Best solution for tons of consoles?

currently I have almost a dozen consoles hooked up to my television using a daisy chain of AV Switches.

http://support.jvc.com/consumer/product.jsp?modelId=MODL003005&pathId=2&page=1&archive=true << JVC no longer makes this amazing looking AV Switch.

Anyone have a better solution? No one I can find has this thing on sale.

 

Get another TV? Don't have all your consoles hooked up?

I have my 360 hooked up to my LCD along with my Xbox 1. Then I have my SNES, Saturn, PS2, PS1, and DreamCast hooked up to a Sony PVM. I used to have the NES hooked up there along with a Genesis. But it seemed to me while it's nice in theory to have them all hooked up I don't see myself playing them all that often to be bothered by having them all hooked up at once. And even when I have all these out I still have to unplug a SCART RGB cable and plug a different one in when I switch. So there's no reason you can't just unplug and plug in a different thing.

 

I dunno, I'd like it for ease of use. I was just going to program that AV Switch to one of those Logitech Harmony remotes. My consoles aren't ALL hooked up to it, my 360 is connected to a monitor. I guess I could continue to daisy chain it. :-\

 

I use Autopatch and Gefen for my custom install work. They are high end switches, but you can regularly find them refurbished or even new on Ebay and other places for significantly reduced prices.
They can be interfaced with in many different ways too for various control options.

 

You could always buy one of those cheap (manual push button) SCART switch boxes intended for the European market, and just use SCART to A/V converter blocks. Although saying that, I'm sure cheap A/V switch boxes already exist on the US market.

I currently use a Holdan HSR-1000 for RGB switching. It can route x4 RGB devices automatically (+ another x3 composite), and it has a remote:

http://www.consoleplus.co.uk/product_info.php?pName=rgb-scart-router-6-input

 

Try looking at the professional/studio electronics section on ebay, often you can get such devices cheap. All depends on what inputs you are using though really. If it is composite such devices will likely be very cheap as studios don't use them any more.

 

Get off your lazy ass and plug in the one you want to use when you want to use it.

 

Or go to a second hand store, and buy a cheap CRT tv for some of the old consoles. It Can't be too much of a hassle in America either, if you really need to hook them up, and you can almost get them thrown at you, because they are so cheap.

 

Just attach them all through RF, you can chain together as many of those as you want out of the back of your TV.
... OK, I just said that to explode the heads of all the RGB purists here. Now that they're gone:

I use a Micomsoft XRGB-3 for all the "exotic" hookups, and a Kramer VS-120 to switch the rest of the composite hookups. The VS-120 is a 20-way composite switcher which should hopefully be plenty for your needs; I got one on Ebay for $100ish.
http://www.kramerelectronics.com/products/model.asp?pid=249&sf=28

 

Great design, and 100 $(ish) sounds like a great buy in my mind, and I really like the design, it reminds me in some ways of the 80´s.

 

Yeah, unfortunately I checked Ebay and it seems the cheapest one on there at the moment is $400. I must have been lucky at the time.

 

:lol:

 

I used to have this problem too. Operating anything in my own room was pretty much like turning on a nuclear reactor - a variety of switches and buttons to press in order.
I solved it in a combination of the methods posted above:

1) I only plug in what I'm going to play soon. Currently, there's only five consoles hooked up to my LCD: X360, PS2, Wii (via component. The PS2 and Wii share a cable, one of those 3-in-1's); Dreamcast (via VGA); and Atari Flashback 2 (Via RCA).
2) If I want to use the SNES, N64 or PC Engine, or anything that uses RCA, I get off my lazy ass and hook it up.
3) If I want to use any of the older RF consoles (Atari, Intellivision, etc.) I got a really nice second hand 30 inch trinitron from 1986 or so (which ONLY has RF). It's in the other room.

 

How does this solve my problem when I have these HOOKED UP TO A CRT? I'm not going to buy a second TV, I'm going to have an HD Set up for PS3 and the others go to a CRT. Though I could move the Dreamcast over to the Xbox Desk through VGA.

 

Then what about the Kramer VS-120 as the switch then ?

 

Get yourself a nice nettop such as the acer ar1600 for around $150 refurbished, and install your favorite emulators, then get yourself 2 of those play sega pads, and enjoy clutter free entertainment, keep your games safe in storage, and they also look better.

 

Maybe S Video input with it.

 

Random fun tip: you can use a composite switcher with component inputs, you'll just have to switch the audio separately. I did that for quite a while.

 

AlecJahn is correct. This is, indeed, a good solution.