks for the info everyone.

Currently, I am in Malaysia. This is what I found out...

Tesco is perhap the cheapest around 3M cable selling for $19.90 ringgits = Abt $8 Sgd. This is the one I am using right one....so far so good ;p

The Samsung guy advised me to go for Belkin 1.8m (6 feet)....saw it selling for $129 ringgits = $50 Sgd. It is Oxygen-free copper and 24k gold plated.

As stated... that stuff doesn't matter in the digital era.
 

This reminded me of my band days where cables used to have this 'magical' properties of making your sound 'unique'. The only thing I found out was, if your playing sucks, it doesn't matter which brand of cables you are using.

BTW, for HDMI cables, just get the cheapest one available. All this gold plated, gas injected, reinforced crap are just marketing gimmick to milk more money from you. Cheers!
 

Just to share, HDMI is using the same encoding as DVI that we use for PC monitors. Only difference is that HDMI includes audio and the connector head is different. So if any generic DVI cable is good enough for our 23" full HD PC monitors then no reason why we need to buy expensive HDMI cables.
 

I'm using that $10 cable from playasia. Quite rugged construction and quality.
 

This discussion comes up every now and then.

DO HDMI cables make a difference?

YES !

But.....

As a rule of of thumb, for short distances, i.e. 2-3m or less, most cables will suffice. Esp for the small screens most PC or camera enthusiasts use. If you go to the Home Theatre forums, and you use screens around the 80" and larger, small differences in picture quality are easily discernible.

The issue is more of signal dropout over longer distances with cheap cables, and the purity of the signal than the traditional concept of how a cable can make a difference to the sound.

So for casual users who are not using TVs bigger than 50", I would suggest a budget of $10-20/m. You are welcome to use cables up to $100, but I don't think there are that many people here who will go mad over small differences in quality.

But if you are a cinephile, then by all means the sky is the limit, and come read this two links:

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=1900362

http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=85263.0

Cheers.

FYI- for my 50" Full HD plasma, I use an imported cable from monoprice.com which costs about $50 for a 3m stretch. I watch only Hi Definition from my HT set. No issues.


PS: can you tell a difference between difference audio cables - YES. But if you are using a small desktop mini, save your money.

If you are an audiophile and are willing to invest to hear the best, the differences are worth paying for.

Eg: I use a cheap $200 inter-connect for my CD setup, which is about 10k in total budget costs. Happy with the performance, although I have tried a 1k cable that makes a small improvement.

Hi there, for my case, I'm just using a generic hdmi cable for both my PS3 to TV and from PC to TV. Its doesn't make any difference for me. I've tested with my friend's monster cable that cost much much more expensive and I couldn't tell any difference in quality between the 2 cables. My TV is not a very large one just bout 37" HDTV.

You can refer to the below article.


Monstercables-overpriced-HDMI-cables.jpg
 

12 feet cable for 32.59$, although cable price is only 4.76$ but shipping cost 27.83$ (BTW all in USD).
price taken from monoprice.com.
 

If you have a big setup with lots of wiring then you would probably need to invest in a well shielded cable, which gets quite costly the longer the cable. You shouldn't have to invest in cables longer than 3 metres unless you're running an HDMI projector with the player located a long way away. I'm not too sure about long DVI cabling but that could be an alternative (or VGA) if it's cheaper and as long as they are connected to equivalent ports (not converted from HDMI to DVI). I got a DVI-HDMI cable when I first bought my HDMI LCD TV/monitor connected to my DVI media player and I get sparkies sometimes.
 

I think HDMI cable are not expensive but its totally depends on your needs. If you need a long cable then you have to pay more otherwise it will cheap for you.