My old TV had been making a high pitch squeal for longer than I can remember so I decided it was time to get myself a new TV.  I really could not justify spending €1500 to €2000 on a thinner than thin LCD.  When I looked around the shops, I could not find your traditional CRT TV anywhere.  I did however come across the Samsung Slim fit TV which comes with HD.  There was a pretty good price on it so I went for it.  That was a couple of months back now.

Since I got the TV, I have had my eye out for a good DVD player with a HDMI socket so I can connect it to my TV without any quality loss that you normally get with traditional scart connections.  I got a great deal on a DVD recorder for €159 and so I went to my local shopping centre to pick up a HDMI cable to connect them.   I could not believe the difference in price for a HDMI cable between the shops.  I first went into Maplin where their Monster (Brand) cables were €165.  That is more than I paid for the DVD recorder!!  As I went from shop to shop I realised that the price of theses cable changed dramatically from shop to shop.  The best priced cable was in Peats, for €29.99 but since I had seen all of the other cables for over €100 I was skeptical of how good this one was for such a low price.   

Does anyone have any first hand experience of HDMI and know if there is a need to spend €165 on a cable to get the true digital experience or if I am missing out if I go for the €29.99 cable?