So I got a Panasonic VIERA TC-L42U25 with only 1 input for component for 50$.. so meh ill use it.. i have an old vcr, and dvd player.. i hooked up the dvd player to some component cables.. (i bought monster cables, their nice cables, but a pain in the butt to put in and out) and i got a good price on em.. i wanted to play my ps2, but it looked terrible so i picked up some coponent cables for the ps2 as well.. how would i go about hooking this up? or i guess i can go using the ps2 as a dvd player.. (doesn't seem that great compared to the dedicated one though) is there a splitter which doesn't take away quality? i know theres a switch but im trying to spend as little as possible.. i plan on buying an ps3.. in the future sometime to take care of all this and get blue ray capabilities
Switch or splitter is your option. You will lose some quality but if you are hooking up a VCR I doubt you'll notice. Does the TV have S-video or composite? You could probably just hook the VCR up that way. Hope you didn't pay too much for those cables.
nah not really.. paid like 20 bucks for the monster cables? not bad for it being gold plated and all that.. (great difference in quality) ps2 as well, it looked like crap, but under 480 its great.. (only game i probably play is grand turismo 4) the tv does have an s-video and composite.. i can't hook it up to the vcr since it doesn't have component.. maybe i'll go for a switch.. their more expensive than the cables combined it seems.. and i hear you lose quality on a splitter.. guess ill save up for a switch or something until a ps3 money comes up
Troll Craigslist and pick up a used receiver you can use for your audio/video switching. Grab some cheep speakers from Craigslist too. Even a stereo setup that way is going to sound WAY better than the shitty speakers in the TV.
This. A switch or splitter is okay, but it's pretty dumbed down (a lot of them). That's why a receiver makes a WORLD of difference. And it doesn't have to be fantastic either. Just as long as it has enough inputs for what you need...that's all that matters.
If you're not hung up on having HDMI ins and outs you should find a TON available for cheap. Most of the AV nerds I know swapped out perfectly good component/composit/s-video receivers in order to migrate to HDMI.
I did and the receiver I bought was one HDMI port short of my current needs. So I bought a cheap switch box (IOGear 3 to 1) that works PERFECTLY with my logitech harmony remote. It's awesome.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/ele/2599566543.html something like that? man i didn't know receiver with speakers were cheapish.. well i didn't even know that recievers can be used for multiple av.. thought it was for speakers only i was planning on buying a sound bar or whatever but this might be a way better alternative now that i think about it.. and maester i don't need one, i guess what i need is a decent receiver.. this tv has like 4hdmis.. :/ all i want is component... ins/outs the thing about this tv is it switches all your hdmi on when the tv's on if you want it to (things like soundbar) can i just leave a receiver on 24/7?
No...don't go for that. All that has is outputs...no inputs. You're going to look for like a Sony, Harmon Kardon, Denon, Pioneer, Yamaha...something along those lines, an older one, but just the receiver unit, and the pick up some cheapy speakers along with it. Maybe this: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/ele/2600574206.html Or this: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/ele/2599521068.html Or this: http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/ele/2598517360.html
oh wow that last sony one seems plenty.. and its cheap.. they hook up to older consoles as wells like the ps2?
Oh yeah. It looks like it has a couple of component inputs on the back of that puppy, lots of svideo and composite...so you should be good to go. It's just missing HDMI. And if you need a couple more components inputs, a switch box will work just fine. Sure you can find one cheap used or go to walmart or radio shack.
would a switch by itself work? or is a receiver recommended? (just for component) (im huge on audio quality, but i live in a small apt right now.. neighbors complain enough as it is but its not like i care hahaha)
