No one’s going to confuse Monster Cable with Monoprice or other bargain cable sellers anytime soon, but the company is reducing prices on some of its HDMI cables, and expanding its ‘Basic for HDMI’ line.

Monster announced that its 1-meter HDMI run in its ‘Basic for HDMI’ line will be decreased from $39 to $29, effective immediately.

As part of its ‘Basic for HDMI’ roster, Monster also said it will be adding in May a 2-meter version and 4-meter version that will retail for $39.95 and $59.95, respectively.

Monster also plans on dropping the price of its $129.95 8-foot HDMI cable to $99, readily available at Best Buy, according to USA Today. That one would be a step up from the ‘Basic’ version, as the 8-foot length measures a little under 2.5 meters, in which case you might want to opt for the new 2-meter Basic.

With the ‘Basic’ product line you also get a “no-frills” environmentally friendly packaging, which we’re hoping is a bit easier to open than most of that Fort Knox-like plastic packaging for gadgets out there.

And while Monster might be overestimating its press release statement that, “The newly priced Monster Basic for HDMI also gives consumers a Monster alternative to cables sold on the Internet,” we’re at least glad to see these price drops. Are you more inclined to shop Monster now, or stick with the ‘Net bargains?

Arlen Schweiger - Editor of Electronic House Magazine

Arlen writes about home technology installations and product news and reviews for electronichouse.com and Electronic House magazine.