It's a cable, it's JUST a cable. It doesn't matter which one you get!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I suppose I can thank companies like Monster cable for this but it drives me mad dealing with uninformed SCs who are convinced they have to spend $XXX for a fancy schmancy name brand cable that is really no different from any other for the same purpose.

I have two examples of this:

1) Customer was buying a cell phone charger. Customer thought price of name brand charger was high. I offered several lower priced alternatives. Customer was leery of buying a non name brand item as he felt it would either not work properly or screw up his phone somehow. I told him that almost certainly would NOT happen but could not convince him. He eventually paid about five times more than he should have for that cable.

2) Customer buys new Xbox 360, customer has HDTV. Customer wants HDMI cable for his console but can't fathom the concept that virtually EVERY HDMI CABLE is the same more or less and thinks the Xbox branded one is the only one that will actually work for the Xbox. I told him he could get a perfectly functional cable online for 75% less than what we charging but he could not be swayed either.

[Mr Hero]

2) Customer buys new Xbox 360, customer has HDTV. Customer wants HDMI cable for his console but can't fathom the concept that virtually EVERY HDMI CABLE is the same more or less and thinks the Xbox branded one is the only one that will actually work for the Xbox. I told him he could get a perfectly functional cable online for 75% less than what we charging but he could not be swayed either.

When I first made the jump to HDTV, I assumed each game system needed its own type of HDMI cable, like with composite cables. My brother had to tell me otherwise.

Then there are the stores that convince customers to buy higher priced HDMI cables because they're supposed to be better, but that might be a rant for another website entirely.

[Raveni]

The basics of digital connections like HDMI is that they either work, or they don't. No noticeable difference in quality.

I have, on the other hand, see 3rd party multi-chargers that don't quite provide enough power to charge more than one device at a time.

[Josh]

my 2 cents.
1. it CAN matter. some cheap chargers don't have an overcharge circuitry or if they do, a very poor one at that +/or be constructed of very low quality plastic that will break quickly. Don't go dirt cheap unless you plan on saving 75% every other week.

2. HDMI, Inspect to make sure of build quality, one of the ways to save money on low cost items is a near non-existent quality control, poor internal connections that are not very flex forgiving is a norm on those 'same as, but dirt cheap'. Go middle of the road branded

[fireheart]

my 2 cents.
1. it CAN matter. some cheap chargers don't have an overcharge circuitry or if they do, a very poor one at that +/or be constructed of very low quality plastic that will break quickly. Don't go dirt cheap unless you plan on saving 75% every other week.

It also depends on the brand that you get.

My sister and I both have wall chargers for our iPod. We bought these prior to the iPhone/iPad. Both of them work perfectly for charging and I've used the cable itself for my laptop when I just want to charge my iPod.
Both of those chargers were Belkin brand ones.

I do have a DS dual charger that I bought from Kmart yonks ago and still works perfectly. In fact, it works perfectly to charge up my DS and it means that when I finally upgrade, I don't need to fork out for ANOTHER charger. (I bought the charger for when I'm up at my boyfriend's place)

[mysticgirl5]

The basics of digital connections like HDMI is that they either work, or they don't. No noticeable difference in quality.

A to the MEN!

I had one satellite customer rant and rave at me when I offered him a 7.99 hdmi cable to replace a bad one because he had spent, according to him, a couple of hundred on Monster cables for his home theater system, including replacing the cables that our boxes came with. All I could do was say, 'well, sorry, wish you had called us first, we would have told you it wasn't necessary!'

[Kereminde]

All I could do was say, 'well, sorry, wish you had called us first, we would have told you it wasn't necessary!'

. . . but would they have believed you if you had told them that? Or would they go by standard consumer logic of "more money = better result"?

Note, I find that the concept of "all products are the same quality" some consumers also labor under to be just as bad, if not dangerous in some methods. Certainly, cables might well be cables and batteries might be the same all around. . .

(These points *are* somewhat debatable, mind you . . . but the differences are often not different *enough* to matter.)

. . . but when we're talking about food? Go get yourself an import package of instant ramen soup, versus the standard brick you can buy for something like 23 cents at a supermarket. You *will* notice the difference, and you should question whether or not "cheaper is better since it's all the same anyway".

[FenigDurak]

I was given an off brand, inexpensive charger for my iPod that charged things just fine, it it reset the date to Jan 1, 2000 anytime I used it.

[TheSHAD0W]

There were a number of cheap USB chargers made some years ago, which had no overvoltage protection, and which had wires that tended to come loose in hot vehicles. The end result was phones with fried USB inputs which could no longer be charged.

[Flying Grype]

Re: the first guy: argh, how can he know a good brand when he sees it without knowing enough to read reviews? Oh wait, forgot where I was. :P There are a lot of things I'll buy off-brand and a few where I'll only buy a brand I know works, but if I'm going out to get something specific I'll read some reviews and see if there's a trend towards a particular brand working better than others.

[MoonCat]

There was an article in the paper just last week that talked about HDMI cables. Don't remember who wrote it (I think it was a syndicated article, not a local reporter), but they said a $5 cable will do the job the same as a $100 or more cable...

[Dreamstalker]

my 2 cents.
1. it CAN matter. some cheap chargers don't have an overcharge circuitry or if they do, a very poor one at that +/or be constructed of very low quality plastic that will break quickly. Don't go dirt cheap unless you plan on saving 75% every other week.

I agree. I once bought a no-name 'universal' cell charger at Volde-Mart (emergency, mine was 2000 miles away) and it hadn't been plugged in for more than 30 minutes before we started smelling something burning. Luckily my phone wasn't damaged, but when the charger cooled down enough so I could unplug it from the power strip the plastic had melted in places O_o

[It's me]

Excellent reference for anyone who wants to learn about cables:
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articl...nformation.htm

[lordlundar]

Been ther but not with chargers. Had a guy choose to buy a USB thumbdrive because it had a mail-in rebate (bane of my existence and ecstatic when they were terminated) despite the fact that there were ones with the same capacity, equal or better quality and for cheaper than what he would have paid even factoring in the rebate sitting on the clearance table.

That guy broke my brain for a while.

[Mike Taylor]

With HDMI cables, you'll really only notice it on super high end home theater equipment. A 32" Vizio or Insignia will be fine with a lower end cable, but that 80" Sharp Aquos Quattron hooked up to a Denon Smart 3D Bluray player and In-Command home theater receiver is probably going to need a nicer brand, especially if you're not planning on moving them from their current spot in your house for several years.