I only got my first XBOX 360 last September (finally caved and I'm glad I did!) and, being a complete newbie, didn't really understand the fuss over all of the cables. I have a cheap television and so I just figured that it was the telly's fault that PAL-50 made my video games look blurry. I was quite satisfied with the quality...if I played from a good two metres away.
Then, quite by accident, I stumbled across several forum boards talking about HDMI cables. Being a complete dolt at hardware (I'm a software gal), my initial response was, "Oh please, can a cable *really* make that much difference?" But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Well...I wholeheartedly wish I'd ventured and gained sooner. This cable makes everything look absolutely fantastic. I'm using a 21" flatscreen TV, but using the red/white/yellow into scart connection the XBOX 360 comes with as standard, I couldn't read some of the text in Mass Effect 2. Now I can. And not only that, I can see each individual leaf on the trees in the Presidium! And the detailing on the bark! Amazing!
Okay, I thought, what about older games, then...? Maybe it just looks so pretty because Mass Effect was made to be pretty. But oh ho, I was pleasantly surprised! Quake IV looked insanely sharp, crisp and detailed, whilst Fable II's hideously malformed faces and hair pieces quickly morphed into...well, more sharply defined hideously malformed faces and hair pieces. (I'm sorry, Peter, I can't lie.) I'm also currently playing Duke Nukem 3D from the XBLA and I swear even the appearance of that has been greatly improved. It's truly a marvel, and now I'm replaying all of the games I finished last year just to stare in awe at how much prettier they look. The scary forests in Alan Wake...! The Galaxy Map in Mass Effect...! My Pinatas in Viva Pinata...! Oh my gosh, I can see each blade of the grass!
As for my setup, I have the newish 4GB Slim Wireless model of the XBOX 360. I don't know what the reviewer who gave this cable one star was on about; with my XBOX you just plug one end of the HDMI cable into the HDMI port, and the other into the HDMI port on the back of the television. If you have an XBOX older than the ones that came out late last year, I would recommend checking online or in your local gaming hardware shop to see if it's HDMI compatible. If it is, I recommend you buy this cable immediately. It will improve your gaming experience no end.
And for those using an older LCD computer monitor without a HDMI port, look into using the XBOX VGA cable. The quality on my Dad's PC setup for his XBOX is almost as clear as the HDMI makes mine. :-)