DVI KVM switches

[Thor86]

Anyone have experience with them?

How is this one compare to some out there:
http://www.mycableshop.com/sku/SV221DVI.htm

 

[Scorpion]

Hi Thor86. Been thinking of the same thing myself. Glad to see Anand did a KVM article as well.

I currently use a 4-port Hawking PS/2 & VGA KVM. It's a little dated as you can tell.

I'm looking for a new one with DVI & USB, but I dont' want to encounter the errors Anand did. I just don't understand why simple DVI emulation is not designed into a lot of these KVMs. As well as Full USB support and emulation. Some don't seem to fully work with some keyboards/mice (i.e. some of the fancy buttons don't work). I have this similar problem with my KVM now, it doesn't map my 2 side buttons on my mouse, but the scroll wheel/button works fine.

I will tell you I found a pretty decent site for shopping for KVMs: http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/
The one I'm possibly considering is an Avocent SwitchView DVI 2-port: http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/2svdvi10-001.html

I can't seem to find any reviews on it however. :/ Hopefully I can give this thread a boost and more people can give us some suggestions!

 

[ZhulickS]

i'm in the same boat... i have a great nec crt that is gigantic. it's a great 21" display, but it takes up too much room on my desk. i've been looking at lcd's for a while now, and the only thing that's stopping me from upgrading is the cost of the kvm switches. i see no reason to upgrade to an lcd unless you use it with dvi, and all the 4 port dvi kvm's are insanely expensive (often more expensive than a top of the line 19" samsung lcd).

on top of that, there are virtually no reviews for them at all, and whatever are there (user reviews on newegg) are always terrible.

have any of you guys done any further research? what did you come up with?

thanks...

 

[Scorpion]

Well I can tell you what else I know since posting this... not much. hehe. No seriously, I haven't been busting my butt researching these, I don't even have a DVI LCD yet, but I have occassionally looked to see what people are saying about them.

IOGear seems to be a great choice, UNLESS you are going with an NForce3/4 motherboard, which is exactly what I have been looking at. The IOGear KVMs have upgradable firmware, but this issue has been known for a LONG time and IOGear has pretty much blamed the problem on nVidia and doesn't appear to be concerned with fixing the problem themselves and upgrading the firmware. Apparently there has not been any firmware releases since this product has been out, which has been many months. Makes me wonder why they even bothered listing it as an option...

Avocent is well known in the server KVM market. They're known for quality and often times other companies (such as Dell) take their products and rebrand them with their own logos. I have not been able to find ANY reviews of that Avocent KVM i mentioned above. NONE at all. It's not even sold on Newegg. *rollseyes* HOWEVER I have noticed on Newegg DVI KVMs by "Linkskey" which look nearly identical to the Avocent ones. In fact I'd be 95% confident in saying that they are rebranded Avocent KVMs. And those DO have reviews on Newegg, and just like with all the other KVMs, they aren't good. I am hopefull though that the actual Avocent KVMs utilize some better firmware or components that make their product work better, which LINKSKEY took out to save costs. But that's just hopeful wishing probably.

The ONLY conclusion I have been able to draw, is that these KVI+USB KVMs are "Hit&Miss" on whether or not they'll work with your computer, keyboard/mouse, and monitor correctly. It's a pretty sad state of affairs. You think it wouldn't be that difficult to actually make a good product, or to even offer a list of known compatability issues with a product. KVMs will forever remain the most overlooked unessential (but very beneficial when they work) peice of computer equipment at this rate.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I say screw KVMs. Use MS Remote Desktop instead!

 

[Nirach]

My uncle uses the Belikn thing, four button switch thing. Expensive, but it seems to work just fine, it was the first thing he recommended to me when I asked about 'em.
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductP...process?Merchant_Id=&Product_Id=146401

That's the two port option from Belkin.

 

[Elfear]

I bought this one from Newegg and it has worked very well. I like it because it was almost half the price of the others I found and it supported 1600x1200 with the DVI, the others were hit and miss with resolution. One even said that they didn't know if their switch would work at that res or not. They said buy it and experiment. Lol.

 

[Scorpion]

*bump*

I'm still wondering about which to get. IOGear has the nForce3/4 issue and I haven't heard anything about the Avocent... :/