We didn't believe Monster's claims when it rolled those
Speed-Rated cables out here in the US, and we certainly don't think its savvy marketing will increase picture quality any more up north. Nevertheless, the cabling company
notorious for snatching hard-earned dollars from unsuspecting shoppers who fall for glamorous packaging and wild claims is bringing its Speed-Rated line to Canada. Holding down the flagship position is the Ultra-High Speed MC1000EX, followed closely behind by the increasingly sluggish MC850HD, MC750HD and MC550HD. Apparently, the family will run Canucks $59.95 to $149.95 for one-meter editions, but we genuinely hope anyone reading this has better sense than to take 'em up on the "offer."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike @ Feb 18th 2008 8:39AM
unfortunetly they wont. I used to work at Future shop selling hdtvs and a big chunk of commission comes from selling these overpriced cables. Often more times then the TV itself (if buying a budget brand or big sale tv). Not to mention it is part of the job. I was actually fired after a year of working there because my monster and warranty sales were too low. Yes the internal tracking system has its own catagory just for monster products. No other brand for any product in the store is tracked. Monster has a deal with BestBuy and FutureShop for them to push their products.
I had to pull out all sorts of lies to sell these cables. And people fell for it everytime. I eventually got tired of the lies and actually started recommending people just buying from Monoprice. Well my numbers slipped and look where that got me. Man I hate monster so much. and I hate how 95% of the people get suckered into buying their overpriced junk.
earthling @ Feb 18th 2008 8:51AM
Monster doesn't want their 1.3 rated cables compared to every other company that claims 1.3 compatibility so they have to come up with a new name (read Marketing BS) to differentiate what they are charging you for.
Do yourselves and anyone you know a favor by shopping at:
www.monoprice.com
www.pccables.com
I have very long HDMI runs in my house (>30') with cables from PCCables and they are fine. I have looked at the far end of the cables with our HDMI analyzer from work and there are no problems at all, just make sure that your HDMI switch has an equalizer and you should be good to go. For shorter cable runs you cannot beat the prices from monoprice.com. Great prices, great service.
Oh and Monster... bite me.
DrXym @ Feb 18th 2008 8:58AM
HDMI is a digital protocol with error correction. The picture either gets from one end to the other in one piece or it doesn't. There will be absolutely zero difference in image or sound quality between a Monster cable and a generic HDMI cable. I feel sorry for people suckered into buying an expensive cable by some in-store sales person.
TrentD @ Feb 18th 2008 10:11AM
While there is a bit of a checksum in the stream, there isn't any true error correction in terms of re-sending content. If a bit is missed, it's missed.
Chris @ Feb 18th 2008 9:04AM
Speed rating or bandwidth rating actualy can make a difference tho.Which is why most brands do it they just dont advertisie it like monster does. The amount of information flowing through the cable varies by source and when you have say.... A Blu ray player out putting 1440p or greater (which can happen)with deep color etc, uncompressed audio and all that jazz it sucks up major bandwitdh and therefore a regular hdmi cable (2.23 gbps) may not always cut it
JayHDDVD @ Feb 18th 2008 9:28AM
Pathetic.
We need to 60 Minutes or someone to go out and investigate these guys.
TJ @ Feb 18th 2008 9:41AM
Yeah. Consumer Reports is always banging on about how you shouldn't buy extended warranties. But they should look at the cable industry. I can actually see a much greater value in extended warranties than I can in overpriced cables.
Big Wizz @ Feb 18th 2008 10:03AM
"Ultra-High Speed"
Gimme a break.
Unfortunately, most people I know equate the higher price of Monster to a "higher" quality product. Even after I tell them they are wasting $75+, people still buy Monster.
The world doesn't make sense to me anymore...
longhairbilly @ Feb 18th 2008 10:30AM
Another vote for monoprice.com Same day shipping and great prices. Why spend $100 when you can spend $12?
Pedro the Lion @ Feb 18th 2008 11:05AM
Do you realize how many people a day at Best Buy get scammed by the sales reps to buy vastly overpriced Monster Cables? It's criminal. I had my hands on a 125 dollar monster hdmi cable and ran it side by side with a 10 dollar hdmi cable. I filled the room with friends and not one said that there was a difference. Monoprice cables are 10 bucks and work as good, if not better then Monster. Let's get Elliott Spitzer to investigate and shut these crooks down.
Allen @ Feb 18th 2008 11:53AM
I work at BestBuy, and I agree, these cables do not improve performance. I think we should try instead to tell people the important things are distance and gauge. Since its a twisted pair wire, the important thing is that it has the appropriate gauge to reduce single loss over long distances.
Blue-Jeans Cable is where I buy my HDMI stuff (and I get BestBuy employee cost!). Check out their stuff sometime, they have a 24 AWG cable with CM rating (higher than Monster's CL3 or CL2 ratings) with certified 1.3a support (they'll show you the certificate, Monster won't) and its meter cable is $24.50, and their 100 foot (!) is only $256, well cheaper than Monster's 75 footer. Also, as a Bonded Pair wire it keeps the signal loss to an incredible low, better than anything else I've tested, at 100 feet.
It should be noted that just about any 6 foot HDMI cable will work as well as another, but past 50 feet (HDMI's theoretical limit for 26 AWG wire), things change a lot.
Slippery Snake @ Feb 18th 2008 1:13PM
I actually had a salesman from either Futureshop, or Best Buy try and sell me on a gold plated fibre-optic (toslink) cable. He actually pointed out the greater conductivity of gold. I challenged him on it, and he backed down quite embarrassed. Not embarrassed because he was lying, but because he was caught.
There are sites on the net that compare cables from different manufacturers, and for the most part,cheap cables are just as good as the pricey ones.
Jellodyne @ Feb 18th 2008 2:03PM
So... what speed are they rated for? 150 MPH? 200 MPH? They look very streamlined, so there's not telling what these babys will reach out on the salt flats during speed week. You skeptics keep you precious monoprice cables with no streamlining, they probably arent't even rated for 100 mph. Oh, sure, they can convey a bit perfect digital signal from one end to the other, but who really cares if they aren't even speed rated?
JeffDM @ Feb 18th 2008 3:59PM
Didn't this site have an article that showed BB and their ilk was showing Monster to be superior by having the Monster HDMI cable compared against analog cables?
AV Pro @ May 6th 2008 10:22PM
Chris and Allen are the only ones who have said anything of use in these threads. Speed or bandwidth, however you want to think about it do matter, especially at longer cable lengths. As you progess in quality from 480p to 720p, 1080i, 1080p 60Hz, 1080p 120Hz, and into the future the demands on the cable change in a very specific way. At the shortest lengths the differences usually mean little (1m to 2m). As you approach 10m or longer, buyer beware. The most dangerous cables out there are the cut rate 50ft or longer HDMI cables. Don't go finish your basement and run to your new 1080p 120Hz projector with the cheapest 30ft HDMI you can find one the web. There are differences! I am not endorsing Monster. For sure they are making good money, and so is Best Buy, they make money on everything they sell.