Way!
What’s the difference between these two HDMI cables?
The one on the right cost about $14 and the one on the left cost 17¢. I know what you’re thinking, "what’s the catch?" That’s certainly the first thing I thought when my buddy Corey pointed this out to me. You may remember a few weeks back, I wrote a post about paying too much for cables. Well several readers responded with where they buy their cables. Corey contacted me later on and pointed me to this HDMI cable on Amazon.com for only 17¢. Needless to say we were both highly skeptical! Usually deals like this are not really a deal because they jack up the shipping to basically be the price of the item. However, that was not the case here. I ordered two of them and the total for the order including shipping was still under $6. Of course the other gotcha could be the cable itself. I was half expecting this thing be made out of cardboard. However, it was almost indistinguishable from the cable I was already using on one of my sets. Well of course looks can be deceiving! We still don’t know about the quality of the materials inside the cable. So this required a real test. I unplugged my "good" cable and plugged in one of these cheap ones. I could NOT tell a difference in picture/sound quality at all.
The Amazon Factor
Amazon’s prices can vary significantly from day to day. When I went back to order more, the price from the highlighted vendor was 70¢, still not bad. However, if you look to the right of the page you’ll see that Eforcity is still selling them for 17¢.
OK, so why not order 10 or 100 of these? Looks like the vendor is wise to that tactic and the minute you try to order more than a couple or a few, the shipping does go WAY up! For example, the first time I tried to do 10 the shipping was like $60. However, just going back a few minutes later the shipping dropped down to $29.80. So it’s a crap shoot. However, even at $31.50 for 10 HDMI cables, that’s still a bargain!
The Bottom Line
This cable has a 5 star rating by over 1,600 people on Amazon and that’s pretty good! Now of course your mileage may vary. Who knows how well this thing would hold up to constant unplugging and replugging or how well it’s shielded against interference? Will they stand the test of time? Don’t know. However, if your set up is pretty stationary and you only plug in your gear once and enjoy it day in and day out, this cable may be just what the doctor ordered. Check it out here! At that price buy two! Now you know what I’m getting you for Christmas 🙂
This spring I walked into my local Radio Shack to buy an HDMI cable and the only one in stock was $30. So I suffered through a couple more days of not being able to try out my brand new Blu-Ray player and ordered one online for under $10. But the pain of waiting for it arrive was easily worth the satisfaction of telling the Radio Shack guy, “$30? No thanks,” and walking out the door…
Terry,
Nice blog today. Do you know where I can buy a cable to tether my Nikon D300 to my Vista laptop. I am wanting a long cable,,,Do you know how long one can buy such a cable?
Ken
http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat_id=1510&sku=29653
Wow, that is a great deal! I checked out a few of the reviews and everyone seems to really like what they got… I need a few of these.
Great find Terry!
There is, in fact, no actual justification for the high prices for HDMI cables. They are cheaper to make than Coax, and just like Coax or Ethernet cables, they are made by machines in 1,000 foot reels.
The high price comes from the labeling as “New!” and “Digital!” as if there was something fundamentally different in the signal. Consumers really should not be fooled by this marketing. The cable either works or it doesn’t. On short runs a digital signal is a digital signal is a digital signal. It’s not like trying to receive shortwave radio.
I have seen low prices like this on Amazon before, and people should take advantage of them – but then how many HDMI cables does anyone need?
Other well known dealers are Monoprice, Blue Jeans Cable and Sewell Direct although you will not usually find prices in the pennies – that does seem to be a deal to get new customers.
Super find! Well done, Terry.
I can beat your price… 🙂
A store called “Five Below” (all items in store are under $5) sells a 6′ HDMI cable for $5… plus applicable taxes in your state.
How is $5 for one cable beating less than $5 for 2?
uh… maybe I should read a little more carefully… 🙁
Sorry about that… but it is a local retailer that gives a good cable for little money.
Great post Terry. If it is “endorsed” by Terry White I am all over it. I ordered two myself and it was 6.30. I cant wait till they get here.
If it is “endorsed” by Terry White I am going to be all over it. I just ordered two and they were 6.30. It is worth a shot.
When I bought my Sony HD TV, I asked for a short HDMI cable…$50!
Hey Terry,
I just ordered this cable and a digital audio cable from them, also for pennies, and they work beautifully! Great find.