When I named my top favorite gadgets of 2011, I also declared my Sony Google TV as the most disappointing gadget that I bought in 2011. One of the things that annoys me the most when I'm just watching TV on it is the overly complicated Input Selection implementation. Instead of simply pressing a input button and cycling through the available inputs, you get a menu on screen and then you have to cycle to the one you want and worse press the Select button to make your choice. While this isn't the end of the world using the supplied remote, it becomes a pain in the butt when trying to train universal remotes like my Harmony One or Harmony Link. The benefit of Harmony remotes is that you can press one button for the "Activity" you want and the remote will turn on/off all the appropriate gear and switch inputs. I was actually considering getting rid of this TV and replacing it with one that has regular Input selections. That's when I remembered my Octava HDMI 4×1 with Toslink switch that I use in my home theater. I wondered if Octava had an HDMI switch that would solve my problem in the room with the Sony Google TV and they did! It's their 3 Port HD Switch. Like all of their HDMI switches, it supports the latest HDMI standards, CDP, 1080p resolution and high speed for things like 3D TVs and Blu-ray players. It also come with an IR remote.
It works perfectly
I ordered the 3 Port HD Switch and got it with a Free HDMI cable. I set it up so that the output goes to the HDMI 1 port on the TV. I connected my TiVo Premiere XL to HDMI IN 1, Apple TV 2 to HDMI IN 2 and Sony Blu-ray player to HDMI IN 3. I had to reconfigure my Harmony One and Hamony Link to know about the Octava Switch. Now I can press one button to switch Activities and the Octava Switch switches to the right source as it should!
Normally I would only use the Octava HDMI switches when I have a shortage of HDMI ports, but this time it solved another problem.
You can learn about the Octava HDMI Switches here.
