Wii HD Component Cable: Official VS Thrid Party

9006 Views 18 Replies 15 Participants Last post by MathewM, Oct 3, 2007

ecnyx

Discussion Starter · May 25, 2007

Hi All,

First of all, I have done my best to search all the posts in regards to the Wii HD component cable, and I have not really found a satisfying answer for me, so I decided to start a new post. I apologize if I somehow missed a post that has talked about this subject in great detail.

Now, my question is, not surpisingly, is there any difference between the official Nintendo Wii HD component cable and the third part component cables (Intec, Penguin United, Monoprice.com, Psyclone) ?? I believe most of the posts say it's about the same, but there are a select few that claim the third party cables can be "questionable". I am concerned because component cables transmit analog signals, so I might not be able to get away with a cheaply made cable in the long run. I have bought cables from Monoprice.com (HDMI and component), so I trust them, but I have read reviews about how the cables from Monoprice.com are the same generic cables found on ebay from Joe Shmoe.....Do I have anything to worry about? In the end, I will probably pay the $30 for the official one just for peace of mind, but I just wanted to ask one last time before clicking on the "checkout".

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

ecnyx

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

calv1n

· #2 · May 25, 2007

I think you'll be fine with any cables purchased with monoprice. I can't remember reading a bad review of their products (although I'm sure they have a few with the amount they sell they would have to). My personal experience is that monoprice is fantastic value I use them when ever I need a cable and I can wait a week to get it. My suggestion is to go ahead and order from monoprice I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Cheers

phtnhappy

· #3 · May 25, 2007

As long as the construction looks good, that is to say the connector, strain relief, etc., for this application, a cable is a cable is a cable.

S-dogg

· #4 · May 25, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by phtnhappy /forum/post/0

...a cable is a cable is a cable.

I beg to differ. Many low price (analog) cables don't include proper shielding, and are prone to signal loss and interference. How much this affects you depends on your setup, equipment, etc., but it can make a difference.

I'm not speaking directly about the Monoprice Wii cables - I have no experience wtih them specifically. In fact, I've also heard great things about Monoprice. But, cables are an important piece of the puzzle, and quality is essential.

toneman

· #5 · May 25, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by S-dogg /forum/post/0

...But, cables are an important piece of the puzzle, and quality is essential.

True...as long as they are reasonably-priced. I have no problem offering my opinion that there's no way one can argue that the $60 Psyclone Wii component cables are a better deal than the $20 Psyclone ones (which I'm using w/ my Wii w/ no problems, BTW)...no matter how much fancier/better/whatever the $60 ones may be over the $20 ones.

phtnhappy

· #6 · May 25, 2007

You're both right, but my statement is along the lines of what toneman is offering. Although for a Wii I can't imagine that long a run and it's not as though we're dealing with high quality audio in this case. Shielding is important, but I'm taking that as sort of a given for a game adaptor cable, even a third party one.

ecnyx

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 25, 2007

Thanks for everyone's response. After searching the forum some more and getting too obsessed, I think I will buy the Official Nintendo cables for peace of mind. I haven't read anything negative about the official cables, except for jaggies and the price tag (which really isn't that bad), but I have read negative things about third party cables (shielding issues? who knows).

ANOTHER QUESTION:

I have seen some third party component cables list the following feature:

"720p/1080i compatible"

Does anyone know if the Nintendo cable also has this feature? Or do all component cables support higher resolution as long as the TV supports it? Anyone care to explain what makes a component cable "higher resolution" than others if this is indeed a feature?

Thanks again.

ecnyx

See less See more

thecrazykevy

· #8 · May 25, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by ecnyx /forum/post/0

Thanks for everyone's response. After searching the forum some more and getting too obsessed, I think I will buy the Official Nintendo cables for peace of mind. I haven't read anything negative about the official cables, except for jaggies and the price tag (which really isn't that bad), but I have read negative things about third party cables (shielding issues? who knows).

ANOTHER QUESTION:

I have seen some third party component cables list the following feature:

"720p/1080i compatible"

Does anyone know if the Nintendo cable also has this feature? Or do all component cables support higher resolution as long as the TV supports it? Anyone care to explain what makes a component cable "higher resolution" than others if this is indeed a feature?

Thanks again.

ecnyx

Well, all component cables supoort 720p & 1080i resolution however whether or not a device is cable of outputting an HD resolution is another thing. The manufacturers aren't lying by listing "720p/1080i compatible" since their cables are cable of supporting 720p/1080i but its rather pointless since the Wii is limited to 480p.

tokerblue

· #9 · May 25, 2007

I've had various first party and third party cables for a lot of my consoles, since I couldn't really afford good cables at one time. I've never had any interference problems or picture quality problems with third party cables. The picture quality was identical on my set up.

However, there is a HUGE difference in build quality. I have only had problems with third party cables. I've had S-Video pins that were too fragile, connectors that were either too loose or too tight and component cables that dropped various colors for no reason.

