Customer Reviews

HDmi Switcher with Discrete Ir Remote Control

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was glad to find something that would allow me to switch back and forth from my Sony XBR960 HDTV, and my Sony upscaling DVD player.

Because most HDTV's have only one HDMI input, it is great to have a product that allows for expansion of added electronic gadgets that might be coming down the line like HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players. This thing is a winner, and it's easy to set up. It also comes with two HDMI cables, which can be expensive if you buy them somewhere like Circuit City or Best Buy.

One note: You can find much cheaper HDMI cables from private sellers on this site, on Ebay, or other online sellers. I did, and I see no difference in picture quality between them and my $80.00 Acoustic Research cable I bought from Best Buy.

With an upscaling DVD player and a Comcast cable box with an HDMI port I was stuck with 2 HDMI outputs but only 1 input on my HD TV. Local Best Buy guy reccommended 1 HDMI for DVD and "the best component cable you can afford" for the cable box. I wanted to have the best possible connection for my setup, and that means HDMI, so I did a search online and found the Gefen Switcher. It does everything it promises plus comes with 2 HDMI cables. One pleasant surprise was it's very small size. It easily fits slightly behind and under my TV so that the remote can see it yet it is unobtrusive. Very easy to set up and use.

I purchased this baby because I have a DirecTv HD TIVO and an up-converting DVD player with HDMI outputs but my TV only has one HDMI input. Immediately upon installation the problems began, intermittent picture, no picture at all, the remote stopped working, switcher losing power, etc.

I called and got an RMA from Gefen and had to pay $16 to send it back. I get a call about two weeks later saying the unit is fine so they are just going to update the firmware and ship it back to me... About a week later I get it back from Gefen and I reinstall it back into my A/V system. Four days after reinstallation I lose power to it again. So I call tech support again and they tell me to run it without the power supply as it sounds like that's the problem. Why didn't they test my power supply when I sent it back in the first place? I spent over $200 on this and then don't have it for a month and now they are telling me to run it in a way it's not supposed to be run!! Give me a break, I'll just buy a different switcher that works and make sure I never purchase or recommend any Gefen product.

Very easy to use comes with 2 HDMI cables Picture is still very high quality. Recommend this product to anyone
with more than one HDMI product and only 1 input on your High def TV.

I haven't used this product, so I'm not writing a review, just making some comments on this product. The problem with this HDMI switcher is that it has only two inputs, meaning that when you connect it to your TV, you'll get only one more input than what you have now. There are several HDMI-capable devices hitting the market this year, such as HD DVD, Blu-Ray, and Playstation 3; if you plan to buy some of these, you'll need a few HDMI inputs. Case in point: my HDTV has two inputs, which are currently occupied by a Denon upscaling DVD player and a Toshiba HD DVD player. I plan to buy a Playstation 3 and a settop Blu-Ray player, so I'll need two more HDMI jacks. Hmm, looks like I'd need to buy _two_ of these Gefen switchers to have enough jacks to accommodate everything. What if I bought another HDMI device in the future, and needed even more inputs? Maybe I could buy a third Gefen switcher, plug it into one of the other two, then try to remember what's plugged into what.

At $228, this thing should have at least _four_ HDMI inputs. Maybe HDMI equipment is expensive, but $228 is too much to add only one more jack to your TV.

One more thing. The product description mentions support for a wired remote control, but doesn't say that one is included with the switcher. If one is not included, then the switcher is an even bigger ripoff.

If you need only one more HDMI input, and if you don't mind wasting money, this device will satisfy you. As for me, I'll wait for an HDMI switcher that meets my needs.