I bought a 6 ft HDMI cable from Monoprice for less than 5 bucks. I just spent my lunch hour at Fry's Electronics today and looked at similar cables for $79.99 and it didn't even have a brand name.

I saw an old couple looking for the same thing there. I gave them the website url but they might think there is something wrong with the cheaper cables!

There must be a law preventing this kind of rip-off.

"There must be a law preventing this kind of rip-off."

Nope.

No law, it's just called buyer beware. Retailers like BB and CC make most of their profits on things like cables. It's a classic rip-off. And for HDMI, digital is digital so monprice will work just as well as the $80 or $150 cable.

It is called Monster's Law and is well know in psychology circles. The more someone pays for a cable, the better they think the cable is. In the extreme case they may even throw out all logic and defend their purchase when scientific evidence has proven otherwise.

I gave them the website url but they might think there is something wrong with the cheaper cables! Yes, that's what a lot of people end up believing. When a "reputable" store like Radio Shack (been around, familiar, etc) charges $50 for an item and then you can buy the same thing off of eBay or monoprice for a fraction, it must be a scam ! "If it sounds too good to be true..." or "I'm not giving my credit card number to a internet site".

How do you like your monoprice cheapo cable? I just placed an order for one of their 15' ones for $8.07, along with a 15' power cord, for my Optoma projector. I also got two cheapo Toslink cables...total with shipping was $24.

I've never had a problem with Monoprice at all. They have VERY fast shipping, and good quality products. They are in many cases more "superior looking" to what you will find in a store also. I am Technician for a cable company, and I recommend Monoprice to people anytime people ask me about hdmi, dvi, optical cables etc.

It is called Monster's Law and is well know in psychology circles. The more someone pays for a cable, the better they think the cable is.


Interesting....I do think Monster cable is very overrated....however, that fails to explain the various cables I have used over the years when I ask people for unbiased opinion - 95% tell me the cable that I believe is the superior cable - sounds the best to them as well.

I wonder how that well known fact works in psychology circles to that degree of accuracy when 1) they don't know the price and 2) they don't know the brand and 3)they hear and see the same things I do and can point them out or verbally identify them.

And actually the differences get smaller and smaller the more you pay for it - based on my experience - not greater - again, I am not speaking of Monster Cable brands - though it clearly is better than some of the trash out there - but not much.

Of course, this was the same thing I heard from all the public and techies in the 80s when they said a CD was absolutely perfect audio, lol. But then again, people think mp3s are perfect, so we have actually regressed.

Seen in action, digital is the great equalizer because subpar quality is immediately obvious even to the laymen.