kind of an interesting read here. while the only true way to know what they've been handing out is to get a hold of someone from your HSP's logistics dept, i would guess that they are cat2 cables but poorly/improperly/not tested. they have to hand out thousands of HDMI cables a week and i doubt they're going to spend money on something quality when 99% of everyone wouldn't even be able to tell the difference in a double blind test. plus, if *you* cant see a difference why pay more? food for thought.