Home > Consumer Reviews > HDMI Cable - 2 Male Connectors - 2 Meters

HDMI is a digital signal. That means it's all or nothing--not like analog where you may have degradation due to signal loss, crosstalk, radio frequency interference, etc. As long as you have a decent HDMI cable to transmit the digital bitstream from point A to point B, you're set. I just purchased the new Sony Bravia S-series 32 inch LCD TV. To go with it, I trashed my old Apex with the missing remote and got a deal on a Sony DVP-NS70H upconverting DVD player that can synthesize "extra" lines of resolution. The player can send 720p or 1080i signal to the TV. (Current DVDs are 480p; that standard will change eventually with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.) I knew that the upconversion feature only works through a digital connection, so I'd need to get an HDMI cable. Started checking prices and, no surprise, they were all over the place. Some were in the $100 range. Despite mild skepticism, I decided to try the cheapest one. This little beauty arrived in 3 days in a plain brown wrapper and a clear plastic bag. The cable is surprisingly robust, with nice build quality, supple insulation, and good connectors. I started to feel vindicated. So I plugged it in, put Harry Potter in the DVD player and WOW!! The DVD player and TV did their magic. Spellbindingly great picture and sound. I haven't tried a component analog connection--those cables are REALLY expensive and quality matters more there--so I can't compare component versus HDMI. Bottom line: this is an unbeatable price performer for around $10 incuding shipping. And no, this is not an April Fools joke.

OK - here's the story. I was going to buy a Toshiba HDTV. I had picked it out already and was ready to purchase it and that was when I found a promotion at a local retailer that if I bought a Toshiba HDTV then I can get $200 off of any of the Toshiba HD DVD players. The HDA2 was normally $399 but was on sale for $299 and with the $200 off I got it for $99!! You can't beat that!

Well, I got that on Tuesday and it was an unexpected purchase. I asked the person at the store how much the HDMI cable would be so that I can hook it up as soon as I get home. He said, it's a Monster Cable and it costs $124.99! Whoa! I went up to the shelf and saw the sticker that said $124.99 on it and on the sticker it said "Financing Available"! What?! I'm not going to pay more for the cable than I did for the DVD player! These guys are crazy!

I told the guy "You are nuts if you think I'm going to pay that amount" and I logged onto Amazon and purchased this HDMI cable I'm doing the review for. I paid, with shipping, less than $9 for it. I was a little worried about it though - I'm sure that there must be a difference between the $124.99 cable and the $9 cable. So, I took the test. I went and purchased the $124.99 cable (mostly because I was too anxious to try out the new HD DVD player and couldn't wait for it to arrive). I plugged it in and of course the HD DVD I played looked absolutely amazing! The very next day I got the $9 cable (pretty fast shipping by these guys by the way) and I hooked it up. I was worried what I would find but when I started watching the same HD DVD that I watched the night before on the $124.99 cable I could notice NO DIFFERNCE WHATSOEVER between the two cables' results. So I returned the $124.99 cable.

You will not be sorry if you purchase this cable over the other ones in the major retailers. Don't let them tell you "it's a better quality cable" or anything like that. This cable is built very well - you can just tell when you hold it in your hand that it was made well. You don't get the fancy plastic packaging that you have to tear into with a knife and cut your fingers on though (oh what a bummer!). Get this cable. It's great!

The only thing you will want to research is that I have seen in some literature that there are two different kinds of cables. I think there is a special one for 1080p DVD players (dont' quote me on this). So do your research before purchasing just to make sure that this is the correct "type". As far as build quality - picture quality, for use with an upconverting DVD player as well as the Toshiba HDA2 HD DVD player, it's an absolute steal.

First, this cable can transfer an HDMI audio and video signal from a source (I've tested with a Comcast HD DVR and a DVD player) to a TV.

Second, this cable is not shielded.

What this means, is that this cable can do most of what one costing 20 times as much can do: provide a clear digital connection. With a digital connection, the quality of the cable isn't very relevant, as you just need to get the signal across, not get it across in good shape. Therefore, a quality expensive cable is a waste of money.

The downside is that an unshielded cable does 2 things: accepts interference and causes interference. What this means is if you lay the HDMI cable too close to the power cable of the device or another cable carrying signal, it may pick up interference. A little interference, no big deal, the beauty of digital signals is that picture quality is the same. Enough interference, though, and the signal can't get through properly. I saw this happen with my HD cable box, and was able to cure it by moving the HDMI and power cable farther apart. Until I realized the problem, though, I was getting no picture.

The other problem with an unshielded cable is it causes interference. When my DVD player is turned on, it throws enough interference through the HDMI cable that my (also unshielded) OTA HD antenna cable receives interference. Turn the DVD off, and it's fine again.

Bottom line: if you're ok with having to carefully setup this cable so it doesn't receive too much interference from other sources, or send too much interference into other sources, this cable will do a great job and will be a steal. If you're not the DIY type, you might be frustrated with this cable. You'll get a better quality cable if you pay way more, but for me, this is well worth it.

Living in Europe, I had to bite the bullet and buy an overpriced (approx $50) HDMI cable from the store that sold me my TV. I ordered this HDMI cable from Amazon and picked it up on a recent trip back to the US. As far as I can tell there is absolutely no difference in performance with this cable compared to the overpriced one on my other component. The spotlight reviews do an excellent job of explaining why this HDMI cable works just as well as the overpriced alternatives.

I bought this cable to connect my new Samsung LN32B550 to a cable box. I actually had read in other reviews that this cable was a Category 1, but I figured since 1080i was the most I was going to be using it for, that it wouldn't be a problem. WRONG! Like several other reviewers, I too experienced an annoying flicker of the picture. It wasn't a constant problem, but it was just often enough to annoy me. I tried everything from jiggling cables to trying the other 3 HDMI ports on the tv. Nothing worked.

I ordered the Mediabridge - 6ft Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable - Version 1.3 Category 2 - 1080p - PS3 - Blu-Ray for less than $10, and the annoying flicker magically disappeared. There is absolutely no reason you need to pay $50 or $100 on some overpriced cable, but you should definitely make sure the cable you get is a Category 2.