I had to replace some HDMI cables this week and I opted for the cheapest because a friend assured me that these knock-offs were just as good as their alternatives which were rather pricey. Looking around the net I noticed that Amazon had also waded into the business of selling cheap digital cables which makes me believe that I made the right choice when I bought those cheap HDMI cables. Why buy more pricier digital cables when the cheap alternatives are just as good and last as long?
I'm guilty of always getting cheap no brand cables and I'm known to always regret it! I have done it for my phone and my computer. My computer cable broke and I decided to get a cheap one at one of those cheap knock off tech stores. It was a couple months before it started having a bad connection.
When it comes to cables that you just plug in and leave alone I prefer the cheap ones since you're not going to move or dispose of the cable often so it's not going to suffer wear and tear. But when it comes to chargers and other cables that requires a lot of plugging in and out and just overall abuse, then I go for the pricier ones since most of them can take the massive amounts of coiling and stretching.
I always just buy cheap cables and I just buy lots of them. I'm one that always moves things around or loses them, so buying expensive cables just wouldn't be too advisable for me. I know cheap ones don't last as long but it's good enough for me since I wouldn't have to feel so compelled to be careful which I hate doing especially for small items like cables. I think both options are fine depending on the type of user who is buying the cables.
I don't think it should matter as much if you are buying inexpensive USB or HDMI cables - digital cables aren't like analog cables of yesteryear, where you could in fact see a decrease in quality by using lower quality cables. As long as it can transmit the data digitally to render a video or some audio, there should be no degradation in quality theoretically. That said, I wouldn't chance it with third party USB chargers, or any sort of HDMI cables that are being used to provide power to another device, since I have in fact experienced damage to some of my Android phones due to using third party chargers. Basically the touch screens would become erratic and unresponsive when plugged into them, and over time this damage would become permanent and happen even with them not plugged in. It doesn't make sense to me to chance it on an expensive flat screen TV, and use cheap HDMI cables which might damage it.
I buy cheap cables too, but my brother prefers branded ones. If I can, I examine them first, but pound shops in the UK sell them cheaply and discount stores. I guess ebay and Amazon have to compete these days. I do look at the country of origin though to make sure. In the UK we do have safety standards and anything sold in a shop must pass tests or a store gets fined. That's not the case on internet purchases though, so sometimes it's worth buying in a cheap store than on the web.
@Theo, I don't know if you have a Home Bargains near you or not but they often have some great cables in. They are usually just older versions of what is currently available in the stores - for example, they were selling Belkin anti-surge extension leads for £2.99 last week and the only issue with them was that they were in the old-style packets.
Yes, I do have a branch near me. That's good to know, but it's a small branch and things go quickly. I will look out for them as that is a good price. Generally their items are much better quality than the pound shops as well. Thanks.
