Topic: HDMI switch boxes, what to use?

Back in the early 2000s I had a box that let me plug several composite AV cables in at once, it was mechanical and when you pushed a button on the box, it physically switched the connection, allowing my to hook 6 devices up to my TV that only had one input. I loved the thing. Fast forward to today and I have a rather nice modern TV with 3 HDMI ports which is 1 more than my old TV but still less that I would ideally like. At one point I bought an electronic device similar to the composite one I had years ago, it let me run 3 HDMI cords into a box and then plug that box into my TV. It even came with a little remote to let me switch between the 3 devices. But the problem was that - for reasons I could never figure out - it would lose connection with Sony devices. AKA PS3 and PS4. It would look like the cord was being plugged and unplugged repeatedly, and at random intervals. Sometimes it would be fine for days, other times it would make using the device impossible to use as the screen flickered every other second. It didn't do that with the Wii U, but I didn't use the Wii U that much at the time so it may have and I just never saw it.(this was before the Switch was released).

Basically I am wondering, what do people use today, what devices work the best, to have many HDMI based devices leading into one TV, without having to physically swap out cords all the time. I feel like a mechanical device, like the composite one I had 15 years ago would probably be best, but I couldn't find anything like that with a casual google search. Do such devices exist? Anyone have any suggestions?

Ideally I would like to have my PS3, PS4, Wii U, Switch and PC all hooked up to this TV, but certainly the TV doesn't have enough HDMI ports, so my Wii U and PS3 sit there collecting dust.

I'm in the market for something like that as well. I recently bought myself a cheap 'Amazon's Choice' HDMI Switch from Amazon UK (below) which is okay...it has 3 ports - and automatically selects the active device without the need to manually switch between inputs - but every now and again (probably once an hour) the picture drops out for a brief moment (flicks off then on again) which is mildly annoying.

It's doing the job - and handles all 3 devices (PC/PS4/SNES Mini) well for the most part - but if someone could recommend something a bit more robust (even if it's just a manual switch) I'd be interested to hear about it

This sounds like a slightly less frequent version of the same problem I had with mine. But even once an hour would still annoy me a lot. I hope someone else has a better suggestion for both of us.

@Link-Hero Have you had any of the flickering effect that I had or like @NaviAndMii described?

@Link-Hero Thanks for the info, I might give this one a shot then.

@Heavyarms55 I have one that looks the same as the one pictured above, not sure if I sourced it from Amazon or eBay, but mine works fine. I have my Wii U, my Steam Link, and a Chromecast connected to it. Perfectly happy with mine.

My TV only has two HDMI ports.
I have something like what @NaviandMii posted, and I also have a sort of square looking thing that does the exact same thing. I don't like the square thing as much, but they both work just fine. Sometimes they don't like to switch automatically to the device that is on though. The PS4 seems to be dominant when I have it plugged into either device, and it requires me to manually press the button to switch the input. It doesn't bother me much anymore though. They're functional, inexpensive and allow me to have my Wii U, Switch, PS4, PS3, SNES Mini and 360 all plugged into the same TV. I can't complain.

I've had a heck of a time finding something that has more than three input ports on it that doesn't require being plugged into the wall.