We purchased a home theater system from Best Buy (Magnolia Room) a couple years back, and they wanted us to buy all of their HDMI cables of course, Moster brand, at $50 each! We skipped that and bought them on ebay.

Of course, I have since learned of Monoprice.com. (Link goes straight to HDMI cables.)

If your tv is HD, you can definitely tell a difference between component and HDMI.

Verizon probably didnt put HDMI cables in because, A. they're difficult and want to use their own cables.. or B. because theyre 'too expensive' and would only use them if you purchased them at a mark up. Check the box for an HDMI plug, and if there's one, I'd definitely use it. =)