Question for the community-- How do we find solid, quality products that aren't "cheap China junk"?

[Link | 2,878]

This stuff is niche.  No one source or even list for all. You want Consumer Reports but I doubt they cover stuff like component switches. With HDMI, you have plenty of choices. But analog shit is old and you’re after a new solution for more equipment than anyone dreamed of back in the day.

Blue Jeans Cable has a good reputation, so does Monoprice as at least one person has mentioned but they don’t really do larger equipment.

Funny, just this morning I read an article about planned obsolescence. 

 

[Link | 2,878]

When I encountered this problem, I gave up on finding a switch and went for an RCA patch bay and got some short (6-12”) cables. I wanted RCA connections for stereo audio and composite video. You could apply this to component, which is nothing more than 3 RCA connectors. You can get the short cables with color-coded plugs. I also assembled a bunch of S-video couplers into a patch bay for that connector.

 

[Homer | 17]

I've been using the Google Chrome fakespot plugin lately.  The plugin will show you grades on how honest the reviews are in Amazon.  You can also just plug in a URL into their website too.

It really helps when buying online and trying to weed through the BS.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fakespot-fake-amazon-revi/nakplnnackehceedgkgkokbgbmfghain?hl=en

https://www.fakespot.com

[TDIRunner | 2,888]

8 hours ago, Link said:

Funny, just this morning I read an article about planned obsolescence. 

 

I've always been interested in the story of the Centennial Light.  

[drxandy | 3,279]

10 hours ago, Magus said:

@drxandy Wow, never seen this. I am gonna have to check this out. I like the monoprice i have, but this looks well made, curious on the performance of the signal. 

It looks great, it's honestly like prosumer level imo. Audio authority does a lot of merchandising displays, car audio speaker displays, just all kinds of crazy switchers or multi output devices for retailers. Made or assembled in Kentucky.

The 1154a an be found on eBay for under 50$, there's one on there now with box that I bet the seller would haggle because it looks like they got it at a garage sale for $5.

Edit:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/114387945816

One thing I have read is that it takes a special power supply so avoid looking for one without the power cord.. having to buy it separately is pricey and annoying

Edited September 3, 2020 by drxandy

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,093]

Glad someone brought up the term matrix switch, I never knew what to properly call it and a bunch of more results come up with the proper term. Such as https://www.adorama.com/sbsb5548lcm.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIldmWrJnO6wIVj4jICh3cyQ48EAQYCiABEgJkEvD_BwE&utm_source=adl-gbase

 

i have one of the 8 in 1 out composite switches from Amazon. This one has been working fine but the first one I had  did lose two channels. I went nuts worrying my consoles were dying because I would randomly lose picture/sound. Took me a while to realize the switch was the culprit. Took that first one apart and all it was inside is a pass thru with a interlocked piano switch (another useful term for anyone needing that specific type of button). So really the only "cheap" aspect about it was the solder job on it. I thought about making my own passthru design with way more inputs but never got around to it

[CMR | 538]

Castlemania games has a nice looking switcher, but I think it's way over priced.

 

https://castlemaniagames.com/collections/frontpage/products/gretrostuff-automatic-8-2-component-composite-switch

[fcgamer | 5,006]

Surely the sites list the product's country of origin, or not? Is it possible just to avoid buying products that are made in China?

Locally here, there are a lot of products proudly labelled MiT (Made in Taiwan) and I am always happy to grab them, over the usual Chinese crap.

[RH | 5,206]

14 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

Surely the sites list the product's country of origin, or not? Is it possible just to avoid buying products that are made in China?

Locally here, there are a lot of products proudly labelled MiT (Made in Taiwan) and I am always happy to grab them, over the usual Chinese crap.

"Made in China" isn't the problem, per se.  Most of what we purchase in America is made in China. It is what it is.

The different issue is that there are companies, based out of China, that make products as absolute cheapily as possible.  These products are certainly not QA tested and, often times, they arrive either DOA or only partially work.  These same companies post numerous, bogus purchases through Amazon and they leave 5 star reviews so they look like legit, quality products.

However, when you go to buy them, they ship from China (or if they are a big enough company, they can ship from a Prime warehouse that's been stocked with this junk) and when you get it, it's practically useless.  These Chinese companies are exploiting a series of circumstances that give them an overwhelming unfair advantage.  Not only is the manufacturing labor cheap, but since they source all the goods to manufacture the equipment, that can make this stuff ridiculously cheaper than an actual, usable product. 

Pair this with the fact that arcane shipping agreements between China and the US, China is declared a "third world company" and businesses based in china can ship to the US for super-cheap (and in some cases 100% free shipping) while shipping from the US to China is very expensive.  These trash, Chinese companies are exploiting this scenario and since not enough people are aware of the severity of this issue, this cheap trash is often completely killing markets for smaller, simpler devices and electronics.

But, most of our devices from American companies based in the US are made in China.  These are different because even though they may be manufactured in the same Chinese districts as the trash, the companies making these products are often overseen by internationals and have legit QA practices to test and control the product before it's released and shipped.  There's nothing wrong with China just because "China".   Instead, it's swindling businesses exploiting international agreements to basically destroy markets for simple products by making fake, often unusable products.

Edited September 11, 2020 by RH

[TDIRunner | 2,888]

^^^Well said.