Customer Reviews

Belkin F1DA104Z 4-Port PS2 USB PRO3 KVM Switch

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I have had several Belkin products. I recently replaced an older 4-port PS/2 Pro2 switch with this newest model which uses a dual cable with either USB or PS/2 connectors. I am driving a 1920x1200 monitor. On the older KVM I used a DVI->VGA adapter because the Belkin only had a VGA connector. Video clarity was fine. This new model, with the exact same configuration, gave me slightly fuzzy video which was unacceptable. This same configuration was fine on the older Belkin KVM. Belkin customer service told me it was a typical problem with the DVI->VGA adapter.... it worked fine on their older model! Be careful if you will use a similar config. Other aspects of the switch were fine. The new 'slim' cables are very nice.... if only the video was the same!

I've been using this KVM switch for almost a year and it's a headache. For some reason the buttons on the front panel stop working after a few days and you can only switch by the keyboard which is fine... until the keyboard locks up. Then you have to pull the power supply and reboot the thing which is very annoying since I have it mounted in a rack.

Keys will also occasionally lock up while I'm typing also requiring a reboot of the device.

I'd go with a different brand. Not recommended at all.

I've been happy using the PRO2 series at work (the previous version of this KVM switch), so when I needed to set up some computers for work at home, I ordered one of these. It's total garbage. When it works, it's good, it does what you'd expect a KVM switch to do. The problem is that it often DOESN'T.

My first problem was that I didn't realize that it was incompatible with regular KVM cables, of which there were plenty at work so I didn't order any. You have to order new, pricy (and somewhat fragile) KVM cables that have a SCSI-50 connector. When I finally got those cables (which don't seem to be sold at local computer retailers like Fry's or MicroCenter)...

The first switch I ordered didn't work. It would switch the video, but the USB connections didn't work, and my computers couldn't detect what resolution to use on half the ports (normally this is supplied through the video cable as serial data, probably some of the pins were non-functional). I sent it back. When I received a replacement, that one didn't work either. I tried flashing the firmware, and then it started working normally. I was finally happy with the thing. Now, a few months later, it decided to stop working again, with the same symptoms as the first KVM switch had (USB no longer works). I tried re-flashing the firmware (which you can only do from a PC), but that didn't fix it.

F*** this thing. Get something cheaper that works, or get a used PRO2 switch and some USB to PS/2 converters for the console mouse and keyboard.