I have a 60gb ps3 and it has worked flawlessly except for one very annoying thing: 1 out of every 5 or so times I start it up, it freezes. Right when the wave just begins to materialize but before any sound, the screen freezes completely. I contacted Sony and the rep suggested I try a different HDMI cable. I'm currently using a Monster HDMI cable lent to me by a friend. My question is can a cable really be the root of this problem given everything else (games, web surfing, playing demos) works flawlessly and almost never freezes? At 10$ I've ordered monoprice HDMI cable, but I'm curious to hear your guys' imput.

No

Highly unlikely!! I would take it back and get another if you can. Unfortunately these things happen. Unless your display is causing a problem with a handshaking issue with the ps3. But you stated that it only does it 1 out of 5 times so I don't think it is a handshaking issue. Have you updated the firmware on the ps3?