HDMI Switch? (1 Viewer)

[fullofpaint]

I'm working on my parent's home theater and the receiver they have only has two HDMI inputs. I'm wiring up a PS3 and an HTPC (Macbook so dual-link DVI to HDMI cable) for my dad's birthday but they don't have any free HDMI ports. I was looking at buying a switch but don't know too much about them, can anyone recommend one? Ideally it'd either auto-detect and switch or I could program it with their UCR remote.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I've used this 4 to 1 port switch from Monoprice with good results. Comes with a remote control and my Logitech Harmony remote had no trouble learning its commands.

I paid $30 and change last year, a bit more than the $27.57 price they're offering now. I also picked up some 6 ft HDMI cables to connect all my gear for $5.45 each. (Red, yellow, blue, red and black to make it easy to keep track of the connections.) Those cables are down to $4.34.

Hope this helps.


Regards,


Joe

 

[Robert_J]

I use the 4 in / 2 out switch from Monoprice. The first one I bought had some quirks. Reading another forum I saw that Monoprice had been exchanging them for newer models that had no issues but I was a year late to that thread. On a hunch, I e-mailed customer service to see if the trade-in program was still going on. 30 minutes later the VP of customer service replied. He had looked up my order and dropped a replacement switch in the mail. He also included a pre-paid mailer to send the old one back. Hands down the best service ever. Along with the low prices and extremely high quality products, I get everything I can there. I also use their 3 ft HDMI cables in my equipment rack and a 35 ft cable from the switch to my projector.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I picked up an ONN (house brand @ Walmart) switch for $30 Cdn a few weeks ago so I could hook up both my Sat box and XBox 360 to my receiver. There's a bit of lag time in startup, but I attribute that to two factors: (1) I'm not using high-speed cables; and (2) there's an option to hook up a power supply to the switch. i think it's more the former than the latter.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

(1) I'm not using high-speed cables; and (2) there's an option to hook up a power supply to the switch. i think it's more the former than the latter.

I can promise you it isn't the former, because there is no such thing as "high speed cables". That's a marketing term that companies like Monster use to assist in separating the gullible from their hard-earned money. Don't fall for it. There is nothing that expensive cables, "high-speed" or otherwise, can do that the

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I thought high speed was a permissible marketing term, while "HDMI 1.4" and putting specific refresh rates on cables was an out-and-out lie. My understanding is that high speed cables are necessary for 3D and ethernet capability.