Need help setting up dual 19inch LCDs with a switch

[lsutiger]

Hi everyone,

I plan on purchasing a G5 1.8 before the end of the year and would like to run it on 2 19 inch Dell DVI flat pannels. I would also like to have a switchbox where I can use either both on the Mac, both on my Windows machine, or one on each. Is this possible?

I've heard that switches for the keyboard and mouse don't work that well and I have no problem with using both keyboards and mice, but I'd love to have a switchbox that would accomplish what I mentioned above.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[robbieduncan]

All the KVM switches I have ever seen only work with a single monitor input/output. This may be possible but will probably cost quite a bit!

 

[ColdZero]

Hmmm, you could switch the monitors with 2 kvms, assuming each computer had 2 monitor outs. You'd just attach one of each to of the kvms. But then you run into the problem of which one gets keyboard control. You could set it so that whatever computer is showing on the right gets keyboard and mouse by just attaching them to that kvm.

KVM1 (right side):

attach:
Right PC Monitor out
Right Mac Monitor out
Keyboard and Mouse

KVM2 (left side):

attach:
Left PC Monitor out
Left Mac Monitor out

That way you can control each display independently and whatever screen is showing on the right side gets mouse and keyboard control, if you are showing the same computer on both, you can control both screens.

Its gonna be expensive tho, DVI KVMs aren't cheap, I think $299 from Dr. Bott, and you need 2 for this. They may be availible cheaper somewhere else tho.

 

[iPC]

You can get a dual head DVI KVM. Huge range in prices... always be wary of the cheap stuff.

 

[lsutiger]

Wow. I had no idea these switches would be so pricey.

I think I'll just manually change them for the time being.

Thanks.