I have three HDMI components, only two inputs on my TV, and a receiver that doesn't know what HDMI is. Ever since I picked up an HD-DVD player I've had to plug and unplug when switching between the DVD player and the Xbox. On my way home from work on Friday, I stopped by Monoprice and picked up their cheapest HDMI switch. There are three things I like about this switch:

1. It's small.
2. No need to plug it in (I'm just about out of outlets, anyway).
3. So far, no degradation in signal.

I guess the only downside is that it's a manual switch, meaning I have to physically push a button to change inputs. That doesn't bother me because if I want to play an Xbox game I have to get up and insert a disc anyway. It's a 2-in-1 switch, so I have my DirecTV and Xbox hooked up to it, and my Toshiba HDAX2 goes directly to the TV. For twenty bucks, this little guy is well worth it.

Sounds like a very good deal.

What games are you playing these days?

I was playing "Oblivion," but I haven't for some time because I got tired of switching plugs on the back of the TV. With my new Axiom purchase, I can't afford any new games for a bit.

I was just playing Oblivion yesterday, since there was that final free piece of DLC that was released a little while ago. I have all of the main quests done, including Shivering Isles, but I'm still working on side quests. My character is kind of insane. I have all of my skills maxed out except for Marksman, as you have to shoot WAY too many arrows to go up levels. For a long time, I was summoning skeletons and other creatures just to kill them and raise my skill. Usually I'm good at playing games in non-fun ways, but even I got bored of that. Ha ha.

Yeah, I was a Best Buy yesterday and saw some one of the expansion packs. I dunno, my character is kinda weak, but she is good at shooting arrows. I don't know why I always pick that skill in these types of games. She is one sexy elf, though. Uh oh, I think I'm playing the game for all the wrong reasons.

Now, I just wanna get a monster truck and tear around the countryside.

Sean I see that is the same Monoprice that sells on the Internet, must be nice for you to drop in the store right there in your hometown and get the great prices.

Ha ha ha.

Hey, it will be nice when you can create one character model to use in every game, kind of like a more advanced Mii that's standardized across platforms. That way you could use your sexy elf in a monster truck game and really be confused.

Now that I'm going to be building myself a new computer, I almost want to get Oblivion for the PC and see what mods are out there. There's no way I'll put more than 200 hours into it again, though.

Yeah, it really saves on shipping which makes the great prices on the product seem even better. It's kinda wrong to pay six bucks for an HDMI cable and then pay almost the same to have it shipped. I'm really lucky with their location. It's not really a walk-in store, more like a distribution center. There is a counter in the office, though, and once they did let me use their computer to punch in an order.

Oblivion is a good game. I loaned it to a friend..

I think I have 100+ hours of play time on that game

Oblivion is an excellent game. However, when I actually get time to play PC games, I tend to log onto Vanguard, Saga of Heroes. It's like playing Oblivion, but with your buddies there to laugh at as well. We usually make plans for 2 to 3 hours on a Wed. or Friday night. If they are not on, I'm fairly anti-social. I'll group together with strangers if somebody asks me for help but usually will just solo. Even soloing, I find it more interesting to be immersed in a world with other players running around and a live economy vs. Oblivion. But for a single player experience, Oblivion's huge free roaming world is very cool!

Been playing different MMPORGs a few hours a week for 7 years or more. At a high end guess of maybe 4 hrs a week, that's close to 1500 hours over seven years. Seems like a lot but I'm considered a very lite (insignificant even) gamer for this genre of games. I know far too many who play for several or more hours per day.

Hmmm, yet another thread officially hijacked by gamers...
All your base are belong to us!!!!! heh heh

I never could get into Oblivion. I started out, then got overwhelmed with the number of quests and whatnot. Guess I'm not really cut out for RPGs.

And Oblivion was a lot easier to get into than Morrowind. Oblivion holds your hand a bit more, helping you keep track of your quests better. I really enjoy them, but they're definitely games you have to spend time playing, and it can be work if you really want to build your character. The gameplay could have been a bit more engaging, but I still like a lot of the situations that arise and there are some special moments. And it's very open compared to most RPGs. It's nice to not go in a straight line. If you get bored of one quest, you can put it on hold and tackle another.

I feel guilty when I don't finish a certain quest. I dunno--maybe I get too into it.

That said, I play WoW a lot. That's a lot of hand holding, there...

I love playing Oblivion in my blacked out room with the QS8s the experience is incredibly immersive especially when it’s raining or I’m in a cave with water dripping. Actually gets very creepy.

@CV

On my Xbox I maxed out marksman early on by just “plinking” arrows at weak monsters like goblins and imps. Just tap the trigger button rather than holding it for a full draw and the arrow only goes a few feet and does little damage. You can pincushion each monster with 20 or more iron arrows. Still have to fire an insane number of them but you can do it much faster not having to keep looking for or conjuring new targets. Added bonus is increasing your restoration and armourer.

Or, you get the pitch black cavern where you can't see anything, but you can hear a zombie shuffling around. Good stuff.

What I would also do is fight my arena battles of the three stronger minotaurs (forgot their name) with the difficulty set to the highest, and I would go in with around 1000 arrows, just shooting and shooting and shooting. I'd run out of arrows before they would even all be dead, and yeah, even after doing that a few times, my Marksman still has a long way to go. I just have a hard time convincing myself to continue doing it when it takes SO LONG. Ha ha.

Arrows? Pbbbt. You know how I took care of the minotaurs in the arena?






Monster truck.

Ha ha, you and your monster truck. When do we get pictures of this fabled creature?

I don't know, but ever since I saw that WoW Toyota commercial, I reall want a 4x4 in my game.

I guess I'm not watching enough TV. It sounds promising, though. Was this thread really about a manual HDMI switch?

I don't remember what this thread was about. Some guy was saying he bought an HDMI switch, but he didn't really have any usefull information about it. . .

What a dork.