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yg17

macrumors Pentium
Original poster
Aug 1, 2004
15,030
3,009
St. Louis, MO
Hi all,

I need a KVM switch that takes USB keyboards and mice as inputs and then connects to the comp with USB, and must work with switching between a Mac and PC. I found this on eBay, but was wondering if anyone knew of anything cheaper. Thanks :)
 
I've had one of these Dr. Bott dual-VGA/USB switches since early 2001... works perfectly between my Mac mini and my Sony PCs, and it's very solidly built. Dr. Bott has a whole line of switches that might be suited to your purposes.

(Yes, this ain't cheap. But it is VERY well made and works perfectly.)
 
I bought a Belkin KVM with USB and it was a pain. It kept wanting to change channel, I returned it for a replacement. It to had similar problems, i ended up giving up.

I found getting hold of KVM switches with USB was a pain compared to the cheap readily avaialble ps2 models.

Wow Clayj that Dr.Bott model is like 400 Dollars :eek: I know the belkin were rubbish, but they were only 30... For 400 bucks you can get a decent monitor and keyboard and frig sharing :D
 
MacRumorUser said:
Wow Clayj that Dr.Bott model is like 400 Dollars :eek: I know the belkin were rubbish, but they were only 30... For 400 bucks you can get a decent monitor and keyboard and frig sharing :D
I said it wasn't cheap.

And sure, you can get another monitor, keyboard, and mouse... but where ya gonna put 'em? I use my Dr. Bott switch to share a keyboard, mouse, and 2 displays between 3 machines (and could have one more machine connected).
 
I'm using a Belkin DK102U with a PC, a Mac Mini, an Apple k/b, a MS Intellimouse and a 17" Iiyama monitor and its absolutely fine. I've just bought two more for work and they're also working ok. Switching from one machine to another results in about 3 secs delay before the mouse moves but that's not a problem.
I believe they also make a similar model with audio sockets as well.
If I were you I'd get one with built in cables - seperate cables will put the cost up considerably.
 
most affordable switches that have USB only have one USB cable. i have a PC and Mac. i guess i can try to see if having my apple keyboard with the mouse attached to the keyboard would work with my PC though i doub it will.
 
kvm

I'm using an IOGear Miniview GCS124U (4-port) with 2 pc's and a mac mini. Keyboard is generic usb pc and a microsoft intellimouse 3.0. Works ok. The kvm comes with cables. (Newegg has it for $under $175 with shipping) I tried a Cables to Go switch, but it didn't support the extra mouse buttons for pc use.
I have a Logitech mx518 mouse for gaming, and it would lock up games on the pc when using it through the KVM. I have it hooked up directly to that pc now.
-Rick
 
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