Is Monster Cable the Best HDMI cable to buy?

OMG, Heck no. www.monoprice.com

If by best you mean most expensive and most overpriced then maybe. But on a serious note, do check out monoprice, they have a great product at a very nice price.

google:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cabl...t-2-268788.php

+1 for monoprice.

same here.

It is amazing how many threads and questions there have been on the above subject.
It shows what advertising can do. Anyone have an idea of a new snake oil product to sell and get rich quick on. I will stick with Monoprice cables and save my money.

unless you have too much money and want to show off the back of your ht monster must be the worst pick. a lot of peoples still buy those because the saleman tell them they NEED monstercable for everything. monster is the most over rated piece of junk I know.

monster products should be sold in the same 'stores' as bose (i guess they already are) and imo, the more recent nakamichi stuff (and im sure, a few others).
then we'll know where not to go.

The problem I see with the Monster Cable argument is no one seems to give any technical reasons. Price seems to be the common theme. If you want to pay a few bucks more for a cable, buy the Blue Jeans Belden cable. You really don't need it unless you have long runs. A 6 foot cable is only $30.

I am quite sure Monster Cable is not the best overall.
There are some cables that costs much more than Monster's and claims better specs.

I've purchased Monster Cable in the past and they are okay, but not the best value.
Recently I purchased two HDMI cables from Monoprice.com and very happy with them.
They have huge selections of different types of cables at a very reasonable prices. I
know I will need more cables soon and I will buy from them again.

If someone would like a technical article on cables see below.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,12...2/article.html

http://www.breakitdownblog.com/hdmi-...ice-xtreme-hd/

Is Craftsman the best tool to buy?

For me and thousands of others. Yes. This concept is the same for Monster and their cables. Yes, there are no name companies that make hdmi cables but ultimately build quality is what makes monster work the extra money. My cheap HDMI cables are separating at the joint where the gold tip meets the plastic coupler but my Monsters are still solid with no problems. So eventually I will replace the cheap ones with another Monster. Just get a cheap Monster cable and you'll be fine. Don't buy into their hype about the 800, 1000 series etc...

^^^ Don’t be fooled by comments like this. Cables are cables. Monster cables just cost about 10 times more. I have a full set of monoprice now, at least 10 HDMI cables. 2 of them are 35' and 50' long. Absolutely no problems. I was sold into Moser cables when I first got in HT 12ish years ago. My monster cables haven’t lived up to their name over the years. I think all 4 optical Monster cables I had have been tossed due to poor connectors.

Data cables are data cables. You’ll never convince me that the generic 6’ cat6 cable I buy for my computers is any less better then some crazy $100 cable with a monster tag on it.

If you are worried about your connectors and have to actually pull them off all the time then buy the 6" "port savers" (like $1 at Monoprice). I use them on all my cabels and they work great. Im less concerned about the *cables* then I am my electronics "ports".

My 50' monoprice cable ran like $40. The generic Monster was $500. The monoprice was better constructed in every way I could visually infer. If in 2 years the connector goes bad in the monoprice then I'll spend another $40 on it for another. Still saving me $420 over the monster (which probably would have the same connector problem).

digital is digital.

craftsman is not stanley.

that is all.

later.

Take a read of this:

http://reviews.cnet.com/hdmi-guide/?tag=nl.e404

Well here we go for my first post, since this IS something I know quite a bit about. Craftsman would not be the equal to Monster in this comparison and if anyone knows about tools they know Craftsman isn't even close to the best. They're a good value for the home or hobby mechanic. Monster would be more like Mac or Snap-on (what any real mechanic uses) and you pay a premium for those tools but they don't let you down. Yes, Monster cables and their products are good, if not excellent but some like HDMI cables are overly expensive. I do know you can get cables AS GOOD as Monster for HDMI for a fraction of the price. I wouldn't go so far as to say cables are cables as one person stated because some of the inexpensive cables are made really poorly and don't hold up well as someone pointed out especially if you remove cables a lot or having a moving mount. However I know Cables to go and monoprice offers some cables the equal of Monster for a fraction of the price. That performance stepping they do on their cables means only that they have certified (supposedly) that cable will perform at that level. The truth is it may not actually be any different than the lower spec'd cable. This happens with computer components like cpus and memory.

