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I've bought toys from http://www.audioauthority.com/, and if you have the cash to spend, I'd invest in a AVAtrix Whole-House Routing System (about $4000), which is an A/V matrix distribution system.

It doesn't support HDMI, but for sending/controlling HD Component (or DVI) from up to 6 locations, and signal distro over a pair of Cat5s, it's really tough to beat. I've been planning for years on setting a system like this up in a house so I could watch/play any component on any display in the house.

I have a similar dilemma myself. I have a PS2, 360, and (hopefully soon) a Wii. Unfortunately, my HDTV only has so many component inputs.

I finally purchased a component switcher recently, the Audio Authority 1154A. It's powered, which keeps the quality very high, and even better, will automatically sense which console is on and send that signal to the TV. No more messing with extra remote controls or having to press a button on the unit to switch. It's very nice feature, especially since the next-gen systems should allow you to wireless turn on the console (well, I know the 360 does at least).

That said, I've heard some people may have problems with auto-sensing units in general. I'm not sure if it's a problem with their TV or the other units they plug into the siwtcher (certain DVD players, etc. I imagine). I do know, though, that the PS2 and 360 play along very well.

You act like that's something new. Audio Authority has had 2x1 and 4x1 DVI switches supporting 1080p and HDCP for some time now. Nothing supporting HDMI directly (neither does the one you linked), but HDMI <-> DVI is trivial.

You'll still need an audio mux (I like the 1177), and it doesn't look like AA's cheaper DVI switches support auto-switching, which is disappointing. Still, the IR remote should be convenient enough.

The only benefit to the Gefen item you linked is that it ships with cables for $350, while the AA is cableless at $350. Not that it really matters, since you'll still have to buy an HDMI to DVI cable to use either of them with HDMI sources and outputs.

Or you could spend $3500 and get the AVX-661 set and route 1080p video and digital audio through your entire house via Cat5e!

You act like that's something new. Audio Authority has had 2x1 and 4x1 DVI switches supporting 1080p and HDCP for some time now. Nothing supporting HDMI directly (neither does the one you linked), but HDMI <-> DVI is trivial.

You'll still need an audio mux (I like the 1177), and it doesn't look like AA's cheaper DVI switches support auto-switching, which is disappointing. Still, the IR remote should be convenient enough.

The only benefit to the Gefen item you linked is that it ships with cables for $350, while the AA is cableless at $350. Not that it really matters, since you'll still have to buy an HDMI to DVI cable to use either of them with HDMI sources and outputs.

Or you could spend $3500 and get the AVX-661 set and route 1080p video and digital audio through your entire house via Cat5e!

You act like that's something new. Audio Authority has had 2x1 and 4x1 DVI switches supporting 1080p and HDCP for some time now. Nothing supporting HDMI directly (neither does the one you linked), but HDMI <-> DVI is trivial.

You'll still need an audio mux (I like the 1177), and it doesn't look like AA's cheaper DVI switches support auto-switching, which is disappointing. Still, the IR remote should be convenient enough.

The only benefit to the Gefen item you linked is that it ships with cables for $350, while the AA is cableless at $350. Not that it really matters, since you'll still have to buy an HDMI to DVI cable to use either of them with HDMI sources and outputs.

Or you could spend $3500 and get the AVX-661 set and route 1080p video and digital audio through your entire house via Cat5e!

Lack of space?

A cheap shelving unit would solve that problem. I got a nice metal shelving unit (similar to this but with only three shelves) a while back that looks good and holds quite a bit of stuff. Plus, it's completely open so I don't have to worry about heating issues like with a fully enclosed "media center" rack (I never understood why you'd put hot, sensitive electronics in a fully enclosed rack).

Finite number of inputs into my TV?

Get a mux. My current personal favorite is the AA1154 component switch. If you don't need component, you can get switches for composite/s-video or even DVI (and thus HDMI, since the two convert back and forth easily). Granted, the Audio Authority switches are expensive, but there are many PRODUCTS&cm_ite=1%20PRODUCT&cm_keycode=4">other options out there depending on the feature you want and the price you're willing to pay.

Lack of space?

A cheap shelving unit would solve that problem. I got a nice metal shelving unit (similar to this but with only three shelves) a while back that looks good and holds quite a bit of stuff. Plus, it's completely open so I don't have to worry about heating issues like with a fully enclosed "media center" rack (I never understood why you'd put hot, sensitive electronics in a fully enclosed rack).

Finite number of inputs into my TV?

Get a mux. My current personal favorite is the AA1154 component switch. If you don't need component, you can get switches for composite/s-video or even DVI (and thus HDMI, since the two convert back and forth easily). Granted, the Audio Authority switches are expensive, but there are many PRODUCTS&cm_ite=1%20PRODUCT&cm_keycode=4">other options out there depending on the feature you want and the price you're willing to pay.

Lack of space?

A cheap shelving unit would solve that problem. I got a nice metal shelving unit (similar to this but with only three shelves) a while back that looks good and holds quite a bit of stuff. Plus, it's completely open so I don't have to worry about heating issues like with a fully enclosed "media center" rack (I never understood why you'd put hot, sensitive electronics in a fully enclosed rack).

Finite number of inputs into my TV?

