Advantages: faster connection than rated, vista compatability Disadvantages: nothing that I could see!
the converters, and only for a few quid, but the said salesperson said that they would not work in my case, and offered me another cable, for £30, which was never going to fit, so I thought I\'d try a new parallelport instead.
I ordered this, and I was so impressed when it arrived. even for a no-hoper like me, helped by my less-hoper girlfriend, we slotted this into the back of the computer easily, and when it was installed, I didn\'t even need the drivers for my apparently vista-risky printer. All the functions work well, although the software was of course needed for the specialist functions. My mate who is better with all things PC than I came round, and apparently the port tests at 2Mbps - 33% faster than it is rated for.
All in all, a great card for those need a - or an extra - parallelport :) ...
Advantages: Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution Disadvantages: No manual overide or audio support
stops autoscanning and lets you use the currently selected PC.
The Belkin claims support for scrolling mice but I did find sometimes one PC would start up without recognising this facility if it wasn't the currently selected one when booting up and in extreme cases, wouldn't recognise the keyboard and mouse at all. Previous KVM's I've used send the PC fake 'There's a keyboard and mouse here' messages when not selected and it seems this unit does not, which is a pity.
Conclusion
The Belkin 2port KVM is a well built unit that works nicely and provides a great way to save desk space and the cost of a second monitor, keyboard and mouse. The long leads are useful and despite the niggles with scrolling mice and the lack of manual switch. I'd say this unit is worth considering at this price if you can live with those shortcomings ...
Advantages: Cheap, all in one solution, audio support Disadvantages: No manual overide
of leads in to each PC. The F1DL102P has PS/2 leads for the keyboard and mouse but a USB version is also available. The audio support is limited to a single stereo jack and microphone input but given the market this is aimed at, I can't really see the lack of multi-channel audio support to be a problem.
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. The leads were of a generous length allowing some room to manoeuvre on PC placement.
Features
As noted, the Belkin supports ...
Product Information for "Sweex 1 Port Parallel & 2 Port Serial PCI Card" »
Miscellaneous
Compliant Standards
EN 61000-3-2, EN55022, EN 61000-3-3, EN55024
Manufacturer's product description
This 32-bit PCI expansion card allows you to create one extra parallel port and two serial ports on your PC. Ideal for connecting peripheral equipment, such as a printer or modem. The extra parallel port can also be used for sharing data with another PC. Installation is very simple. Enjoy the benefits of the extra options.
Related tags for Sweex 1 Port Parallel & 2 Port Serial PCI Card »
