Generally speaking, Monster Cable products are far superior to the throw-in cables that most mfgrs give you when you buy a component. On paper anyway.
My experience with Monster Cable is admittedly confined to audio (CD) and video (DVD/ TV) cables. I own one set of each, and I got deals on both. I've owned each for about 15 years with no probs whatsoever. I can't comment on their computer cables.
Above, I said, "On paper anyway." What I meant was this: There shouldn't be any dispute about, say, their audio & video cables being a cut above the throw-in cables you get when you buy a DVD player or CD player or something from whatever mfgr. Things like Monster's low-loss dielectrics, silver content solder connections, flexible Duraflex jackets, oxygen-free multi-stranded copper wire, gold plated turbine connectors, gold plated split-tip center pins, EMI shielding, and other attributes certainly make them better than throw-in cables, which have none of those features (that I know of). If nothing else, the gold plated connectors and center pins make them corrosion resistant, and corrosion build-up can absolutely cause signal loss in a video/audio connection.
So "on paper," Monster Cable makes some nice cables (and keep in mind they have several quality/price levels to their cables). Are they the best you can get? Unlikely. There are "enthusiast"/audiophile cables costing gazillions of dollars that are even more exotic and that probably perform even better in lab tests. Are Monster Cables overpriced? Perhaps. You're paying for the name, which is rarely good. Are there comparable cables that cost less? I wouldn't doubt it. Also keep in mind that back in the day, Monster Cable was considered esoteric. Now they're "mainstream," and like many in this thread have pointed out, they're ubiquitous at Best Buy, Good Guys and other consumer electronics stores. They produced a high quality product 20 years ago, built up their name and reputation, and got rewarded with success. So now others target them and wanna bash them. That doesn't make them "junk," and I've never seen any Monster marketing materials wherein they claim to be the best cables on earth.
Again, "on paper" is the key to all this IMHO. Reason I say that is that credible lab tests, by qualified professionals, will almost certainly show that better cables provide better performance ... but most people won't notice a tangible difference between cables in their own homes/offices, provided they aren't using utter junk. But some people (and I'm one of 'em) like knowing that what they're listening to or looking at is more likely to be accurate because they're using quality components/cables. Whether or not we can tell the difference in a direct A/B comparison is almost irrelevant; in many instances, you'd have to be professionally trained to tell differences in A/B comparisons of cables, and have the test equipment to conduct those comparisons. And how many Average Joes have either of those things? As with any quality cable or component, just knowing you're using quality is, to some of us, worth paying a few extra $$. So we read test reports and buy high performance cables so we can assume what we're looking at or listening to is accurate (irrespective of the other components in the chain).
I bought my Monster Cables about 15 years ago, and at the time there weren't a lot of high-end cables to choose from. And they were easy & convenient to buy. I'm happy with 'em, but I also know they're not the absolute best cables out there (which I don't need anyway). I'll prolly at least consider others next time I need some nice cables, as there are a lot more on the market now. You wanna see exotic, expensive cables & other components? Check out MusicDirect.com. Just know that you might have to mortgage your house to buy some of their offerings. :Q (Well, not quite, but ....)
While I don't own any of Monster's computer cables, I see no reason to suspect them of being lower quality than their others. I would suspect, however, that differences in materials & construction would be less important with, say, a DVI connection. There isn't as much to a computer connection as there is with an audio or video cable connection, so as long as the connector ends are sturdy and the cables are solidly built otherwise, I doubt if anyone would be able to tell the difference in a typical installation. Gold plating will deter corrosion, which I suppose could help if you live in a very humid area (which many people do). Incidentally, some might say that Belkin is the Monster Cable of computer cables -- I definitely find Belkin products to be way overpriced.
My long-winded two cents. 😀
PS: Don't even think about calling me a Monster "fanboy." Not gonna fly, so don't go there. 😉