Just to add, that article link to at Gizmodo pretty much lays it out.

What bothers me about Monster is some of the false tatics they have used to try to sell their cables. I am not saying their cables are bad but I just don't like deceptive advertising. There have been more than one case in which Monster has been caught rigging the results of tests. In one case they compare the picture with a HDMI cable and a video cable not telling the customers. This was done in a big box store. In anoter case Monster compared their cable using a light bulb. They used a long length of thin cable vs a think Monster cable in the comparision. They tried to show that the bulb would not be as bright with the thin cable. They did not tell customers that they were comparing apples and oranges in their test. When a company does this they become suspect and that is my beef with them. I find that cables from Monoprice and Blue Jean are much better values and work just as well. If one wants bragging rights on how much they spend (or wasted) they have the right to buy Monster cables. I will stick with quality cables that offer good value. I don't like deception. Monoprice cables have worked great and saved me a lot of money.

See two scam below:

http://www.gizmorepublic.com/accesso...cable-scam-830

Speaker wire scam 2006 CES show.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/trad...nd-other-goofs

Big Box store using same scam.

http://www.theguruguys.com/news/the-...d-cables-again

Another picture of one of the scams.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/1...-of-gizmo.html

>>> Craftsman would not be the equal to Monster in this comparison and if anyone knows about tools they know Craftsman isn't even close to the best. They're a good value for the home or hobby mechanic. Monster would be more like Mac or Snap-on (what any real mechanic uses) and you pay a premium for those tools but they don't let you down. Yes, Monster cables and their products are good

Come on please do not compare monster cables to mac tools or snap on. Mac tools and snap on are top of the line products (way stronger than craftsman) but monster is just overated. Monster cables are just an easy way for a saleman to make a commission on the back of customers who don't know! I would'nt pay 50$ for a no name cap, why would I do it if for a nike? Coton is coton and hdmi is hdmi.

Like the others have said, Monster is a good quality cable but EXTREMELY overpriced. I too get extremely annoyed with uneducated salespeople that push these cables on customers claiming that they will augment the picture and sound of home theater equipment.

And to the person who complained about durability, I've never had any problems with cables being less durable because they're not a name brand. Besides that, how many times would you be moving, disconnecting/reconnecting an HDMI cable from the back of your TV/projector to a component?

I just returned $550 worth of Monster Cables to BB. I ordered from Monoprice.com and save $385.00 which included 2 day shipping. Thanks to the opinions you saved me a lot of money.

Glad you saved $385.00 the only thing missing will be those hard to open fancy packages.

I have been using their cables for over two years with no problems and I saved a lot of money for myself and friends.

Go to:

stablecables.com

These guys are great. I've bought many from them without any complaints.

I try to support the AVS sponsors like Monoprice or Blue-Jean cable. If you go to Monoprice their prices are cheaper than Stablecables and they take credit cards not just Pay Pal. You can get 5 cables for the price that they charge for 1

See review of cables from CNET below:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11276_7...3.html?tag=nav

Thanks AVS! Just saved me $200

Is Craftsman the best tool to buy?

No. Snap On are the best tools!

Well craftsman make tools for mechanics and carpenters, your right snap on is the best for a mechanic on a other hand I would say DeWalt is the best tool to buy, form a carpenter point of view!!!

I never going to buy expensive cables ever again. I was blinded by the media and advertisment about expensive HD accessories, not anymore. I wish more and more people can learn about this site and realize the truth....

I found this great link on another AVS Thread. Watch this video for a real test of HDMI cables.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDw2ZSDzlMw

Since this thread went off on tools and craftsman, I figured I'd throw my 2 cents in on a topic I had done research on when I was putting together a workshop.

Craftsman use to make much better products years ago. Around the time that they started being carried in Kmart there quality went really downhill. There are numerous articles on this. One of the biggest complaints I've seen is in the quality of there tool chests. Specifically the paint quality.

Craftsman USE to be a good value for the money. There OK now, but there are better values out there and much better quality products on the market.

As far as cables are concerned, just do some research (or read some of the articles linked here). Or take it from someone who has a degree in Electrical Engineering like myself. There is nothing special or unique about Monster cables.