AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)[Supports 3D + Audio Return Channel]

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1. A. Cohen says:

   October 17, 2010 at 4:22 pm

   Assess by A. Cohen for AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)[Chains 3D + Audio Return Channel]
   Rating:
   It is a relief to find HDMI cables that are inexpensive and deliver high quality video. I paid $40 for a 4ft cable at Circuit City a year ago, and less than half that price for the 10ft cable from Amazon.

   As an electrical engineer I can tell you copper is copper. Unless Monster cable has coaxial wire for each signal line, which they don’t since then the cable would be 10x larger than it is, then it’s just copper wire inside a shield. There’s still going to be crosstalk and capacitive coupling and all that stuff. All that “gas filled” stuff doesn’t matter either. If you look at the algebraic equasions for the frequency response of an unshielded wire, you’d know none of this stuff makes any major difference.

   The largest thing to avoid, if you can, are ferrite cores on a cable. Ferrite cores are persons black blob things that overmold the cable near one or both of the connectors. Ferrite cores act as high frequency filters and may cause signal degradation. They are typically used to comply with FCC laws and additional regulatory bodies’ radiated emissions laws. They add cost to the cable and typically degrade performance.

   Regarding expensive cables, HDMI or if not, what no one questions is the most fundamental question – Why? Let’s assume Monster cable isn’t lying and they can provide 300 GHz bandwidth or no matter what they claim. Why do you need a cable that outperforms so much? It’s like owning a car that can go 1000 MPH but the speed limit is 55MPH. In my field, that’s called “over-engineering” which equates to excessive additional cost, which is exactly the problem Amazon has solved by sourcing this simple low cost HDMI cable.

   While I’m soapboxing, gold plating isn’t necessary either. Silver is the best conductor, followed by Copper, and then Gold (third best). Stainless Steel isn’t far behind. The only reason gold plating is “better” is Gold does not corrode (but neither does stainless steel… they really gold plate the stainless steel, how dumb is that?). If you are using your cables in a household where the humidity & temp is relatively constant, you should never need gold. As far as I can tell, Gold is just a gimmick to charge more for cables.

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2. A. Dent says:

   October 17, 2010 at 4:44 pm

   Assess by A. Dent for AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)[Chains 3D + Audio Return Channel]
   Rating:
   Just to clear any doubt, this cable works as well as any additional 6 ft. HDMI wire, including the premium ones and it’s no better than persons that sell at Amazon for one penny (I really have one in use right now).

   I am in the process of upgrading my AV receiver and I needed an extra wire. So, I bought one Amazon branded HDMI cables and not a very expensive ‘premium’ brand or a less expensive ‘discount’ brand since…

   AmazonBasics vs. Additional Discount Brands
   
   ————————————–

   It’s not an simple call between an AmazonBasics-branded wire and someone else’s that sells for less (plus shipping ) but, here’s why I went with Amazon this time.

   If you look carefully, you will find the probably hundreds of HDMI ‘brands’ offered at Amazon (eliminate the ‘premium’) fall in about 3 ‘types’:

   a – usually under $10 plus shipping
   
   b – usually under $10 but over $5 that qualify for Super Savers free shipping
   
   c – listed for as low as 1 penny plus shipping

   AmazonBasics beats category ‘a’ on price and it’s more or less on-par with category ‘b’ as far as price is concerned. Category ‘c’ saves you a few dollars – and I did order a couple of these myself – but, Amazon has a few extra advantages worth considering if you don’t mind paying a small extra.

   - EASY RETURN – I know since I had to return quite a few items for various reasons. Amazon makes it very simple and, if you are returning the item since it came defective or hurt Amazon pays for shipping.

   - WARRANTY – these wires come with a 1-year warranty (discussion about future-proofing). If an HDMI cable performs for one year, the ods that it would stop working after that are pretty close to zero. It’s possible that the additional vendors back their inexpensive cables too (I never checked) but I am highly in no doubt that Amazon will be around to honor its warranty and I’m not so sure about vendors I know less.

   - QUALITY ASSURANCE – I’ve never had any problems with ‘low-cost’ HDMI cables but it may be reassuring to have Amazon’s name on a wire. My assumption is that Amazon did persist on some quality checks before they stamped their logo on the product.

   HDMI Background and the FUD of Premium Cables
   
   ———————————————

   Let’s face it, HDMI 1.3x cables have become a commodity these days. There are ‘premium’ brands, for sure and some look prettier than others (for something that goes to the back of your equipment and no one else will probably see) but the fact is that nearly all of now’s makes and models qualify for ‘high-speed’ or ‘Category 2′ (see HDMI 1.3 specs not more than). Just to eliminate the confusion, it’s worth stating that:

   The FUD (see definition not more than) campaign attempting to attract buyers toward the more expensive brands makes a series of claims. I will address them, as they may apply to this specific cable.

   - Practically all HDMI 1.3x certified cables are HIGH-SPEED or CATEGORY 2. Only the Category 2 (high-speed) cables support 1080p resolutions.

   - The HDMI official site advises that even HDMI cables under 15 ft. (5m) that were made BEFORE the HDMI 1.3 specification can work as Category 2 cables. The FUD claim that signal attenuation is less over a more expensive cable may be right, nut that’s irrelevant on a 6 ft. length.

   - The ‘ultra high-speed’ claim that some premium brands make means very small or ‘nothing’. As far as I know, there is NO official HDMI specification for ‘ultra high-speed’ and, every time I checked the specs of cables marked as ‘ultra’, all I saw was the familiar HDMI 1.3 specifications and nothing more.

