Quick fix for a "noisy" component cable?
 

I bought a cheap hi-def component cable for my Wii off Ebay. Hooked it up and got a lot of noise (a static like bar running up the screen every few seconds). I wrote the seller to complain and received another cable (same type) a few days later. Hooked it up and I am having the same results. Is there something I can do to the cable (like wrap a wire around one of the three video outputs) to get rid of the noise or do I have to buy another more expensive cable?

I typically buy shielded Monster cable for all my components. More expensive initially, but worth it for the longevity and quality!

Monster Cable is the biggest racket in Home Theater. Waaaaaaaay overpriced, and no benefit over any other similar product.

Go to firefold.com and get a cheap set for $10 or less ad you'll be fine.

No offense, but :facepalm: to both of the first posts. You buy a cheap cable off of ebay and it doesn't work, then you get another and it still doesn't work... must be a cheap POS cable, find another brand cheap cable. Monster is NOT the god of cables just because it costs 10x what other good cables cost. I wouldn't spend that much on Monster cables even if I had a billion dollars.

monoprice.com > *

And this goes to further prove what a fucking idiot you are.

I bought a wii component cable from bestbuy made by icon I think. Has worked fine for me.

Your problem has likely nothing to do with the cable, but a shitty mechanical connection at the RCA connector.

I would agree it's more to do with one end or the other, poor component in on the TV end or a cheap connector on the Wii end. For the most part, cable is cable.

I know that the RCA connectors feel loose when I put them on. I always squeeze up the ends a little bit when RCA connectors are not complete rings but these are the other type. I guess I could try to snug them up a bit though (bend them out of round). It is a royal pain in the ass to get to the back of my TV (will take me 10 minutes to swap out the cable and involves a ladder).

Oh FWIW, the original purchase was not so I could have 480p but so I could have a second set of cables for taking the Wii to a friends house (note how hard it is to remove the cable in my previous post). An added benefit was to move my Wii to the component input on my TV and free up the composite input for other stuff. Not much difference to me in Wii Sports Bowling @ 480p <G>.

+1

Found this out a long time back in the car audio world. Save money...but spend more than eBay.

Ebay cable made in China - $5
Best Buy cable made in China - $35

What's the difference (other than a huge markup to pay for a 12 page ad for Best Buy in the newspaper)?

Quality Control.

Names like Philips etc. have pretty good QC for a reason. I've said this too many times at work: "we don't really sell fasteners, we sell quality."

Any of our customers (think big oil service companies) can get the exact same shit anywhere else. It's a damn nut and stud after all.

They can be certain what they pull out of the box will work every time if it has our logo on the side of it though...and that's why they pay more.

EDIT: I'm trying to say a lot of our stuff is made in China as well, but it's 100% tested, and the 20% that fails is put back in a sea container. The parts we make ourselves -not surprisingly- have a much lower failure rate.

Best Buy sells a component cable made by Rocketfish ($26 + tax). Do they have good QC? What is their failure rate? Just because something is sold on Ebay doesn't necessarily mean it is crap. Lots of Ebay bashing out there and it really comes to life if you get something that doesn't work (like my cable). I doubt if I could get anyone to step up and tell me how shitty Ebay is after saying that I purchased a DVD laser replacement for one of my XBox360's the other day for $7.50 shipped. Lots of good Chinese stuff out there (don't you just love slave labor!). Sometimes you get unlucky but I usually end up on top. I was hoping for good results from the replacement cable but I did get two of them for the price of one in the end. I can probably live with the fact that it has a little noise in it and I only paid $4.60 total for TWO cables.

FWIW, I'll probably drop by Walmart sometime and see what they have. They are close and don't give you a hassle when you return things so I'll see what a "quality" cable does for me.

Hey...you asked.

I'm not knocking eBay shit in general...I buy a bunch of CDM stuff. But you're the one with a cable (or two) that doesn't work. I also had problems with a usb-serial adapter I got for $5. I've never bought any simple cable from a big box store that gave me problems.

Back to your question though...in my experience the main difference is always materials. I can't quess on anybody's QC...but you can see what ISO standards they conform to. That's generally a good indicator.

Looks like Rocketfish has a pretty good website (in good english) with contact and warranty info. Is that worth $20? Not really...but it's better than the aggravation of paying twice.

They also have detailed, legible descriptions of their product construction, while we can't even get spring rates out of eBay vendors.

What cable is it you're using? It sounds like you have a converter for the Wii and not the direct plug-in cable?

You can buy a WII cable that goes to component. No converter involved.

That's what I was asking. It sounds like he has a converter and then a normal component cable connected to that. If that's the case, i'd ditch the converter and get a new one. Preferably one with direct connections if it'll reach. If it's a long run, the cable is probably being run over power cables.

Not using a converter, just the Wii plug straight to component (just like Nintendo designed). A simple 6' cable...

Rob,
Is it a white cable? I have a Wii component cable from monoprice lying around if you want it. OR:

For only $2.93 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 6FT Audio Video ED Component Cable for Wii - White (Net Jacket) | Cable for Wii

Frank