I have my xbox, ps2, gamecube dreamcast, and hopefully the next gen systems and I want a switcher that will let me use component and optical inputs. Any suggestions I saw one at bestbuy for 100.00 (sounds a bit steep, but if its good…). How much quality will I loose using a switcher? if anyone has a suggestion let me know.
The Pelican one (which I’m guessing is the one you’re seeing for $100) has gotten good reviews. In fact, I was surprised to see that it supported optical and component outputs. I’m waiting for one with a remote control, tho.
I have one of these, and it’s fantastic. No loss of quality whatsoever. Have my DVD player, Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox running through it (except for the GC sound, as it doesn’t have a digital out).
Since I connected everything up, I haven’t had to touch it – when I turn one of 'em on, it autoswitches right to it. Great little gizmo.
I’ve got the $100 pelican one since it’s the only one I could find that did component, ethernet and optical.
It works well enough, although I read somewhere that it’s not for home theatre nuts since there’s apparently some signal loss
…and if you can live with s-video, pelican’s 15- 20$ on is decent enough.