HD HDMI cables: Free? & price v quality.

RichardCoulter · 28-03-2014, 23:18

After watching the programme 'Shop Secrets: Tricks of the Trade', I'd like to ask others if they think that paying more for an HDMI cable is worth it or not.

Does paying more mean better quality? If so, does there come a price point where it is not worth paying any more?

The programme said that you can pay between £1, £60, £80 and even go gold plated! However, they don't believe that it makes any difference at all.

Do VM supply a cable free of charge when upgrading to TiVo?

28-03-2014, 23:21

Being digital as long as the signal gets to the other end it will work fine

Pretty sure VM did supply one when they installed my Tivo

RichardCoulter · 28-03-2014, 23:40

Thanks, it Iooks like VM will take care of this if I upgrade to a TiVo then.

If I go for Freesat and Freeview, I guess I'll need to buy one (or do these boxes come with an HDMI cable supplied- anyone?)

djmagnifique · 28-03-2014, 23:52

I got a free HDMI cable when I had a V+ box fitted. The same cable is being used for the TiVo I now have.

As long as you don't need a long cable (5 metres or more, there abouts) then any cable should be fine. I bought a couple off ebay for other devices a couple of years ago that were only a couple of quid each and they are still working just as good as when I bought them.

Khenryashley · 29-03-2014, 02:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Thanks, it Iooks like VM will take care of this if I upgrade to a TiVo then.

If I go for Freesat and Freeview, I guess I'll need to buy one (or do these boxes come with an HDMI cable supplied- anyone?)

My Humax Freesat came with hd cable in box.

gemma307 · 29-03-2014, 06:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khenryashley

My Humax Freesat came with hd cable in box.

Poundland do a 1 meter hdmi cable for (guess what) a £1.
I know that is short but is does what I want in connecting Laptop to TV occasionally it works ok for me.

Stephen · 29-03-2014, 06:58

As its a digital connection as long as it works then thats going to get you a picture whether you pay £1 or £100.

All my HDMI cables are from Poundland and picture looks great.

Expensive HDMI cables are a total rip off.

Mr_love_monkey · 29-03-2014, 07:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

As its a digital connection as long as it works then thats going to get you a picture whether you pay £1 or £100.

True, but at least with gold plated ones, the bits and bytes get to travel in style....

dilli-theclaw · 29-03-2014, 07:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

Being digital as long as the signal gets to the other end it will work fine

Pretty sure VM did supply one when they installed my Tivo

Indeed - watchdog did a thing on this in the past couple of weeks and found that all prices were more than capable.

They even deliberately broke a cable and reconnected it with old bits of tin etc and the signal getting to the TV was fine.

and yup I got a HDMI cable with my VM box when I got one, my Sky boxes and my BT Youview box and even my NOW TV box.

I think I've got a whole load of spares now

Taf · 29-03-2014, 10:35

The only difference is that with gold-plated ones you don't get connector corrosion which can cause poor connections.

techguyone · 29-03-2014, 11:28

To get corrosion, wouldn't it need to be wet/damp ?

nodrogd · 29-03-2014, 11:36

It's true that digital signals don't degrade like analogue, so the very expensive cables are not worth paying for. However, at the bottom of the scale, I've seen some very cheap cables work for a few months & then pack in.

So, in either case too expensive or too cheap & you are wasting your money.

Bananaman_007 · 29-03-2014, 11:37

I had this argument with a staff member in Currys a few years ago when buying a Blu Ray player for my dad for Xmas. He started on about paying £200 for a machine then getting shoddy pictures because i did not have his "higher quality" £49.99 HDMI cable. The debate got so heated i left the shop and bought the Blu Ray player on Amazon where it was £40 cheaper. To this day the player is still being used with a £1 Poundland HDMI cable. The quality of the images is excellent.

As pointed out there is no such thing as a higher quality HDMI cable just a higher priced one.

techguyone · 29-03-2014, 11:41

I bet places like Monster are cursing, they used to sell cables at truly outrageous prices.

RichardCoulter · 29-03-2014, 12:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

As its a digital connection as long as it works then thats going to get you a picture whether you pay £1 or £100.

All my HDMI cables are from Poundland and picture looks great.

Expensive HDMI cables are a total rip off.

Thats exactly what the programme and the Consumers Association (Which) said. They also did tests with people who either didn't know the differences or got it wrong eg saying that the £1 HDMI picture looked "less fuzzy round the edges" than the gold plated one!

Why do HD pictures need a special cable anyway?

How does my V+ know that I'm not using one (and thus refuses to play HD VOD)?

Thanks.