Belkin Switch2 for Mac mini KVM / audio switch - 2 ports

Belkin 2-Port KVM Switch With Audio Support

Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution, audio support
Disadvantages: No manual overide

It's surprising how many people have more than one PC at home although even more surprising is that many of them each have their own screen, keyboard and mouse. In many cases this makes perfect sense but sometimes, you know you'll only ever use one or the other - perhaps one is your general PC and the other your music workstation. In these situations you can save a lot of space and money by investing in a KVM switch. KVM stands for Keyboard, Video and Mouse and allows you to use one keyboard, mouse and screen shared between two PCs. This particular unit from Belkin is unusual in that it also includes audio support and also comes with all the leads permanently attached instead of being supplied as a separate cabling set. Wiring it Up Installation is simply a matter of taking each of the two main cables and plugging the sets ...

ilaskey 26.01.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Belkin 2-Port KVM Switch with Audio Support and Built-In Cabling - KVM / audio switch - 2 ports

Belkin 2-Port KVM Switch With Built-In Cabling

Advantages: Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution
Disadvantages: No manual overide or audio support

has USB connections for the keyboard and mouse although Belkin do a range of KVM's so you can probably find a PS/2 equivelent if you have that sort of mouse/keyboard. The PS/2 models also include PS/2->USB adaptors so you'll also need those if you have a USB mouse and PS/2 keyboard. This particular model has no support for audio so if you need to also have your microphone and speakers switch from PC to PC, look elsewhere. The monitor, keyboard and mouse are then connected to the KVM to complete the set up. One bugbear is that like the vast majority of KVMs, this Belkin unit has cables going in one end and out the other making it difficult to place on a desktop without having cables hanging out everywhere. However, there is no reason why you can't just tuck it out the way out of sight as it has no parts you'd normally need to access ...

ilaskey 21.03.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Belkin 2-Port KVM Switch with Built-In Cabling - KVM switch - 2 ports

Reasonable prived KVM solution

Advantages: price, simplicity
Disadvantages: no USB keyboard/mouse connector

This product does exxactly what it says on the tin. It lets you view and control two computers from one monitor, keyboard and mouse. It is PS2 only though and not USB - so if you have a very new PC without PS2 ports then this one is not for you - look on this site for one with USB connectors. Switching between machines is simple, just one key press to switch. One word of warning, if you plan to use this to just connect up the monitor cable and not use the keyboard and mouse connections (as I tried) it will not work as the device needs to collect power from all 4 connectors. With just 2 connected it suffers from lock ups. Tech Support soon helped me sort this out though ;) When connected as specified however it works perfectly! ...

howletts 26.09.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Belkin 2-Port KVM Switch with Built-In Cabling - KVM switch - 2 ports