Instruction: Answer the given question by extracting information from the supporting document.

Input:
Question: I've read that a powered unit works better than those without. Can someone tell me the difference?
Document: At first I was having issues with the switch automatically switching between inputs with no user input. Read some reviews and discussions where others were experiencing the same issue. Discovered that the HDMI cables used with the switch made a difference. The cheaper ones caused the issue; however, higher quality HDMI cables when used the issue did not occur. If someone encounters this same issue try swapping out the HDMI cables with higher quality cables.
The unit comes with an IR Blaster type remote detector that you can stick onto something in order to keep the device hidden if you want to use the remote. The cord to this is a bit short, however.In summary, I am very pleased with this solution. The picture and sound quality through this switcher are great, just like if we weren't using a switch. I can't tell the difference in quality. This device is simple to use and solved a problem for me.
I bought one of these.Tonight I read a number of the reviews to see if I could find a note from someone with a similar experience to mine.You have to read through a few of the reviews and you find a note that says the device quit working after two months. Yep, there it is. I've had mine closer to one month, and tonight it just stopped working properly.
I had read most of the reviews on this switcher before buying it, so I had assumed that I would either need to use the remote, buy a 5V power adapter or turn off one input before I turned on the other when using this unit. That's absolutely not the case, though.Currently, I only have two inputs but I can leave the original input turned on and this box will still switch to the unit that was newly powered on, even without a power adapter or remote.
The remote doesn't work unless you wave it in front of the ir from 3 feet or less. My wdtv came out in black and white, inverted , with no audio. My google tv bluray had no audio. It did work with chromecast, but the remote issues were too much to over come.I may gift this to someone I don't like or just throw it in the trash. I replaced it with a better unit that actually works.
The switch works great for us now, but it took some time to get there. I ordered one and found that it would randomly switch away from the active input to an input that was powered off. I tried replacing all of the cables with no difference and ended up replacing the unit also with no difference. I contacted their support and they gladly sent me a power adapter for the switch thinking that might make a difference. It didn't.
I read a lot of reviews for this product before I bought it and figured I'd take a risk given the price.Anyway, it works great and the auto switch works fine for me, even though it's not powered. I've never used the included remote since the auto switch is working fine, but overall very pleased with my purchase.Along with three $0.50 HDMI cables, I got a pretty sweet HDMI switching setup for $50 shipped. Not too shabby.
this 3 port HDMI switch does everything it is supposed to do without issue. granted, i've only had it for a few days now but there is no visible difference in the video quality. it comes with a remote but really isn't necessary. the ports have a priority setting so what ever is plugged into port 3 is always on UNLESS you power on something in port 1 or 2.  for example, if you have your DVR plugged into 3 it is always on.
So far this works great! I have all three ports in use and it has been working as advertised. There is no difference in video or sound quality that I can tell. The remote didn't work for me at first, but I tried again at a later time and it worked. Ti get it to work, you have to push the IR with some force until it snaps in place. What I did was twist the connector while pushing until it goes into place.
Lots of issues with this device:- Blurry/muddy colors and textures when playing PS3 games (tried hooking the PS3 up without the switcher to be sure, and wow, what a difference, with this thing my games looked horrible)- Lag. Sometimes 20 seconds would go by before the device noticed something hooked up to it was powered on.- Powering off randomly during use. Usually ran into this when watching Blu-Rays or DVDs.
Answer: I only have the non-powered unit and it works just fine. It's smart enough so I never use the remote. And if there is any loss of visual quality, I certainly can't tell on my 58" plasma... But I don't think there is.