Belkin 2x1 USB Peripheral Switch switch - 2 ports > Reviews > a new version available, avoid this one

Author's product rating:   

Speed	Slow
Ease of Installation	Poor - time consuming and not very logical
Ease of use	Satisfactory
Reliability	Average
Value For Money	Poor

Advantages:	small, no power supply needed
Disadvantages:	very old hat, will not work with all printers,bad instructions

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

I bought this item because I wanted to link my printer to a laptop (using a wireless print server) and my desk top (by cable). What was NOT made clear by the supplier (in fact any supplier on the net offering this product as far as I can see) is that this switch is as good as obsolete. Belkin should ,in my view, withdraw this product from there line as they do make a modern version at much the same price. As is often the case with Belkin it will do the job but not fully and after a lot of fiddleing about. Firstly it comes in the usual clear heat sealed package which must be attacked with a knife to gain entry,once your in and open the 'installation booklet' it says in large bold letters 'this item will not work with multi-funtion printers' Would be nice to know that BEFORE you open the packet in this modern day when a large number of printers are multi-function. As I had ,ofcourse, already opened the pack I thought Id give it go anyway, installation of the switch and software is dead easy but when i came to look at the much boasted about 'hot key switching' I found that the installation booklet tells you to 'refer to the user manual' . There isn't one, not in the pack or on the CD. In fact I had to go to the Belkin web site and download the manual, THEN I could work out how to actually use the switch. It would work, but not switch between printers using the hot key, I guess this is due to the incompatability with multi-funtion printers so I gave up at that stage. So bottom line is, I think this will work OK with a basic printer but play safe and buy the later model, which I believe will work with all. If you do buy then expect the usual Belkin view that if you buy one of there products you already know a lot about computers and dont need to be told the basics, a mistake they always seem to make.