Customer Reviews

2port USB KVM Switch With 2-cables Non-osd

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am extremely pleased with my new ConnectPro USB KVM Switch. I have it connected to a Notebook PC and a desktop PowerMac G4 and it works with both without problems.

Installation went smoothly. Just unpacked, plugged in the cables and it was ready to go.

The video quality is superb. I tested resolutions up to 1280x1024 and I can see no difference from having the monitor connected directly. The documentation claims support for up to 1600x1200.

I bought a IOGear switch before and I had to return it because I experienced a variety of problems detailed below. The Connectpro switch does not have any of those problems.

The main problem of other switches is that non-standard keys found on many usb keyboards do not work when the keyboard is connected through the switch, and the same goes for mice with more buttons than the three that are standard. For example my Apple keyboard has CD eject and volume keys that were ignored by the IOGear switch. All the keys work with the Connectpro switch.

The second big problem, many switches have an on screen display (OSD) feature that shows you on the screen which computer gets activated when you switch. At first this looks like a cool feature, but it has a big drawback: the switch permanently sends a video signal to the monitor, so even when the computer tries to put the monitor to sleep as part of its power saving procedures the switch will keep it awake all the time. The Connectpro switch does not have an OSD feature, but the power saving settings for the active computer work without problem.

Finally, this is the only USB switch I've found that gets power from the USB ports of the computers connected to it, so even though it comes with a power adapter in most cases you don't need to use it. The documentation states that some USB devices like printers or scanners consume more power than what the switch by itself can provide, so in that case you may have to plug the switch to a power outlet.

Overall this is a great switch, I absolutely recommend it!!!

First of all, this KVM is very well-made, with high-quality video and USB cables. The enclosure is actually metal, and feels very solid. Once it's hooked up and working, it works very well.

This KVM is actually a USB hub; the "switching" part simply moves the computer connection from one machine to the other. The good news is that you can hook up any USB keyboard and mouse and all of their functions work. I'm using a Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro, an Intellimouse Explorer, and a Contour Designs Shuttle Express with it - the KVM has USB type A connectors for three devices on it - and all three devices are fully supported by my Athlon/WinXP system and my Powermac G4 running OS X. Like one of the other reviewers mentioned, if you test your devices beforehand by disconnecting them, then reconnecting them, and they still work correctly, then this switch will work for you. Devices like USB memory cards, which have to be "stopped" before they can be disconnected, won't work.

The video quality is also very good; I'm running at 1280x1024 and it looks as good as it does with the monitor plugged directly into the Radeon cards in both machines.

This switch does not switch audio. It also does not have any keyboard-based switching ability, so place it somewhere you can easily reach it.

Setup was tricky, however, and involved some e-mail back-and-forth with Connectpro's support people. It turns out that what you have to do to get the switch working right is this:

1. Plug the power into the switch.
2. Plug the VGA cables for the two machines in. Do NOT connect the USB cables for the two computers!
3. Connect your monitor to the switch.
4. Connect your keyboard and mouse directly to the first computer.
5. Power up the first computer, and log in.
6. Now, connect the KVM's USB cable to the first computer. If you're running Windows 2000 or XP, the computer will detect the KVM as a generic USB hub.
7. Connect your keyboard and mouse directly to the second computer.
8. Press the "select" button on the KVM to select the second computer.
8. Power up the second computer, and log in.
9. Connect the KVM's USB cable to the second computer. The computer will recognize the KVM as a generic USB hub. (In MacOS X, it will show up in the Apple System Profiler.)
10. Now, move the keyboard and mouse to the KVM. You should be good to go at this point.

I'd have given this KVM five stars, were it not for the poor manual (like another reviewer said, it seemed to be for some other switch), and the need to contact tech support to get the proper connection instructions. To their credit, Connectpro's e-mail tech support person was very helpful and courteous, and responded within a business day to all of my inquiries.

Configuration:

I just received the product a few days ago. The quality of the cables and hardware are very good compared to the similar products from Belkin and I/O Magic. The USB and RGB cables are connected but can be easily separated. This was necessary because my IBM T40 has the USB ports on the left side of the unit and the RGB out on the right, a stupid design by any stretch of the imagination.

I had to separate a thick molded attachment (about 18" down where the cable makes a "Y") and pull about 2 feet of the cable apart to make it work. The shielding is first rate and remained completely intact.

Hooking It Up:

The set-up of the KVM switch is simple: Turn everything off, hook everything up, power up the computers, and you're done. It took about 10 minutes. It's nice that all the connectors are on the back of the switch, saving you from the big and ugly 'spider' of cables on your desk. The supplied power supply was not necessary for my setup: IBM T40, Dell 400SC, Viewsonic CRT, MS PS/2 Natural Keyboard (w/USB adapter), and Logitech Mouseman USB Optical Wheel-mouse. Both system are running WinXP Professional.

Operation:

We are talking a standard KVM: hit the button, it beeps and goes to the other computer and enables the mouse and keyboard after a 3 second scan interval completes. Nothing fancy here. All of my keys work on the keyboard and all of the mouse buttons work with my Logitech Mouseware software. See below the one Mouseware issue.

Issues:

I typically use a refresh rate of 85hz on my monitor, but I found the scan lines to be very pronounced when viewing a white screen. This was not the case when directly connected. I upped the refresh rate to 100hz and that fixed it. The scroll-wheel will only go one line at a time on the IBM laptop, but works fine on the Dell server. This is not the case when I attach it directly to the laptop.

