Roundup: Where to Find Cheap HDMI Cables

If you've recently invested in a new HDTV and Blu-ray player you probably already know that you need an HDMI cable to take advantage of the best possible picture and audio from your Blu-ray player. If you've ever shopped for cables, whether speaker wires or A/V cables, you know that these can vary widely in price. Hell, we've seen $500 speaker wire!

It turns out that HDMI cables tend to all be built the same, no matter what their cost. According to cNet's Crave site, "...it's easy to be persuaded by the salesperson at your local retailer that you need to buy a $50 HDMI cable to make your new gear work. They might say the expensive cable 'supports faster speeds,' 'has better video quality,' or that 'cheap cables don't support 1080p'--pretty much anything to get you to throw that high-margin HDMI cable in your shopping cart. But the truth is that expensive HDMI cables aren't worth it and the cheap cables available online are just as good." cNet recommends never paying more than $10 for a standard 6-foot HDMI cable.

Electronics House as well as cNet have found five of the best places to find HDMI cables on the cheap. We list them after the jump...

Monoprice.com
Turns out that Gizmodo, CNET and the folks at Audioholics all recommend Monoprice. They have every cable you can imagine and Electronics House found a foot of HDMI cable for as little as $3.

Bluejeans Cable
Bluejeans Cable is another site highly recommended by many “pro"-sumers. Like Monoprice.com, you’ll find all kinds of cables, plus an “HDMI information center” loaded with FAQs.

Amazon.com
Since Amazon works with many small retailers, a search for HDMI cables will most likely turn up some good deals. When EH searched they found a 6-ft HDMI cable for $4.54 (via SuperMediaStore).

CablesforLess.com
Their motto: “Saving the world… from High Priced Cables since 1996.”

Newegg.com
Another online retailer CNET editors have had good experiences. The site offers several HDMI cables for less than $10.

photo: waldopepper

I recently did a number of tests with a $60 HDMI cable and a $3 one from Amazon. These including looking at video signals under a 20x maginfying glass, testing fast motion, testing black, playing video games, watching DVDs. At a distance of 10 feet, there was absolutely no, and I mean no difference at all. HDMI is a digital signal. You either have one or you don't. At lengths of 50 feet you may end up with signal loss on a cheaper cable, but the likelihood of a distance like that in a residence without some sort of signal booster to begin with is pretty much 0. Enjoy your cheap cables!

posted by Joey on February 17th 2009 at 10:55am
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I will vouch for Monoprice.com as a good online retailer. That is where I purchase all of my cable.

posted by Amazake on February 17th 2009 at 11:55am
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i just asked my cable company for an extra cable.. :/

posted by deeboyayay on February 17th 2009 at 12:36pm
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In for one at monoprice!

posted by ekoshyun on February 17th 2009 at 5:07pm
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I've ordered from Monoprice many times.
Love them.

posted by gas0line7 on February 18th 2009 at 2:35am
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I searched for one on my local Craigslist and I found one for $7.

posted by Miss Masa on February 18th 2009 at 2:50am
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http://www.parts-express.com/wizards/searchResults.cfm?searchFilter=HDMI&srchExt=&perPage=27&sortBy=1&layout=GRID&page=1

posted by maximumHOTbottom on February 18th 2009 at 2:07pm
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I also have an HDMI cable from Monoprice and can vouch for them.

posted by chin on February 20th 2009 at 4:15pm
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