Belkin Switch2 for PC USB - KVM switch - 2 ports

...nicest looking piece of equipment Belkin have made!

The front shows a laptop and a tower.
The physical appearance of the device is very good. The theme of yellow and green on the packaging is carried through on the device itself even though its likely to be out of view when in use. There is one set of short leads with a mouse plug, keyboard plug and video plug. And one long set. The leads are white and although they are not ...
...plastic KVM unit itself is hard molded plastic, this also looks good quality and retains the colour theme too. Your original Keyboard, monitor and mouse plug into this. Again the components are good quality. The plug in button sits somewhere on your work area. This is attached by a long lead. with a jack plug int the KVM. There is some double sided tape to stick it down. On the keyboard might be a good place.

No software - This will ... more

Why I bought one?
I inherited an old Duron 800 from my daughter who is a teacher - she kept the monitor and the speakers and the mouse (I bought for Christmas!) and the strange keyboard that bends in 2. But it's a worker and I couldn't bear to see it go to waste. I saw this strange article in one of the PC Weeklies about KVM's and I thought, that will never work! but it sat at the back of my mind until the Duron turned up.

KVM stands for Keyboard, Video, Mouse. The purpose of a KVM unit is to connect a single keyboard, monitor and mouse to a certain number of computers. The Switch2 just connects 2 computers to one keyboard, monitor and mouse. I believe they can be had for any number (16?) computers. How confusing can this be? (Oh and they are seriously expensive.) This version connects PS/2 connectors and the D shaped older VGA connectors

They can also switch audio. Would that make it a KVMA? THE Switch2 version with Audio cost £10 more!

First the good stuff!
Cost £29.99 from PC World - a good price for a second computer. Everything you need is in the very attractive box. The switching button is visible at the front for every one to press! The package hangs up on display. The actual unit is hidden from view by the cardboard sleeve. The name of the product is Switch2 - Click to switch between 2 computers. I do think this is probably the nicest looking piece of equipment Belkin have made!

The front shows a laptop and a tower.
The physical appearance of the device is very good. The theme of yellow and green on the packaging is carried through on the device itself even though its likely to be out of view when in use. There is one set of short leads with a mouse plug, keyboard plug and video plug. And one long set. The leads are white and although they are not the best quality they are certainly good quality. The triangular plastic KVM unit itself is hard molded plastic, this also looks good quality and retains the colour theme too. Your original Keyboard, monitor and mouse plug into this. Again the components are good quality. The plug in button sits somewhere on your work area. This is attached by a long lead. with a jack plug int the KVM. There is some double sided tape to stick it down. On the keyboard might be a good place.

No software - This will work between any conventional computers. More about Laptops in a minute. The Manual is very brief quite well written, the print size is OK and the drawings are quite self explanatory. It also gives a web address which is quite interesting and gives details of all the various models available. www.belkin.co/uk/Switch2

The leads are long enough (just).

It worked first-time - how often do you have to fiddle with stuff to get it going. Press the button - toggles between the 2 machines. Good - there is a delay of about 2 seconds when it switches between machines. There is no delay moving the mouse or keying in when the KVM is on line. That's very good.

Looks very good! The button has a 2 colour LED that matches the colour on the KVM itself. Also Green and Yellow. This tells you which machine is connected to the Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse. This colour toggles with the button too.

The iffy stuff!
The first one I bought didn't work - I went back to PC World and after the usual charade they changed it .
I now have two sets of computer leads that have snaked themselves about as well as my new white ones. Just disconnecting and retracing 2 computers next to each other is a nightmare. These leads could be longer. The strange shape of the unit and the springiness of the wires makes it want to squirm round and get trapped when you move the computers. If I attach them with tie wraps I only end up snipping them off and redoing them.

In use.
Mine is a semi-permanent installation. The wires are hidden away, the KVM is hidden away. Only the button and the second tower is visible. Pressing the button toggles from one machine to another. If I am doing rendering or other processor intensive work this is very useful. Having the 2 machines on the same network means both machines are connected together at hard drive level , which is useful too. I am very happy with the way it works for me. If you are going to use this with a laptop and a tower and the lap top is your traveling machine I can see problems just configuring stuff. The Laptop may need to be set up to transfer the video through the KVM to the monitor every time you use it. It may be possible to use this to setup a 2 monitor solution with this device though.
That could be a pain. Although the connectors look quite robust, will they stand being disconnected and reconnected every session?
If you disconnect the KVM from the tower after every session do you want to move this every time, especially if its on the floor?
It does not transfer any data from one machine to another, You need extra kit - software and at least a lead for a peer to peer setup. It seems very much a toys for boys piece of equipment (Sorry!)

So it seems to read as if I don't like it!
But I do! Its well made, does an excellent job for me! Its working exactly the way I want it to.
If you are going to use it as some sort of portable fix to connect a second computer occasionally, I think you will run into trouble.

The summary - Buy one if you are going to have semi-permanent installation. It can be quite bizzare because it's sometimes difficult to remember which machine you are on!

Now off to B & Q to buy a pot of yellow and a pot of Green paint fotr the PC's. That should solve it!  

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