Philips PH-61153 4x1 Automatic Audio/Video Selector and RF Modulator
by Philips
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List Price: 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 Philips PH-61153 4x1 Automatic Audio/Video Selector and RF Modulator
Customer Review: Great for Easy Gaming on Multiple Consoles
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent product. Provides automatic switching between multiple devices. Just to give you an idea, we have it hooked up to a VCR, Nintendo Gamecube, and an original Sega (yup, the original 1985 Sega Master System). All of the devices except the Sega hook into the A/V switch, and then you have a single A/V cable group that goes to your TV. We also have the Sega Master System hooked up through the Cable In plug, and hooked the RF Output to the TV. It really wasn't that hard to setup, but I would recommend some experience with hooking up cabling for televisions/entertainment systems. It has no HD plugs, but works great for accessory devices.
The main pro about this device is that it automatically switches over to devices. Say you had your VCR in Spot 2, and you Gamecube in Spot 3. It would prioritize Spot 2 over Spot 3 if both were on at the same time. It's great not having to worry about another remote control in the house, and all we have to do is turn on the device we want and switch the TV over to A/V input. Very convenient.
The only con that I have about this product is the quality of the stand. We set ours up horizontally, and there are tiny grooves in the bottom of the device that lets you snap in a black curved stand (you can kind of see the long horizontal grooves in the default picture for this product). Its rather cheap plastic, and comes loose about once a month if the device is moved around often. It does allow for more circulation though, which is handy.
In playing my old Sega on this device, I was pleased by the lack of video delay. We've used it regularly for our VCR and Gamecube as well with similar results. Another handy quality: the A/V plugs in the front. If someone wants to show something off on their digital camera that they brought over, all they have to do is plug it in and we switch the TV channel. Very convenient instead of having to go behind the TV to potentially cause cabling problems.
All in all, a great product! I'm working on recommending this to my folks so I don't have to swap out cables to show them photos all the time. ;-)
Links:
Oh and if you want a better view of the cable plugs on this device, I'd recommend checking out the manual:
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Customer Review: Love this!
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many modern humans, I have far more gadgets that hook into my TV than my TV has inputs. Just like several outlets in my house are a spider-web of powerstrips and extension cords, my TV was a wall of cords that I would have to plug and unplug every time I wanted to change from my Wii to my DVD player.
No more! Now I just have all my stuff plugged into this "Philips PH-61153 4x1 Automatic Video Selector," and a push of the power button gets me on the system I want to use. Life is easy.
I am really glad I went with this model because of the automatic switching capability. Some, like the clunky Sony SB-V31G Game and Video Selector with 3-Component Functionality, require you to manually flip a switch from device to device. With this one, they are all lined up by preference, and turning the power on one of your devices automatically switches to your device with the highest priority. For example, if the TV is #1, it will be overridden by the DVD player at #2, which will be overridden by the video game consul at #3, etc...you can plug a total of four devices for automatic switching.
This is not going to be a great device for people with ultra-modern TVs, as the best input you can get is an S-Video cable instead of component input. That's not a problem for me, because my TV is too old to do component input, but I did find out that my DVD player is too modern to do S-Video input, so I had to go with the standard yellow/white/red cords that can hook up anything. My cable does have S-Video though, so that has been nice.
The only major drawback to this device is its stand. There are basically some suction cups on the bottom that don't work at all, and the device always falls over due to the weight of the cables plugged in. However, since it switches automatically you can stuff it out of sight somewhere and there are no problems at all.
Customer Review: Works well
Summary: 5 Stars
I just picked one of these up today. I've got a DVD recorder, DVD player, and PS2 hooked up to it. It switches automatically to whichever input is receiving a signal. So I can just turn on the DVD player and it automatically supersedes the TV. Turn off the DVD player and turn on the video game, and it is automatically routed through. No need to get up and hit a button or anything.
The unit is fairly tall, but luckily so are the shelves in my entertainment center. You can lay it on its side, but the printing on the front would be sideways then, which would look rather odd. Of course you could just hide it away out of sight behind your entertainment center if you wanted to, there aren't any buttons that need to be pushed for normal use. It has suction cups on the base to hold it to the shelf, but my shelves are wood so I just removed them. They do stick very nicely - I absentmindedly set it on the table and it stuck there quite well. The thing stands up just fine even with all the cords attached to the back of it; Of course all my cords exit through a hole in the back of the entertainment center, directly in line with this little box, so there isn't any sideways pressure on it.
Overall, I'm happy with this device. It allowed me to throw out an old, broken VCR which I had kept around just because it had an extra input on it that I used to plug my video game into.
Customer Review: Finally! No More Cords To Switch Around...
Summary: 4 Stars
I had been looking for something like this for some time. Originally, I had a single connection RF modulator from Radio Shack but as more entertainment devices (ie. Wii, PS2) entered my home it was time for something bigger.
The problem was I couldn't find a suitable RF modulator anywhere for a long time. This of course meant pulling those red/white/yellow cables to switch with others whenever we wanted to use a different device. It was annoying but then I found this on Amazon and was sold.
My days of cable pulling and switching are long over as this product has far and away exceeded my expectations. It will automatically switch between devices when you turn them on or if you have multiple things on at once you can manually switch back and forth between them using its front buttons.
The only reason I don't give it a full 5 star rating is the stand it has. I couldn't stand it vertically as shown in the picture because the weight of the cables would pull it over. It can also lay on the stand horizontally which works but every so often I'll have to push down on it since the suction cup feet don't hold very well against the cables weight.
I might try using the front end connectors for one device to see if cords on that end serves to better balance it though. All in all a great little product that's been working fine for me for months now.
Customer Review: Great idea and convenience
Summary: 4 Stars
This works exactly as i expected and has several advantages.
- Makes it easy for any family member to use several devices on a tv without having to remember what channel or input to switch. Just press power on the remote and it is on screen automatically!
- Greatly simplifies the cabling behind the entertainment center.
- Gives you an additional rca input to plug items in the front temporarily (ie digital camera, laptop, etc)
Current setup it was tested with is
default input is Security Camera system (input is always on)
Network Video/Blu-Ray Player
Digital TV Tuner
There is one tip if you have two sets of speakers and want to prioritize your inputs (if several devices are giving a signal, then the lowest on the list shows on the screen) Say I wanted to watch the news on the TV Tuner and during commercials listen to Pandora on the Network Player, then switch back after the break. I just mute the tv during the commercial, and unpause/repause the Network Player (Pandora) which has audio output fed to the other speakers. You can still see the TV Video on screen while listening to the audio from the other device through the other speakers, or if you decide you'd rather see what's on the Network Player, just turn off the TV Tuner's Power and the input switches to the Network Player automatically.