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 Buy Used: from $8.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Ultra High Performance HDMI Switcher, 3to1 Switch
Customer Review: Meh......
Summary: 3 Stars
I got this HDMI switcher originally for my cable box, 360, and ps3. The quality is ok, setup is easy, plus there is a remote control to switch manually if you want, which is an extra reason to buy it. I kinda wished they had the hdmi ports all on one side, but its not a huge deal. Also the instructions for the remote come in an Asian language that I cannot understand, but I disregarded this because its a remote, how much instruction do you really need to get it to work? So Setup was easy just plug the cables in, once everything was setup the red light on the switcher came on, even though nothing was plugged in. I then turned on the tv, then the cable box and I could see the cable, great. I then turned off the cable box and turned on the xbox, I could now see my xbox dashboard, beautiful. I then turned that off and turned on my Ps3 and it worked as well. So I was happy, then I left the Ps3 on and then turned the cable box on, but I still see the Ps3, so I switched it manually via the button on the switcher and I could see cable. I did then turned on the 360 but the 360 will not boot up until it has a video connection so it didn't really turn on until I switched to that port. When I switched off, and then went back to the 360 it restarted the 360. I chalked that up to Microsoft being douches, cause the Ps3 stays on even without a video connection. So even with that I am still pretty happy with it, until I tried to change the switcher with the remote. When I did this nothing happened, so I took the little IR dongle that came with it and unplugged it and plugged it back in, and tried again but no go. I then changed the battery in the remote, but that didn't work either. So the remote doesn't work, and the instructions are in whatever, and you cannot find the manufacturer of this device online so I have basically given up on the remote. But it still does work for what I need it for, I usually never have both the consoles on anyway. So for the money it is good, but you can probably find one that has a working/less complicated remote control .Customer Review: Not Perfect But Well Worth The Money
Summary: 4 Stars
The automatic/intelligent switching feature works pretty well, but is dependent on the devices that are connected to it. My ATT DVR is in Input #1 so it has the start up screen from the DVR whenever I turn on my HDTV even with the DVR off. It easily recognizes when my Xbox 360 (Input #2) is turned on (DVR off) and switches to that signal. Unfortunately, it did not recognize when my Sony upcoverting DVD player was turned on (Input #3)even when I plugged it into Input #1, so I would have to manually change the input to the DVD player position. In the end, i plugged the DVD player into the second HDMI input on my TV with the switcher plugged into the first HDMI input. I have recently replaced the DVD player with an LG Blu-Ray player. I connected the Blu-Ray player in position 3 of the switcher and it correctly switches between any of the three devices automatically as long as the other two are turned off. I would have given this a 5 rating except for the problem it had with the Sony DVD player, but at ~$15 this is a great value. It should also be noted that I didn't see any degradation of picture when going through the switcher vs connecting directly into the TV's HDMI input. It should be noted that the instructions are pretty bare bones and doesn't clearly state that the switcher has default priority selection which is Input #1, but most of the reviews of this product mention that so I knew what to do. Additionally, although this has an interface for a power supply you don't need it as it draws power from the HDMI inputs - that is mentioned in the instructions. Some reviews have indicated that connecting a power supply to it actually causes functional problems. This is a completely standalone device and includes a optical remote to manually switch signal input if: (a) it doesn't switch automatically or (b) have all three devices powered on so it defaults to the high priority signal. Frankly, it would be easier to just turn on the device you want and leave the power off on the other two and you are Golden :)Customer Review: Yep, It Works!
Summary: 5 Stars
As a firm believer in reading the user reviews, 1 stars first, I must say that this little, inexpensive box lives up to all the other reviews here.
The box arrived, and as stated in all the other reviews, there are really no directions and there is definitely not an AC adapter for the 5V input but you dont need it. As soon as I plugged in my cable box, the blue LED lit up so I had every confidence it was going to be worth at least three stars. After reading the reviews I had pretty much figured out how to set up my equipment and true to form I set it up the right way. I plugged my cable box into input 2 and my PS3 into input 1. Works just like the old VCR set up of days gone by. Input 1 has the priority so when you turn it on it overrides input 2 and switches, just like that. Since that is pretty much what I wanted to happen, I did not bother setting up the infrared remote as that would override the auto switching mechanism and just be one more remote to keep up with.
