HDMI cable

nkay1985

I bought my PS3 this morning and just picked up a crappy HDMI cable in Tesco for €6.50. Can anyone recommend a decent one that you don't have to pay the world for (unlike the Monster version that D.I.D. wanted €60 for).

Is there anywhere online with good value or should you stick to local shops?

Thanks.

GothPunk

You'll be fine with any HDMI cable really, including a crappy Tesco one. Don't worry about getting another cable unless you experience problems. The quality will be the same.

The Sparrow

Stick with the Tesco HDMI cable. Because it is a digital signal, it either works or doesn't. So once the Tesco HDMI cable works it will be exactly the same as a more expensive cable.

Expensive HDMI cables are a complete ripoff.

Rev. Kitchen

I must pop out to Tesco today for one of those ones actually, I picked up the HDMI swith in Aldi so i could plug my xbox and ps3 into the box only problem then i realised was i needed another HDMI to go from the box to the TV. (I'm Dumb i know )

djsim

I bought 3 from ebay for 5euro each. All had gold connectors and were oxygen free. Perfect quality picture.

Dont be suckered in and pay more than a tenner for one. Harvey Normans wanted 99 euro for one. Crazy, and the sad thing about it is that people will be caught out by the sales pitch and buy one of these.

The Sparrow

Rev. Kitchen wrote: »

I must pop out to Tesco today for one of those ones actually, I picked up the HDMI swith in Aldi so i could plug my xbox and ps3 into the box only problem then i realised was i needed another HDMI to go from the box to the TV. (I'm Dumb i know )

You know I did exactly the same thing:D I was gutted when I realised I was a HDMI cable short. The Aldi HDMI swtch is great for the money though. Only thing is that it takes a few presses of the remote for it to change.

Not all Tesco's carry the cheap HDMI cables. But Argos also have one for about 7 euro which might be easier for some people.

nkay1985

djsim wrote: »

I bought 3 from ebay for 5euro each. All had gold connectors and were oxygen free. Perfect quality picture.

Dont be suckered in and pay more than a tenner for one. Harvey Normans wanted 99 euro for one. Crazy, and the sad thing about it is that people will be caught out by the sales pitch and buy one of these.

Do you have the ebay seller? That sounds like good value too. I'm sure others might like it if their Tesco doesn't carry the cable.

@everyone else: My brother originally had an Argos one and said he got nothign but bother from it. Changed to one for twenty-something quid which was gold-plated and no bother since. What problems could I get from a cheap cable?

I'll be delighted if my cheap one works grand!

Zombrex

nkay1985 wrote: »

@everyone else: My brother originally had an Argos one and said he got nothign but bother from it. Changed to one for twenty-something quid which was gold-plated and no bother since. What problems could I get from a cheap cable?

You can certainly get a broken cable, but your brother could probably have replaced it with another one from Argos and fixed the problem.

Like others have said, it is a digital signal. 0 or 1. There is none of this audiophile mumbo jumbo with a digital signal, the picture seeming more "vibrant" or any of that nonsense. The picture quality is not going to improve by having a better (ie more expansive) cable because the quality of the picture is not dependant on the fidelity of an analogy signal.

Think of it this way: I use a €5 Cat 6 network cable to transfer data between two PCs. Cat 6 is rated up to 10Gbit/s as far as I know, which is approx the same as a HDMI cable.

No one would every suggest paying 40+ euro for a blooming half meter network cable. It is only Hi-Fi mumbo jumbo that has people thinking they need these ridiculously expensive cables for HDTV.

The only thing you might get is connection issues with a really cheap cable, ie frames being dropped, but I've never seen that even with the cheapest cables. If you are using it over a short distance (ie back of PS3 up into TV) you should have little trouble even with the cheapest cable.

nkay1985

Wicknight wrote: »

The only thing you might get is connection issues with a really cheap cable, ie frames being dropped, but I've never seen that even with the cheapest cables. If you are using it over a short distance (ie back of PS3 up into TV) you should have little trouble even with the cheapest cable.

Yeah this is basically what I was asking. I understand thatthe picture quality etc coudn't be affected but just wondered if there would be connection problems.

Turns out I needed to get another cable in the end anyway; the HDMI ports on my tv are as far away as possible from the PS3 so had to go and get a 3 metre one. €14.99 in a local electronics shop. Happy out.

L31mr0d

nkay1985 wrote: »

@everyone else: My brother originally had an Argos one and said he got nothign but bother from it. Changed to one for twenty-something quid which was gold-plated and no bother since. What problems could I get from a cheap cable?

Unless you live in a power station or in space a €5 HDMI cable will be fine. ALl that extra money goes on is shielding, which you won't need if there are no sources of interference close by. The whole gold plated and oxygen free malarky is a selling tactic. Don't fall for it.

amacachi

The only time it's worth spending decent money on a HDMI cable is if it's 10+ metres. Even then afaik ironically it's not the digital signal which is the problem, but the anti-piracy HDCP. 5 metres or under and the cheapest cable going will do.

Mossy Monk

nkay1985 wrote: »

I bought my PS3 this morning and just picked up a crappy HDMI cable in Tesco for €6.50. Can anyone recommend a decent one that you don't have to pay the world for

I recommend the one you are using right now. Don't be suckered into paying extra money for nothing.

wcarey1975

+1 for all advice about cables given. As long as you can see it on your TV then the cable is good enough. I only every bought 2 HDMI cables one 3 meters(€8) and one 5 Meters(9€). As my TV is wall mounted and it has 2 cables i got a cable for both and hide them behind the wall just incase I every needed a second one. I bought mine from www.Elara.ie cause they were the cheapest I could find at the time.

W

rcdk1

djsim wrote: »

Harvey Normans wanted 99 euro for one.

Day I got my PS3 I went into PC World to get a HDMI cable and they wanted €134!!!! Think I paid <€20 in B&Q for one.

Zombrex

rcdk1 wrote: »

Day I got my PS3 I went into PC World to get a HDMI cable and they wanted €134!!!!

That kind of nonsense should be illegal. It is like charing €134 for pint of milk because the it comes in a glass bottle instead of a carton. It is still just milk :pac:

Kintarō Hattori

€4.99 for a 1.5M cable. There is stock in Parnell street, Sony Centre Dun Laoghaire, Blanchardstown, Sony Centre in the Stephens Green SC and Rathmines.

http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi?view_product=1&id=23070&sid=11&cid=153&scid=9094

Varik

just to say i have a ps3 and 360 via hdmi into a receiver the hdmi into the tv the two of the cables i used where gotten in sony store or were ps3 branded the other i got for the receiver was a fat cable i got from the same site
some people seem to think these overly wide hdmi are not as good for me i got interference on the ps3 with horizontal lines by swapping the cable arount so the 2 good ones (under €10) there for the ps3 and the fat one (under €5) was from the 360 to the receiver

anything over 10/15 is a waste but there's no point paying €1 for a cable you will need to replace the interference i got was probably due to the length as the two calbe in line with each console were the 4m and the fat one looked very cheap and was very fat.