   - The ‘premium’, very expensive HDMI cables are NOT ‘future proof’. The HDMI 1.4 specs that add an Ethernet channel, an audio return channel, support for 3-D and 4K by 2K resolution use a physically different connector – in additional words, the highly-expensive and the ultra-expensive ‘premium’ cables do NOT work with HDMI 1.4.

   - At this length – 6 ft., you will get as excellent a service from a no-brand or Amazon-labeled cable as you would from a super-expensive rip-off. Any HDMI 1.3 cable should be able to carry, error free, all the signal your electronic equipment may place out.

   ________________________________________

   Here are the HDMI 1.3 specs supported by this cable the premium brands and the less expensive alternatives:

   Maximum signal bandwidth (MHz) 340
   
   Maximum TMDS bandwidth (Gbit/s) 10.2
   
   Maximum video bandwidth (Gbit/s) 8.16
   
   Maximum audio bandwidth (Mbit/s) 36.86
   
   Maximum Color Deepness (bit/px) 48

   Maximum resolution over single link at 24-bit/px 2560×1600p75
   
   Maximum resolution over single link at 30-bit/px 2560×1600p60
   
   Maximum resolution over single link at 36-bit/px 1920x1200p75
   
   Maximum resolution over single link at 48-bit/px 1920×1200p60

   sRGB
   
   YCbCr
   
   8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio capability
   
   Blu-ray Disc video and audio at full resolution
   
   Consumer Electronic Control (CEC)
   
   DVD-Audio support
   
   Super Audio CD (DSD) support
   
   Deep Color
   
   xvYCC
   
   Auto lip-sync
   
   Dolby TrueHD bitstream capable
   
   DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream capable
   
   Updated list of CEC commands (only on HDMI 1.3a,b,c)
   
   ________________________________________

   Note: FUD Definiton

   FUD – Dread, uncertainty, doubt.

   According to Wikipedia, “the term originated to describe disinformation tactics in the computer hardware industry and has since been used more broadly. FUD is a manifestation of the appeal to dread.”

   Still Wikipedia, quoting Eric S. Raymond: “The thought, of course, was to persuade buyers to go with safe [...] gear rather than with competitors’ equipment. This implicit coercion was traditionally accomplished by promising that Excellent Things would take place to people who stuck with [...], but Dark Shadows loomed over the future of competitors’ equipment [...]“.

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3. J. Sundquist says:

   October 17, 2010 at 5:16 pm

   Assess by J. Sundquist for AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)[Chains 3D + Audio Return Channel]
   Rating:
   I got an email from Amazon announcing their new line of AmazonBasics cables. They said that their goal was to make a high quality cable and sell it at a very reasonable price.

   They have achieved that goal.

   I ordered two of the six foot HDMI cables and on nine foot cable for about eight bucks each.

   The cable came in a simple cardboard box with nothing but a twist tie aside from the cable (which is a excellent thing, I despise the plastic blister packs that cut your hands and excessive stuff in the box to go in the landfill).

   The cable has a solid, quality feel to it. Nothing feels low-cost or gaudy.

   Connecting the cable between my TV and several compontents including my groundbreaking new Samsung Blu Ray player, the connection just worked every time.

   For comparison purposes, I bought a $50 super delux, high end, will solve all the problems in your life (according to the sales guy) HDMI cable at Telephone system Shack. Connecting the AmazonBasics cable to the same Blu Ray player as the fancy cable I saw **NO DIFFERENCE**!

   Looking into it I found out that HDMI is a standard that is run by an organization. In order for anyone to make an HDMI cable and place the HDMI logo on it (which the AmazonBasics cable does), the cable must be made to the HDMI organizations values. So the group basically tells the companies how the cable must be made in order to be given the HDMI logo. The long and small of it is that low-cost cable or expensive cable, it must work to the same values in order to have the HDMI logo.

   So, super fancy $50 cable gets terrified back across the counter to Telephone system Shack guy for return and AmazonBasics cable gets a new home in back of my entertainment center.

   I’m now going to buy several more of these for family and friends to have as spares since they don’t know any better and will get suckered by the sales guy at best buy into buying a $50 Monster Cable HDMI cable that does nothing better than this one.

   Reply
4. jdogg says:

   October 17, 2010 at 5:19 pm

   Assess by jdogg for AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)[Chains 3D + Audio Return Channel]
   Rating:
   These cables are VERY thin/provide small shielding. It worked BUT my dvd player doesnt get signal sometimes. I switched over to a quality cable and the device gets detected everytime. My conclusion is these cables will get you by but Id pay a bit more for quality cable. Go with the MediaBridge it is twice as thick/more shield. If you are baller go w/ Monster.

   Reply
5. Amozarte says:

   October 17, 2010 at 5:35 pm

   Assess by Amozarte for AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)[Chains 3D + Audio Return Channel]
   Rating:
   It seems like a assess of an HDMI cable can’t be written without arguing the philosophy of whether it’s worth it to pay exhorbitant amounts of money for an A/V cable, or if a “low-cost” cable will do the trick. Rather than reinvent the wheel I’ll austerely say that:

   1) This cable is about $6 (and eligible for free Fill in shipping)
   
   2) Amazon offers a one year warranty
   
   3) Amazon has an brilliant returns plot

   Given persons items, what have you got to lose by charitable this cable a try? If you aren’t satisfied, return it and then spend the huge bucks.

   Having said that, I use it to connect my PS3 (i.e. my BluRay player) to my HDTV and my personal encounter with this cable has been positive. The cable is sturdy and feels well-made, unlike some additional $6 cables I have used in the past. The picture/sound quality meets my expectations and I could know no problems whatsoever. Overall I am pleased enough that I will buy the same cable again in the future. I also plot to give additional Amazon branded cables a try as needed.

   Reply

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