Hide your HDMI cable in your walls with Flatwire
Flatwire, makers of specialized cabling that can be hidden in drywall with a minimum of extra work, have announced a new HDMI variant in lengths up to 20 feet. There's no price yet, but if it's anything like the component video versions, it won't be cheap. I would expect a 20-foot length to be around $140 or more.
Far more expensive than your generic HDMI cable from Monoprice, for instance, but not all that much for a nice media closet installation. Should be out in the new year.
Flatwire product page (no HDMI info yet) [FlatWireReady.com]
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At first glance I was really confused by this. I've never had a problem running any sort of cabling through a wall, whether it was CAT6 or speaker wire. If anything, this looks like it would be hard to pull with a standard cable fishing thingy.
And then I read the FAQ on their website. The flat cables are intended to go outside the drywall, and then be painted or wallpapered over. That makes a lot more sense.
I guess I dont know why people are so afraid to snake cables through their walls? A fiberglass snake and a metal flex and you are off to the races. Ya it sucks but when its done, its done. Im just saying
ROBBM -
It's one of those things that's scary before you do it for the first time, and is less scary if you've got somebody helpful there to get you through it.
Actually, that applies to a lot of things in life...
I have use the attic crawl space to get cat5 in all the 2nd floor rooms, but have always wondered how do people fish across studs (e.g. on the first floor there's no access from above or below b/c above is 2nd floor and below is foundation)
Here's a nice little hint for anyone doing in wall wiring. If you want to cut holes for wall plates, a credit/debit card is the perfect size to trace out beforehand. You may need to widen the hole a little depending on the mud-ring you use to attach the plate, but it's a handy trick. Tracing from the mud-rings is usually a bit finicky.
PS: Wall plates are cleaner looking and easier to work with than small holes in the wall. It may be a couple dollars cheaper to forgo them, but it's more work and ugly looking.
I can see this being a little unnecessary for people with nice hollow drywall walls to run wires through, but if you live in a highrise or something with solid concrete / plaster walls, this could be just the ticket.
I'm not seeing that they use oxygen free coper with magnetic flux core shielding... so I'm sticking with Monster!
It's not that big a deal that the Monster Cable isn't as invisible agaisnt the wall- hell, if I spend that much on cable, I want it to be as conspicuous as possible.
Why are people so afraid of some loving cables?
Are they really that unsightly?
The amount of trouble people go through to conceal cables boggles the mind.
You spend all this time poking holes in your walls, for what?
And then how are you going to feel when you have to move your appliance?
There are so many things that can go wrong, and it's a nightmare if you need to move your tv only 6 inches, and what if one of the cables comes unplugged?
Anyone who conceals cables has TOO MUCH FREE TIME.
If you remove the baseboard you can make holes tht the baseboard will then cover up when it is removed. You can drill studs as needed, or if you have a small enough wire run the wire under or behind the baseboard. I've pulled baseboard off & found 120volt lines stashed there. Now that is just dumb. But you can hide a hell of a lot behind trim, & if you can spackle well enough to make the flat wire go away you can fix any holes you make, probably easier.
Peace
JJS
Base board trick. most times you just need to do speaker wires or tv cable
thanks!
Hmm... this just seems like a product for half-assers. Do stuff or be lazy, choose one jerks!
until wireless everything becomes a reality, i'll take joel's advice and embrace the cables.
$140 for 20 feet?
It's still cheaper than Monster Cables.
I have an antique roll-top desk, and I have refused to drill any holes through it for power or data cables. Currently the cables have to come around the front of the desk.
A couple of years ago I was asking around to see if anything like this existed, because it would enable me to slide the cable between the pieces of wood.
I feel like I wished this into existence.
This is an updating of older products originally used for speakers and art lighting. Which was so pricey and fussy ot work with it never caught on. Outside of some niche markets ans special contractors it was a dud. But it did inspire some of us to use "alarm foil" for speakers etc.
#7 - You DO realize that Monster cables are drastically overpriced and don't actually provide better quality than, say, a coathanger?
I did this once with an early printer peripheral cable extension that I made. It was just under an inch too short to reach and I had to saw an inch off my desk.
I think cables should be multi-colored or otherwise styled in a way that makes them a part of the interior design of the house. If you have a scar, don't hide it - make it cool to have a scar.
And here's another thought: Wireless Electricity. Think about it. Solve it. Then send me a check. It's gonna make a killing.
I'm a big fan of flat cable for certain situations where one can't physically run the cable through the wall.
I have my hdmi and component cables running to my tv through the wall, which was fairly easy, but one of my surround-sound speakers is mounted along a 6x12 inch beam. I can't drill through it lengthwise, so flat speaker cable did the trick perfectly with a bit of spackle and paint.
Wireless power is possible, but do you really want to live in a high power electromagnetic field? Wireless will also be very inefficient. I don't mind wires.
Monster cables = monster waste of money. Unless you plan on frequently plugging and unplugging cables the cheap HDMI cables are fine. I work for a major TV network and use the cheapest HDMI cables I can find. Try Harbor Freight Tools, they have 12 footers for $8 plus TOOLS!
Happy Boxing Day!
Running wires inside the walls of timber framed buildings presents challenges, but I do it anyway, because it keeps the pets, babies and robots from chewing up the wires.
Something people often forget is that interior floors usually contain huge empty channels you can use for wiring - there's generally no insulation in there.
Bravo Ted Johnson for not mucking up the desk!
--Charlie
re: Monster
Left my sarcasm tags off, sorry.
I figured that any pro-Monster post in an audience of these readers would be instantly recognizeable as a faux-troll.