As I'm typing this review, I can honestly say it does what it is supposed to do. Leaning forward to hit the select button causes a moderate single "beep", but it's not overly annoying, yet. The ability to switch using a 'hotkey' on the keyboard would be nice, but I was willing to make the sacrifice for a good quality product.

Conclusion:

It was well worth the money. Yes, I'm lazy and would like to switch computers using my keyboard, but I made the trade-off for a good quality product. There's no software to install, so that's one less thing that could cause problems. If I could rate this 4.5 stars, I would, but that's not an option. In any case, I hope you found some of this information helpful.

Excellent. After hassling with two other KVM switches from Iogear, the ConnectPro is a dream. Yes it requires a little box on your desk and has no keyboard operation, but the thing just works and works very well. I have it switching between an IBM T40 laptop on a docking station (Win XP Pro) and an Apple Mac Mini (OS X). It works seamlessly between the two systems with no speed or video quality loss. In fact, the video quality is unparalleled compared to the other switches I've tested. When it arrived, I was delighted by the quality of the cabling and hooked it up in less than five minutes: Just turned everything off, plugged it all in (no need to use the supplied power cord for the box if you don't need USB power) and I was up and running. Plus, it's a dream to have a single USB-out cable serving up three USB inputs, which opens up a lot of port space on the two systems.

If you're looking to forget about compatibility problems and testing KVM finicky switches, buy this unit. It's outstanding.

This is an excellent product. But first, my thanks to Miguel Grinberg, who reviewed this product here on Amazon and saved me a lot of trouble. I visited tech support for a number of other KVM switch manufacturers and they all verified the remarks made by Mr. Grinberg. Read his review first!!!!!!!

I'm running two different Dell desktop systems with Win XP on this switch. I have a Sony 21" monitor. The results are excellent.

TO TEST WHETHER THIS SWITCH WILL WORK FOR YOU - simply disconnect your usb keyboard and mouse from your current systems during various activities and reconnect them and note the results. If you are happy - this is the switch for you. This switch simply connects and disconnects your usb mouse, usb keyboard, and a third device if you choose from one system and switches it to another. Obviously it also switches your video but there are no problematic technical issues in doing that. I've switched 2 times just while writing this review.

The switch also comes with two high quality cables which saves you a great deal of money.

The beauty of this device is you can test various scenories to your heart's content and know the results long before you place an order.

I recently bought a laptop and wanted to share the montior, keyboard, mouse, and printer with my older desktop. I tried a docking station (which worked well, except for sharing the monitor) and then tried three different KVM switches made by Belkin and IOGear. I ended up returning them all because they would not support a wireless mouse and keyboard at all, or would not support them when used as a combo, even though this limitation was not advertised. After researching my problem extensively, several reviewers stated that this KVM switch would work with wireless devices. I bought it and it worked like charm right out of the box. Don't be intimidated by the user manual, which talks about changing BIOS settings etc. I didn't have to do any of that.

This USB KVM switch works as it should! It switches 3 USB devices to a single USB port on each connected computer. I use a Microsoft Wireless Keyboard and mouse combo and it works great! Even the special multimedia keys work. This switch switches USB without touching it as is the case with many KVM switches. The "negative" is that you have no on screen information about switching (who cares anyway). The video is also switched without touching it. There is no difference in resolution or screen quality.

It took me a long time to find a USB KVM switch that really works and this is it!!!!

I received my Conectpro USB 2 port KVM switch late yesterday afternoon. It was out of the box, plugged in and working flawlessly almost before the UPS truck was out of my driveway. The instruction manual is still in the box. You can't ask for much more than that.

The fact that the cables all attach to the back side puts it head and shoulders above other supposed desk top KVM switches that have cables coming out of both sides making a mess of your desk and requiring you to put a screw in you desktop to keep them in place. Sorry, but I'm not putting any screw holes in my desktop.

However, I give the Connectpro only 4 stars instead of 5 because in this day and age it should support USB 2.0. Mice and keyboards don't need the speed of USB 2.0 but printers and scanners etc. that could make good use of that third USB port usually do need USB 2.0 to achieve their full potential.

I have a Mac and a PC, a logitech usb keyboard and mouse, and a Dell 20 Ultrasharp monitor with a native resolution of 1600x1200.

Both the Mac and PC work perfectly with this switch. All special function keys of the Logitech keyboard work in both computers. My mouse has 7 or 8 buttons and they all work in both computers as well.

The only problem I've noticed with this switch is the video at 1600x1200. As another reviewer stated, at this resolution there is ghosting. In particular, when I'm on the PC, I have two barely noticeable darker lines moving across the screen from right to left. When I switch to the Mac, the two dark lines move from left to right. It's not too terribly distracting, especially if you have a dark desktop background.

I'm thinking of trying the 4 port version of this switch and seeing if the ghosting will continue with the Mac on port 4 and the PC on port 1. I'm hoping that if the two computers are separated a bit more than they are on this 2 port switch, the ghosting will disappear.

However, this 2 port switch is still the best I've seen so far. It's simple to set up, the case is heavy duty metal (even though the switch is roughly the size of two decks of cards, it feels heavy and extremely durable), and it simply works. If you use a lower resolution than 1600x1200, then you should be fine with the ghosting issue.

A tried other switches by Belkin that did not work. This switch worked exactly as it should. The cables that came with the kit were quality items as well. I am switching a wireless keyboard/mouse combo, a monitor, and a printer with no troubles. Great product!