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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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: Works well but not fully
Summary: 4 Stars
I have a PS3 and a DirecTV HD-DVR that needed to be connected to a plasma with only 1 HDMI port. This switch certainly fits the bill in terms of allowing multiple devices to connect to a single HDMI port. The only issue I have encountered is with the automatic switching. The device does immediately recognize when the PS3 is on and will switch to that. However, once turned off it never switches back to the DVR. I have tried connecting the DVR and PS3 as "input 1", but neither configuration solves this issue. So in order to go back to the DVR I have to manually switch it. It is therefore nice that this unit comes with a remote control. It should be noted that I had to connect the supplied IR extender in order for the remote to work. Without it connected, the remote won't work no matter how close to the unit. Also, my unit did come with an AC adapter; however, it is unclear what the purpose of this adapter is. The unit works exactly the same whether it is plugged in or not.
Overall for the price I am satisfied with the functionality. If the automatic switching worked correctly this would be a 5-star gem.
Update: After a few days I have found the unit to be a bit flaky. Today when turning the TV on I found picture but no sound. I had to disconnect the HDMI cable from the device and reconnect it which brought the sound back. This likely does not bode well for long-term quality.
Update: After another week or so with it, there are definite problems with the sound stopping about once per day. I have to hit a different source button and then go back to the source I want for this to be cleared. Between this and the auto-switching not working properly and I will likely go looking for another solution.
Customer Review: Instructions would have been helpful!
Summary: 3 Stars
I ordered this HDMI switch from CE*Compass. It came by mail in less than a week with the Super Saver shipping. But the switch, IR remote sensor dongle, and remote control were stuffed into a padded envelope without any instructions. I emailed the seller who replied within 2 hours with basic information but without sufficient instructions to take full advantage of the features of this device. So this morning I began the Google search for information. In case you are in a similar situation or you are considering buying this HDMI switch, here's how it works:
There are 3 switching method choices:
Manual: press button on unit to step through the inputs as indicated by the LEDs.
Remote: attach the external IR receiver and select the input via the remote control.
Automatic: the switch will automatically select the "live" HDMI input; if more than one HDMI input is "live" the input with the smaller number will be selected; if you have a device that is always live, put it on HDMI input #3.
* Most HDMI output devices only power the HDMI output or are "live" when the device is turned on. A few devices output power through their HDMI port if they appear to be turned off. These devices' HDMI output is always "live". If you have more than one input that is always "live" you must use Manual or Remote switching to select between the two always "live" devices.
* You can determine if a device outputs a "live" HDMI even when the device appears to be turned off by observing the switches response to your connecting the device. If you plug in a device that is turned off and the switch selects it and illuminates it's LED, then this device's HDMI output is always "live".
Customer Review: Big money saver
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a Sony receiver that only has 2 HDMI inputs and I have a computer, PS3, HD-DVD player, and Dish Network. This little switch kept me from buying a new receiver to hook up all my equipment through HDMI cables. All the good reviews are correct in its functionality and I love it. One more remote to deal with, but it is worth it. Check the prices though, I could have saved $5 if I just would have looked to the right side on the product page as there are other places charging less. It works so good that I will take the loss with a grin.
I have added that I have power coming out of both my computer and Dish Network and have had no problems with it trying to switch back and forth automatically. I just use the remote and it will stay on whichever I select. For the record
Input 1 - Computer (Power always on)
Input 2 - Sony PS3 (Power is off when not in use)
Input 3 - Dish Network (Power is always on)
I can even switch between PC and Dish while they are both on - like when I watch a NASCAR race, I like to keep up with some things live on my PC while watching it on Dish. Just push one of the three bottons on the remote and I am there, whether the unit is on or off I am switching to. So I can not comment on the automatic switching.
Hope this helps some out there trying to connect more than one thing with constant power.
Had only 34 days and it went out. Started flickering and out she went. I have to have this so I ordered another one. Maybe the next will do better. Still cheaper than ordering a new reciever. Will hang on to the paper work with this one incase something happens to it. Worked great when it worked.
Customer Review: Simple inexpensive HDMI auto-swtitching
Summary: 5 Stars
This was as close to plug and play as they come. Took my one HDMI input from the my Westinghouse TV and put it into the output of this tiny device. Then I put the Comcast Cable HDMI into Port 2 knowing that plugging my DVD player into Port 1 will be a higher priority when I turn it on.
The priority is 1 > 2 > 3 so three is the lowest and will be selected only if one or two are powered off.
No power source needed. A bright red light indicates which input is active. When I plug in the DVD to Port 1 and turn on the DVD, the Port 1 dutifully takes priority over Port 2 and the DVD is now showing--no needing to switch the input to the TV now, this little beauty did it for me.
Then it also comes with a Infra-Red lead so you can plug it into the main unit so you can tuck the main unit (and that glowing red LED) back out of sight and only leave the small discrete tear-drop shaped IR receiver in view. A small credit card size remote lets you manually select the Ports if you need to. This 3 button simple remote also worked without effort.
All in all, this is a superbly simple solution to multiple HDMI devices all trying to input to one TV HDMI input.
The upside too is that my DVD up-scaling feature was hamstrung and had to use the less capable (lower def) component outputs (instead of its HDMI) while the Comcast Cable DVR unit hogged the one HDMI input. Now I can watch both with HDMI quality :). Very cool.
So this is pretty much a no-brainer. Unless you are willing to buy a new TV with more inputs and even then having to snake multiple HDMI cables from your components to the TV, this is a far less expensive (but very effective) solution.
Customer Review: If I could give it zero stars...
Summary: 1 Stars
Ok, so I am no blunderer when it comes to A/V, but I am no video/audiophile, either. I bought this switch because I have an OLD Sony Plasma 42" that we use as the main TV in our family room. It's so old that it has only on HDMI port, hence the need for this switch.
When I connected this switch to my Xbox 360 and the FiOS HD box, the switch would automatically switch to the Xbox when it was powered on, which was nice. The hokey little remote for the switch was unnecessary in my case, since the TV and the little switch were easily accessible to anyone in the room.
However, the switch itself would not work properly with the TV box signal. There would actually be INTERFERENCE on a digital signal. Intermittent sound, digital artifacts on the TV. So you know that I did some troubleshooting, I used the same HDMI cables without the switch to confirm there were no issues with the cables. You literally could not watch TV with this switch attached to the FiOS box.
So, a complete waste of money. The switch, hokey remote and IR receiver sit in a box gathering dust. Not valuable enough to demand a return, and no use with any other TV, since the rest of the smaller, newer TVs have at least two HDMI ports. Also, the switch has an alarming "DC in" port, which made me think I was missing a DC block. The switch is actually powered by your cable box (or other powered HDMI device, I assume).
Don't buy this item. The primary reason someone would buy this is to add HDMI ports to an older TV, which obviously does not work. If you're an HDMI nut and the two or three ports already on your TV are not enough, sure take your chances on wasting $15.