The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Ok, so I know a lot of you after seeing my 56" screen that you're salivating at the thought of getting your own. Now whatever TV you decide to get, as long as it's High Definition (HD) compatible, it will have one or several HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) ports to connect your various devices to your TV (mine has three!). Instead of the old school red, yellow and white A/V cables you might be familiar with, one HDMI cable carries all the audio and visual information and is capable of carrying the HD signal with it. Whether it's your HD cable box or your brand new Xbox 360 (no, I don't have one...yet!), HDMI is the choice connection for these items.

You may notice though, that if you shop for said HDMI cable at your local Futureshop or Best Buy, it seems they only have one brand for sale: Monster. And to make matters worse, they charge obscene prices for them, too. A standard 6 foot long cable can run you a couple hundred dollars. Thing is, you don't need to pay that much.

Because the signal carried is digital, as long as the cable itself works, there is no way one cable's signal can be better than the other. Put another way, you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on Monster cables when you can go to Ebay and pick one up for $19.99 U.S. shipping included.

Why do I tell you this? Because I don't want you to start adding up the other expensive accessory costs when you decide, "Yes! I'm getting me a BIG TV!" and then decide, "Gee, it's going to run me about $600 just for cables, I'll hold off on the TV." Monster Cables are a huge ripoff. Get a no-name brand and you'll be okay!

Now go get that TV!