Ars Technica has pretty interesting article explaining the differences in pricing for HDMI cables. What's a good PS3 owner supposed to do? What's the difference in the $70 cable that GameStop wants to tell you, vs the $50-$100 Sony-branded one, vs the el-cheapo $19 cable from the Apple store? Is spending $50 more on a cable going to give you $50 worth of better picture?

I don't think the GameStop branded cable is $20 better than Sony's cable. This pricing is all over the place, and it's clear that the only difference is how much each retailer wants to mark up their cables. You can save $35 or so just by avoiding Best Buy and getting your Nyko cable online! I couldn't find the listing for the Nyko brand online through Meijer, so they may have realized they can make more money by not offering them, or by marking them up in-store. Look for the red HDMI cable and ask for a price check. It couldn't hurt.

The price differences between cables that are essentially the same can be incredible. $100 one place, $30 someplace else, and $20 online. The fact is many places like Best Buy only carry a few brands and jack the price up. It's worth spending the afternoon shopping around for your cables. Best Buy had expensive HDMI cables but cheap Wii component cables. Meijer didn't have Wii component at all but they had a $20 HDMI cable. Don't get fooled into thinking that just because you're paying more you'll see a better picture, or it isn't worth your time to check around.