Ultra High Performance HDMI Switcher, 3to1 Switch
by Portta
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Our Price: $8.18 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Ultra High Performance HDMI Switcher, 3to1 Switch
Customer Review: Fantastic so far
Summary: 5 Stars
I just got this thing set up last night. I am using it to switch between a Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player, an LG BD270 Blu-ray Disc Player, and the mini HDMI output of my ASUS Eee Slate EP121-1A010M 12.1-Inch Tablet PC. I had to play a little with turning the individual machines on and off and then changing the order of the inputs into the switcher to make the auto-switching function work properly. Other than that minor bump in the road, I've got only grins to share about this little gadget.
Absolutely no negative impact on picture and sound quality as far as I can tell, and I've been an A/V industry professional for over twenty years, so I'm pretty picky.
If you have an "older" HDTV (mine is about 3 years old - an older version of this: Panasonic TC-P42C2 42-Inch 720p Plasma HDTV) that only has two HDMI inputs, and you also have an older Home Theater receiver (mine's so old I'm not even going to try to find a product link for it) that doesn't route HDMI sources, then this little box should do the trick as you amass an increasing number of HDMI sources.
If it suddenly breaks down anytime soon, I'll come back and enter an update, but so good so far.
Customer Review: Fantastic, does what it claims and does it for less than others
Summary: 5 Stars
I needed to switch between my Sony PS3 (HDMI) and my Motorola DCX3400 (HDMI), which are connected to my Samsung 56-inch DLP (single DVI). I plan to someday upgrade my AV receiver to one with HDMI switching, so I did not want to spend a lot of money on an HDMI switch. I also once worked for a STB manufacturer and had many years of experience dealing with the pains of HDMI/DVI interoperability. I saw this on Amazon and read the reviews and was very hesitant about it, but what the heck, for less than $20.00 what did I have to lose? If it worked, then great. If not, then I would just toss in the junk pile with the rest of my bad purchases.
It arrived in a very simple package. I connected the PS3 to port 1, the STB to port 2 and then the output to my TV (with an HDMI-to-DVI cable). I then buried the unit behind my entertainment center, connected the provided IR extender (just in case I needed to manually switch) and the provided power supply.
When the PS3 is on, the unit automatically switches to the PS3. Turn the PS3 off and the STB on, the unit automatically switches to the STB. Have them both on and want to switch, use the supplied remote control.
Well, I won on this one. The thing does exactly what it says it does and does it all for less than $20.00. Why are people still buying the $100.00-plus HDMI switches??? Oh yeah, probably the same knuckleheads that believe gold plated optical SPDIF Mons%%er Cables are worth every penny and drastically improve the sound quality.... like P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute."
Customer Review: Works like something that should cost far more money!
Summary: 5 Stars
So I am stuck with one lonely HDMI port on my TV. No real worries, since I can just switch inputs, besides, you get HD quality video through component cabes, so why worry, right? Well, I decided it was time to move up to all HDMI since part of HD is digital (rather than analog) sound, which is what you are stuck with when using component cables.
I am always leery about buying budget electronics, since oftentimes in electronics the old adage "you get what you pay for" comes through again and again.
I took a chance on this product and the payoff was more than I would have wished for. It works exactly as I would expect a name brand product costing two to three times more would work. One note, since your cable/sattelite box is always on (even when you have it in standby mode, the only time they actually turn off is when you unplug it) plug it in as device number three, and put your Blu-Ray, Upconverting DVD, or Gaming Console in as device number one and two, which have higher priority.
The switch quickly changes when it senses that you have turned a device on or off, making the IR reciever and remote a backup to the automatic switching. In reality, the IR reciever and remote are superfluous since there is a button on the device itself which will switch from input to input in order. I gues in our couch-potato generation, everything needs a remote so you don't actually have to get up and walk to the TV to change the switch in case it didn't automatically.
BTW, I have NEVER needed to use my remote or the button on the device.
Customer Review: Great switch for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
In my home, most of my devices has HDMI output when I realized that my home theater can only take 3 inputs and I have 4. So, I have to create one input for my DVD/VCR which has HDMI out and with my second DVR which also has HDMI. Puchased a terk 2 to 1 automatic switch and it never worked (please read my comment on terk in the cnet).
Finally I found this switch in the amazon, one thing which gave me excitement is the remote and the manual switch with automatic. Most of the devices now a days do not really turn off, so the automatic switches won't work properly because every device is on and the first one got on will be selected. But my fear was compatibility with each of this device which I faced with Terk 1 to 1 switch.
Here is my opinion after using it for a month
* Works perfecty with all the device, means no compatibility issue
* It comes with a external power option does not required, so no power cord
* Does not switch automatically not because the switch issue, but the issue I explained before
* Manual switch works great, with remote. So, I programmed to my harmoney remote active with this new device. So, when ever I switch the device, the manual switching of port is also done by my harmony remote. So, I kept the remote comes with this in storage.
Now I have one more input in this switch for futue expansion, also integrating this with the harmony remote activity, I even forgot I have only 3 inputs for my home theater, everything automatic!!!
Great switch.. I recommend 100%
Customer Review: Actally makes your HDTV better!
Summary: 5 Stars
This may be a little too soon to review, but I just hooked this product up to my small 22" Samsung HDTV. I just recently purchased HD cable service, so the box has constant HDMI output. I assigned the cable box to slot 2. I assigned my PS3 to slot 1. This little switcher device is actually BETTER than having multiple built-in HDMI slots on your TV! Now I watch TV, and when I feel like using the PS3 I simply turn it on. The HDMI switcher automatically detects the PS3 and selects slot one! BAM! Now I'm looking at my PS3 display. All this without having to use a remote to select a different HDMI port. I'm very pleased so far. Now I just have to wait and see if this product lasts. I'll ,of course, be back to talk trash about it if it fails in the next few months.
And you have to connect the IR receiver even if you don't plan on using it. The IR jack completes the circuit to output to your TV.
**UPDATE** Day two, and the HDMI switch was having trouble transmitting picture and sound from my cable box. It keeps cutting out. However, when it connects to my PS3 it works just fine. I figured out that the cable box is not putting out enough power to operate the HDMI switch. This switch does not come with an AC adapter, but it does have a port for one, so I used a 6V adapter I had laying around and now it is working perfectly. So you may need to use an adapter as well, but they're cheap. I'm still happy with the product though.