Get a mux. My current personal favorite is the AA1154 component switch. If you don't need component, you can get switches for composite/s-video or even DVI (and thus HDMI, since the two convert back and forth easily). Granted, the Audio Authority switches are expensive, but there are many PRODUCTS&cm_ite=1%20PRODUCT&cm_keycode=4">other options out there depending on the feature you want and the price you're willing to pay.

Lack of space?

A cheap shelving unit would solve that problem. I got a nice metal shelving unit (similar to this but with only three shelves) a while back that looks good and holds quite a bit of stuff. Plus, it's completely open so I don't have to worry about heating issues like with a fully enclosed "media center" rack (I never understood why you'd put hot, sensitive electronics in a fully enclosed rack).

Finite number of inputs into my TV?

Get a mux. My current personal favorite is the AA1154 component switch. If you don't need component, you can get switches for composite/s-video or even DVI (and thus HDMI, since the two convert back and forth easily). Granted, the Audio Authority switches are expensive, but there are many PRODUCTS&cm_ite=1%20PRODUCT&cm_keycode=4">other options out there depending on the feature you want and the price you're willing to pay.

Just some nitpicking:

Well, perhaps I wouldn't have if street fighter II was out already and Oblivion wasn't such a bugfest (and runs suprisingly slow at times for a 360 game).

While Oblivion does have its share of bugs, the only slowness I noticed was after playing for a while and letting the game cache get fragmented. There's a work-around to clear the cache by holding down any button on the controller when you start the game (hold it through the BethSoft logo. Once the 2K logo displays, you can let go). Not the best solution, but it is a solution. I'm right there with you, wishing for SFII. What ever happened to shipping it in March?

The machine is noticibly loud (I even took it back and got another and it was still loud).

You should clarify that the DVD-ROM is loud when it's spinning at full speed. The machine itself (fan noise) is very quiet, and the DVD-ROM is also quiet while watching DVDs. There's not a whole lot you can do about drive speed when it's running that quickly (the 360 DVD-ROM is something like 16x, compared to the 4x in the Xbox or PS2).

But the biggest factor was that the 360 sucks as a media center, and it couldn't replace my hacked xbox with Xbox Media Center. Lack of divx support and video only available to MS XP Media Center Edition killed it as a media center. My TV only has a couple componenet video inputs, so my decision was to keep the xbox and take back the 360

You're dinging the 360 for not doing something it never claimed to do. The 360 is a Media Center Extender. In other words, it's completely dependent on a Windows Media Center PC to feed it media. It sounds like you want the 360 to be a stand-alone media player (or mostly stand-alone, while occassionally pulling media from the network).

As for having limited component video inputs, get yourself a mux. I'm preferential to Audio Authority's 1154A, but you don't need to spend > $200 on a mux. You can find decent ones (minus auto-switching, audio format conversion, and the cool rack-friendly form-factor) for less than $50. You do realize the PS2 can do component output, right? The graphics will still look PS2-bad, but the color and sharpness will be better (and if you have a game that can support 480p, like GT4, you can only do that over component).

add more games to xbox live (porting abandonware would be cheap and make a killer system IMO).

There is no such thing as "abandonware", legally. Either the games are released to the public domain, or they're not (or they're released under a license that makes it possible to port them without legal troubles). "Abandonware" games that are still technically under copyright cannot be ported without proper consent. The question is, who gives that consent? How do you get permission to port a game that's been out of print for 15 years, and the original developer/publisher has been out of business for 10? Who currently owns the property? You have to track down the series of sales of IP until you hopefully find the right company you need to deal with. This is painful.

I do agree Microsoft needs to add more games to XBLA, but I don't think that's really going to be a problem for them. I think we're just in the lull before the storm right now, having not had any new XBLA games since Jewel Quest. Prepare to be bombarded (good thing I just finished up Oblivion, so I'll be ready to play some new arcade games)!.

Use a component switch, like the Audio Authority 1154A.

Could you give more info on the autosensing switchbox (ie. brand, inputs, etc)? Most of the ones I've seen look pretty cheap so I question their actual usefulness.

Thanks!

Audio Authority Component Video Switch

It's frickin' amazing. There are manual-pushbutton component video switches that cost $500, and this thing does it automatically for under $200.

Basically, it has four sets of component video / stereo audio / optical audio / coax audio inputs. You order them in terms of priority -- input 1 takes priority over input 2. When you turn a device on, it sees the signal coming from it, and switches to that device. When you turn a device off, it goes to the highest-priority device that is still on. It also has a manual button to override its choice, but in practice I almost never actually need to override it.

I have all of my game systems attached to it, and all I have to do is turn one on to start playing it.

Unless you really want to use NTSC sources, it's really not worth it. Audio Authority (Component to RGB Video Converter
) and other companies have component output to VGA converters for less than $200. Even if you wanted to hook up multiple sources, you could buy a 4 way component switch and a converter for less than this thing's $400 price tag.

- Roach

first off, the nature of most of the replies here seems to indicate that slashdot isn't a great place to ask home theater questions. try the home theater forum on the av science forum. basically, what you are going to want is a vga card with the ability to output arbitrary scan rates and resolutions. try the ATI radeon line using software to adjust your scan rates like powerstrip. finally, as one other poster mentioned, you're going to want a vga to component video transcoder, like this or this. with the appropriate video card and the vga transcoder, you'll be able to run native HDTV resolution into pretty much any consumer grade HDTV set.