ATLONA 4X2 HDMI MATRIX SWITCH Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The ATLONA 4X2 HDMI MATRIX SWITCH is an expensive box for what it does, and for the way it is built.
I searched high and low on the web for a 4x2 matrix switch and the ratings for this unit seemed positive, so I tried to look for places offering it at lower prices and found none at the time I purchased this unit. Amazon seemed to be the lowest, offering the item as new at $650.00 through Tiger Direct. I thought twice about it, because I had bad experiences with Tiger Direct, but in the end I decided to give it a shot. Surely enough, Tiger Direct never fails to disappoint: My unit arrived with the center selector button broken. One would expect a better packaging and overall quality when purchasing an item for over $650.00!
Because the switch can be used via the provided remote, I decided to keep it rather than deal with Tiger Direct's awful (in my experience) support.
A small piece of advice: Unless you REALLY need an item that's only available at Tiger Direct, AVOID buying from such seller.
Pros:
Does what it says it does. Switches 4 sources to 2 different outputs. Comes with a small remote control (slightly bigger and thicker than a credit card), which can be a life-saver when one or more of those flimsy switching buttons on the front panel came broken (like in my case), or if they break off with use.
Cons:
- At such high price the matrix switch is even more expensive than some 1080p HDTVs! Make sure it's what you need or explore alternative ways to interconnect your Home Theater components
- Ugly and cheap construction. It has the look and feel of one of those metal boxes one would buy for a self-assembling electronic kits
- Flimsy selector buttons: mine came broken in the box!
- Size conforms to no HT standards, so instead of sitting nicely with the rest of your home theater components, you will have to find a space where you can fit it and run the HDMI cables to its back
- Design is not one of the strengths of this product. It is just a plain looking black metal box with led indicators, selector buttons, IR remote sensor (on front panel), and 4 HDMI inputs, 2 HDMI outputs, 1 power connector (rear panel)
- At the exorbitant price of $650.00 it came with not even 1 HDMI cable. At that price I would expect to come with at least four 2-feet cables to connect input sources!
- The switching process is not intuitive, but once you get the concept down you should have no problem using the switch
Conclusion: A 4x2 matrix switch is still an expensive piece of equipment, and since the quality on this Atlona is not worth its price, you may be better off trying other brands (such as Gefen, Firefold, Ocean Matrix, Octava) although I can't personally recommend any as I have had no experience yet with other brands.
Other Considerations
Shame on Atlona for:
1) poor design choices: The form factor should be updated to that of a slim DVD player to be as wide a other HT components, so it can be placed together with with all other units such as AV receiver, DVD, Blu-ray unit and so forth
2) the ugly look and feel of the switch: Reconsider the design of this product, the fact that the switch works, does not justify its plain vanilla design
3) the cheap construction: The item is a black metal box, which may have been a plus for its sturdiness, but in the end it's not, since it's probably because of this reason (and the poor packaging) that one of the front button came broken in the box
4) the inadequate packaging: this item had no padding of any sort, (it was placed just inside a plastic bag) nor it was tightly anchored in its retail box. These (and maybe a rough handling by UPS) have been most likely the reasons why mine came with a broken button
Although Tiger Direct, in this specific instance may not have any faults, and indeed the broken selector in my switch broke off during shipping, because there is no documentation that a check the integrity of the item was performed prior to shipping (which would prove the item was not broken before being shipped) there is no way now to tell if that button was broken before being shipped or afterward. At least in the past, when ordering directly from Tiger Direct, they would include a sheet with the name of the person who inspected and packed the shipment, along with a sheet of instructions for contacting them and reporting possible problems/complaints. Unfortunately now they seem to have lost such healthy habit.

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ATLONA 4X2 HDMI MATRIX SWITCH The 4x2 Atlona HDMI Matrix Switcher with RS-232 and IR Remote is designed to work as a switcher for multiple sources and displays. With a maximum bandwidth of 2.25Gbps, this device will support a sharp and highly defined video in multiple resolutions of up to 1080p. Because it is a matrix switcher, it allows any input to be routed to any output; or the same input to be routed to all outputs or any combination. It completely eliminates the need to constantly move around video input and output cables. RS-232 control allows the switcher to be controlled by systems like Crestron or any computerized software/hardware control system. Atlona's AT-HDMI-42M comes with IR remote control as well.

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