DVI cable - $10? or $65? what's the deal?

mellojoe

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Right now my computer / monitor is using a VGA cable with a VGA-DVI adapter. I'd rather just use the DVI cable, eliminating the adapter.

#1) Will it make any difference?

#2) Why is there such a huge price difference in these cables? I've never seen such a mess. If I go to BestBuy or CircuitCity or any of the other local stores, the cables are all like $50 if they have them at all. NewEgg has them as low as $9 and as high as $65, for what appears to be the same cables.

What's the deal?
 
just go to walmart, they sell dvi, hdmi whatever cables for like 15 dollars unless you need more than 6 feet.
 
Go for the cheaper DVI cables. You don't need some BS $75 Monster cable from Worst Buy.
 
Yep, it's a scam.

The signal is digital, it is either going to work or it's not going to work and a "better" cable won't improve anything.
 
Yep, it's a scam.

The signal is digital, it is either going to work or it's not going to work and a "better" cable won't improve anything.

He does need to ditch the adapter though.
 
He does need to ditch the adapter though.

Yaa, because all that adapter is doing is taking the existing analog lines of the DVI port and mating them with the VGA cable. But as far as cheap vs expensive DVI cables are concerned, it's all a scam. Buy the cheap ones.
 
just go to walmart, they sell dvi, hdmi whatever cables for like 15 dollars unless you need more than 6 feet.

Actually, this is one of the reasons I started this thread: our Wal-Mart doesn't carry them. Our BestBuy has one. Only one, for $49. Are they phasing out DVI so fast? But they still ship VGA cables? Weird.
 
Actually, this is one of the reasons I started this thread: our Wal-Mart doesn't carry them. Our BestBuy has one. Only one, for $49. Are they phasing out DVI so fast? But they still ship VGA cables? Weird.

If you can wait for shipping, NewEgg has them for under $10.
 
Actually, this is one of the reasons I started this thread: our Wal-Mart doesn't carry them. Our BestBuy has one. Only one, for $49. Are they phasing out DVI so fast? But they still ship VGA cables? Weird.

Local stock problem only perhaps? but anyway $49 is absurd. I'd avoid buying an ultra cheap cable without seeing it first, just because the build quality might be suspect - I was given a low quality cable DVI that was a poor fit, and the plastic was coming apart after a few months. Would've considered it a bad buy even at $5 :rolleyes:

Blue Jeans Cable have an excellent reputation:
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/dvi-cables/index.htm
Using this as a reference, expect to pay at most $15-$25 for a quality cable!
 
Just as a resolution to this thread, or if anyone else is interested:

I went through MonoPrice. They were originally sold out of the 6' version, so I waited. They emailed me when they were back in stock. They shipped it out nice and fast, and I got it plugged in yesterday. Looks like a solid cable. Decent packaging, extra attention was paid in wrapping the ends to be sure nothing got damaged in shipping.

All-in-all, I'm really happy. Thanks for the advice and all the links.
 
The funniest thing ever was when I was looking around for a Toslink at BestBuy when a salesman tried to persuade me to buy one with gold connections because it would improve conductivity! lulz

I vowed never to shop at BestBuy for cables ever again, monoprice is ftw.
 
The funniest thing ever was when I was looking around for a Toslink at BestBuy when a salesman tried to persuade me to buy one with gold connections because it would improve conductivity! lulz

I vowed never to shop at BestBuy for cables ever again, monoprice is ftw.

Back in the day (1996), I bought a PC setup from Sears. I bought a real nice Packard Bell P133 and 14" monitor along with a Canon printer. It was all pretty nice, ran Win95 and had a blazing fast 33.6 modem. Anyways, we got home and realized we needed to buy a cable for the printer. Back then, Best Buy was pretty much all I knew of that sold computer stuff around here. So we headed into town to buy a LPT parallel printer cable. I go suckered by a sales man.. I didn't know any better. I paid like $50 for a 3 foot long Belkin Gold Titanimum series (or something like it) cable.

I don't like Best Buy for pushing that stuff on noob customers, and I don't like Belkin for hawking that crap either.
 
It's not Belkin's fault... A local computer store has a Belkin USB cable for $6, where Best Buy sold the same cable in the same package for $30. That just goes to show that it isn't Belkin that's charging the outrageous price, it's the retailer.
 
It's not Belkin's fault... A local computer store has a Belkin USB cable for $6, where Best Buy sold the same cable in the same package for $30. That just goes to show that it isn't Belkin that's charging the outrageous price, it's the retailer.

It was Belkin's version of the Monster cable type of shit. Go check it out sometime, they have all kinds of different quality ranges and call them Pro this and Pure that.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatSectionView.process?Section_Id=1753

Total rip off.

Edit:
Here's your 6ft "Gold Series" USB cable for a bargain price of $24.99
 
It was Belkin's version of the Monster cable type of shit. Go check it out sometime, they have all kinds of different quality ranges and call them Pro this and Pure that.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatSectionView.process?Section_Id=1753

Total rip off.

Edit:
Here's your 6ft "Gold Series" USB cable for a bargain price of $24.99

Bingo! He hit the nail on the head
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I just thank my lucky stars that places like NewEgg and MonoPrice exist to keep things in check. I hardly ever go to BestBuy or Circuit City, except if I want to play with the toys before I buy them. :)
 
I like BB and Circiyt city.

and I often pay $59 for their cables. just a 4 days ago I bought a HDMI cable for $62 after tax.

what I do is when I need cables fast and don't want to wait for delivery from monoprice or newegg. I would just get it from bestbuy. use it until the monoprice cable comes.

once it comes I return the BB cables for a refund and use the monocable.

but yeah paying $60 for a DVI or HDMI cable is stupid and I hate the fact that the sales people push that on you.
 
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