Is there any difference between the normal HDMI cable for the PS3, and the ones that say 'optical' in the name?

May be...

I keep seeing optical cables advertised, and i just want to know if they differ from my standard HDMI cable i use to connect a playstation 3 to a HD TV.

Basically, optical cables are mainly used to connect your PS3 or any optical ready devices to a surround sound receiver with optical/toslink port. The best setup if you have an HDTV with optical out is to use HDMI from PS3 to HDTV. HDMI will transmit both video and audio (n 5.1) to your TV. Then if you have surround sound system, you can connect the TV to your sound system via optical cable. This way, you can both watch TV and play your PS3 in surround sound.

optical cables only transmit sound from ps3 to a compatible surround sound reciever, no such thing as optical hdmi..just buy any hdmi which has 1.3 hdmi specfication.

Those other answers pretty much say it, but you might be confused. Optical cables are for surround sound. HDMI cables are for video and sound.

Optical cables can only carry sound. HDMI cables can do both video & sound.