So now I only stick with first party cables or Monster cables since I can get them at cost. I want to buy cables and set them up only once.

ecnyx

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 25, 2007

thecrazykevy:

Thanks for your response. Yes, I understand that the resolution seen on TV can only be as good as the resolution of whatever device I'm using. One cannot create extra pixels from nothing....I was just curious if there is a difference among component cables, for example, Component Cable A supports only 480P, while Component Cable B supports up to 1080i, but it seems in that aspect the cables are all the same.

In the event that Wii decides to support HD (yes, I know, a fool's hope I suppose), I would like to be prepared. Although, I would imagine that requiring some fancy hardware upgrade for the Wii, and would probably not be as simple as downloading a patch.

MarkH

· #11 · Sep 24, 2007

I use a third party component cable, and like most Wii users on front projection, find the image soft, even on HDTV selected. I remember my F-Zero GX looking pin sharp at 480p on my PJ. While I dont have this game anymore, if I picked it up again and played it on my Wii, should it look as good as it did on GameCube hardware or should I expect the same "softness"?

KoRn

· #12 · Sep 24, 2007

I have the monoprice cables and they look great. Ill be upgrading to the Monster Wii cables eventually though.

sievers

· #13 · Sep 24, 2007

2

cables (monster in particular) are one of the biggest ripoff money makers out there. I thought everyone knew this by now. I got a component cable for under $10 for my wii. Works great. Monoprice in particular is a great site (tho I didn't get this particular cable there, I have bought others from them) and I don't think you'd have a problem with any of their cables.

Go ahead, try it. Buy the cheap one. It'll be liberating. Break thru the cable propaganda. If the cheap one sucks, then you can buy a better one, and you are just out the cost of a cheap cable. If you just give in and buy the expensive one, then you'll never know what could have been. Isn't it worth a shot to free yourself from the cable mafia?

*

please excuse the infomercial tone

*

See less See more

bkchurch

· #14 · Sep 24, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by KoRn /forum/post/11709327

I have the monoprice cables and they look great. Ill be upgrading to the Monster Wii cables eventually though.

Wait don't buy the Monster cable, just send the $60 to me and I'll actually put it to good use buying a game or something and you'll have piece of mind knowing you didn't just throw your money away.

Elemental1

· #15 · Sep 25, 2007

3

I thought I'd post my comparison of 480i composite vs 480p component on a Wii 50" plasma combo.

Not a big jump as you can see on this HDTV.

Please excuse the flash as it really takes away a lot.

The component cable is from 'REACT'.

480i then 480p:

See less See more

KoRn

· #16 · Sep 25, 2007

Matter of opinion. There quality cables simple as that. You can always find them cheap online. Example. I just bought 360 monster component cables. $30 shipped. Thats less than the M$ cables. Theres a good amount of difference between the monster and M$ component cables.

http://hardware.teamxbox.com/reviews...o-AV-Cable/p1/

Quote:
Originally Posted by bkchurch /forum/post/11713274

Wait don't buy the Monster cable, just send the $60 to me and I'll actually put it to good use buying a game or something and you'll have piece of mind knowing you didn't just throw your money away.

Kevuda

· #17 · Oct 1, 2007

When I was looking for cables on monoprice, they had a white set on wii components and a grey set. I was hoping for the white set, as they had better customer reviews, but they were backordered for a while, so I went ahead and bought the grey ones.

I dont really think they work that well. I realize the difference between component and composite on the wii is not a huge difference, but I really can't notice any difference, and in some cases the composite looks better in my opinion. (this is on an epson 400 projector btw, so the fact that I have a giant screen might make a difference idk).

SOOOO, I would buy the white cables from monoprice, as I've heard a lot of good things about them, and I plan on picking them up next time I place an order. (Knowing my luck, they're the exact same product, just a different color)

gti443

· #18 · Oct 2, 2007

I'm a sucker for first party cables for consoles. They usually seem middle of the road pricewise, relatively solid in quality, and give me the peace of mind that if I ever need warranty work, I'll have knocked out the "oh, you need to see if it works with the licensed blabla" option from their call center. Standardized connections like HDMI are a different story though.

I did actually buy a low tier Monster S-video cable for PS2 back when though. It was the cheapest thing they had, oddly, at GameStop. Monster seems to have a "budget" collection in some of their cable lines, maybe it's only 14k gold instead of 24k... I don't know. It worked fine I guess until I went for components.

MathewM

· #19 · Oct 3, 2007

Strangely the monoprice cables look fine on mine and my brother's LCD projectors but when plugged into my EDTV Plasma I'm seeing a wavy horizontal pattern. It's not terribly noticeable but like Kevuda says above I don't see that much of a difference in overall PQ and in some ways composite looks better. For example on the Mii Parade page the background is washed out with the component cables. Overall the graphics are slightly crisper but like others have said that doesn't necessarily make them look better considering how low rez the graphics already are.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.