OT: Best Brands for VGA, USB cables and extenders

[scores4film]

I'm in the process of moving all my computers to a machine room about 75 feet away from my main studio. I'd like to ensure there is no ghosting or degradation in VGA signal. I'll also need to run USB for my keyboard and mouse,1/4 for my speakers, and 1 long midi cable.

I'm curious what brands of extenders and cables others are using with great results.

Thanks,

Colin

[robgb]

My opinion is that, unless you go with some really cheap piece of crap, just about any cable will do. The whole cable quality debate is pretty much a PR scam.

[MikeGraybill]

I just moved my machines into a separate room this last month, and needed monitor extension cables. Manufacturers generally state that the monitor performance degrades severely after 10'. I found this to be very, very true. The first cables I got were cheap Belkins from a CompUSA, and I had awful ghosting, doubled text and the colors were just plain odd. It was not even remotely acceptable, and that was only going 6' (1.8m) to a KVM switch. Belkin makes a more expensive model (pro series DB15), at about $70 store retail for each 6' ext, and that actually worked very well - at least I can't tell a difference between what it was originally and now.

I'm not exactly sure how to go 75' with this. I'm sure there is repeater technology of some sort to do it traditionally, though I'm not sure how much this would cost.

My buddy Ed, also a member on this forum, was telling me about a high quality network solution (I think he said about $300 for the box that does it) and it can go hundreds of feet without losing any quality at all, since it's just using network cable. I had to purchase 3 $70 cables to go 6' for just a few computers... Truth be told, the network route would have been less expensive and more versatile than what I chose to do instead, but since I wasn't pressed to go a great distance, I decided to go traditional. I'll see if he can post the link to the company selling this if you're interested.

I don't think USB matters too much, but then again, I've never tried to go so far with it, so I dunno. I used Monster cable for firewire extension and svideo, and that's about 20'. Seems to be pretty solid, and while Monster has a reputation for overkill, I figured better safe than sorry. Eventually I will need to go much further with my extensions than I am now, and when I do I will probably be looking very closely at the network video technology.

[MikeGraybill]

Just looking at the link Lee posted. That's what I was talking about... ;) I should read b4 I post instead of scan.