Customer Reviews

Mediabridge Ultra Series - High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet - (10 Feet) - Category 2 Certified - Supports 3D & Audio Return Channel [Latest HDMI Version Available]

5 star:		(437)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

OK, not much you can say about a cable, unless you get one that is bad or "flakey" from a problem with the shield, as we read from a previous posting.

I recently upgraded my HDTV system and now have a HDTV, Blue-ray, and Receiver that supports the HDMI 1.3 spec. This spec enables new high bandwidth features previously not supported in older HDMI cables and equipment. Both the Blue-ray and the HDTV, and my Roku-Netflix box are firmware upgradeable, so this cable should support their enhancements for at least a couple of years.

Being the quintessential anal-retentive Electrical Engineer, I tend to over analyze everything (even if not required). When buying cables (typically, the weak link in most systems), you have to determine if the product is manufactured from a reputable vendor, or built by a couple of guys in their garage, with no quality control. Mediabridge Products is a subsidiary of Broadband Products, Inc. Broadband Products has HDMI certification (see hdmi.org for why this is important).

There are two types of HDMI cable, Standard (Category 1) and High Speed (Category 2), and they have different performance metrics. A Standard cable can transmit a 1080i signal for 15 meters (49 feet) or more, while a High Speed HDMI cable can transmit a 1080p signal for at least 7.5 meters (25 feet). For the most part, running cables less than 5 meters, either will work, but I want to make sure and this cable is Category 2.

Why did I buy this specific cable from this vendor: The vendor has an almost perfect feedback record, the product is low cost for the specs, fulfilled by Amazon, and importantly free shipping, and a return policy that pays the shipping for returns/exchanges of defects.

ADK

These cables are the best buy, high quality. After buying your HD TV do yourself a favor and connect your set with these cables.
They are extremely well made, comparable to Monster cables at a fraction of the cost. Highly recommended, would buy again.

I bought this cable due to the high reviews and good price. HDMI being a digital signal, will either work or not, it doesn't degrade the signal, so I figured it would be okay as long as they worked the first shot.

Problem #1: When running this cable from my PS3 down to my bigscreen I discovered that if I ran the cable through the back of the entertainment center like all the other cables, it flaked out (green screen or static). If I dropped it straight down it worked. This indicated the shielding on the cable is not good, or that there is a fault in the cable.

Problem #2: After about 1 month, now the screen will sometimes flicker to a green screen/static and then back. If I play with the cable a bit it comes back. Either the cable is a little loose in the HDMI slots (doesn't feel like it) or there is a fault in the cable.

I tried to get away cheap, and now I'm dealing with it. I certainly wouldn't buy the $100 Monster cables. That is crazy. But there are some quality issues with this one.

EDIT: Well, it finally has become a serious problem. I believe it was due to it being slightly loose in the HDMI port. I just broke down and bought a phillips cable and the problem went away immediately. It _might_ work for you... or might not.

I ordered 2 of these cables but actually received the 10' nylon coated cables. The only bad thing about the nylon coated cables is that they are a little stiff and you must have enough clearance behind your HDMI port so that when the cable is plugged in, it is not under too much bending pressure. Other than that minor detail they work great and I've had no problems. I have one connected to my HDTV cable box and the other to my Xbox360. Great quality for the price!

I recently purchased the Samsung C8000 series 3D Plasma TV with the Samsung C6800 3D Blue-Ray player and was initially pressured to purchase the best HDMI cables available. I purchased the recommended cables ($130 each) and got everything working and looking Great. Then as an experiment I went on-line and purchased a pair of the Mediabridge Ultra Series High speed HDMI cables. These were not the cheapest HDMI cables available on-line but looked like good quality HDMI connectors and cable. The cost for these cables were approximately $15.00 dollars each for the 2M length.

I then conducted a series of tests with Blue-Ray material in both 3D and 2D formats. There were no differences in video or audio that my family could see or hear. We then viewed various HD broadcasts, again looking for artifacts or image quality differences between the cables. We were not able to see any difference between a $130 dollar cable and a $15 dollar cable and promptly returned the $130 cables.

My advice, save your money the Mediabridge Ultra Series High Speed HDMI cables are good quality cables that perform like $130 dollar cables.

I was really appreciative to find such a budget priced item that had great success in so many reviews. My purchase satisfaction was short lived, unfortunately.

Upon installation, the cables worked as expected and created an excellent signal, very pleased with it. No issues whatsoever.

Two weeks later, my signal from cable just stops suddenly. Fearing that it was my LCD failing somehow, I immediately investigated and started narrowing down the possible causes and troubleshooting discovered that it was indeed the HDMI cable only, along with the second one I had purchased for the video equipment. I confirmed so by trying them on other equipment elsewhere in the house and replacing the cables with other ones to see if they function.

Both were deader than a doornail with no known cause. Everything else in the house is fine, including other HDMI cables.

Perhaps they passed to close to the Kryptonite and didn't have long to live upon arrival or I just ended up with some kind of random event which causes electronic items not to behave like their dependable siblings.

Some day I may know all the answers, but for now, just a caveat for you to ponder.

[...]

With all the hype on the title it looks as though this cable is a HDMI 1.4 cable but actually it is HDMI 1.3b, please do not purchase thinking it is HDMI 1.4 (It does not include the ethernet channel that a HDMI 1.4 cable would provide - "High Speed HDMI 1.3 cables can support all HDMI 1.4 features except for the HDMI Ethernet Channel." (Wikipedia - HDMI) GTMax High Speed GOLD-PLATED HDMI Cable Version 1.4 Supports 4096×2160p Resolution - (10 Feet, Black/Red) cables sold on Amazon are HDMI 1.4. This being said this cables quality is great and is much more affordable than any monster product and is much sturdier and better built then a cheaper cable in its class. I give it 5 stars.

Do your homework on what cables you actually need.
1. Feed from cable / Dish / pc
2. Set-top box capabilities
etc etc

I have a rule that if I can purchase a product locally within 20% of what I can have it delivered on the net I support my local business.

But this is one of those times when the markup at the retail outlets is OUTRAGEOUS!!
One of these cables locally (yes I shopped around) cost three dollars less than the landed cost of THREE cables via Amazon.

Cables arrived promptly with no issues, will do business with again.

I bought this cable because the price was right, but I guess I got what I paid for. The cable worked perfectly for about a week then all of the sudden I started getting messages on my TV that only the audio signal was received and then rapidly switched to no signal. I feared there was something wrong with my TV or the unit (xbox360) I had connected to the TV. I went out and purchased a new HDMI cable from GameStop and that resolved the issue.

Perhaps I just received a faulty cable.

Ok this is HDMI 1.3b Category 2 capable of 120hz. This cable does 1080p and 7.1 surround sound. I have 3 of these for the PS3, PC out, CABLE box and I get perfect 1080p singles with all 3. The audio is also perfectly crisp.