I bought my TV somewhat early in the Flat Screen era so it only came with one HDMI input. I was running my PS3 using the component input which kind of defeats the point of having the PS3, which was having a game device that would also play Blue-Ray movies. This little box, plain, light and no cords has completely turned that around. I will say that if you are in a similar situation, make sure you look at your set up and if you are going to need another HDMI cord, order it with the box in the combo that is offered here on Amazon. Contrary to one review, this does not come with an HDMI cord when ordered by itself. I took my chances on that and wound up making a run to the store to be able to finish my set up.
Long story short - Great little box, does what it is supposed to do and all at a really great price. Don't waste your time or money on some name brand. Use the money you save to buy a movie or game to go with what you are plugging into this great little box!
Customer Review: Skeptical about buying an hdmi switch? This is the review for you.
Summary: 5 Stars
I'e done so much research on different switches both expensive and not so expensive and I'm happy to say that this one is not only amazing it's cheap too. I've heard problems ranging from sound or picture degradation, having to use really thick cables only, some switches gave problems when the xbox is plugged in and they want to use the ps3, some don't auto switch, some are just plain expensive for doing such a simple thing. This switch has been working like a dream, picture and sound are unchanged and looks just as good as if it were just going straight to the tv. I use dirt cheap and more expensive cables and both work fine with no difference. It auto switches perfectly and I use both an xbox 360 and a ps3 with it and it's perfect.
My setup is a samsung 40" 1080p LCD 60htz tv with one hdmi port, this switch linked to a ps3 in port 1, an xbox 360 in port 2 and a gaming laptop in port 3. Everything auto switches perfectly, I haven't had to touch the switch since I installed it and I never even have to use the remote. It uses no power and works amazing to the price. I highly recommend this switch otherwise I would not be writing this review for you. Do yourself a favor and buy it, I was going to use this as a placeholder until I could buy a more expensive switch buy was so pleasantly surprised I've decided that there is no need to shovel out more money. If the switch dosn't work for you it is probally just an unlucky defective switch. That's the only reason I could see that there would be bad reviews about this item.
Lastly, the only thing I haven't been able to test is comparability with tv's above 60htz speed, simply because I don't have one. Look at the description or other reviews for that answer. Other than that I hope I have answered your questions. As a re-cap, I have read every review on this thing and took a chance and it turned out perfect, no degradation of any kind and works perfectly. Good luck
Customer Review: HDMI switch - Simple but effective
Summary: 5 Stars
The switch does transmit sound through the HDMI ports. I verified this as both connected devices pass the sound through the HDMI cable to the TV and I use the optical sound output from the TV to go to my amplifier (I don't use the TV speakers). This works great! If you have trouble with this, try a different HDMI cable.
For a price tag of around $10, this really is the ideal HSMI switch. It is small - about the size of a credit card and about half an inch thick. It does not provide any mounting holes or hardware, but double stick tape could be used to hold it in place on the back of your TV or elsewhere. The IR sensor provided works great, with a decent length of cable (at least 3 feet). I don't like that the IR sensor is black and gray in color (I would prefer all black), but this is only a minor aesthetic issue. Setup is easy and straight forward. I tried to use the priority option by plugging my DVD player into the port number 1, but it does not automatically switch from my media computer (on port 2) back to port 1 when the DVD player is turned on as I expected. This is probably due to the DVD player not completely turning off (vampire type device) - so the auto-switching is not triggered properly. This is not really a big deal though as the remote control provided works well.
If you have a Logitech Harmony remote, it can be setup to do the switching for you.
To do that, I used the following settings:
Add Device:
Amplifier > Audio/Video Switch
Manufacturer: CE-LINK
Model: VHD-0103m
It chose a "similar device" during the setup which was actually a 5-port switch, but that worked fine. I did have to train the harmony remote to learn the IR commands for the "Input 1", "Input 2" & "Input 3" commands from the original remote. Now I can easily switch between my media computer & dvd player without any fuss or trouble.