Customer Reviews

IOGEAR 2-Port USB DVI-D Cable KVM with Audio and Mic GCS932UB (Black)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I just bought this KVM. Here are a few thoughts after using it for a few days:

REASON I BOUGHT THIS ONE: It had two USB 2.0 ports, and no PS2 ports. IOGear has had some great customer reviews for this, and other KVM products. I liked the fact that I plugged my own DVI cable into the switch to my monitor making cable length irrelevant. And finally, the one negative review I did see here was answered directly by an IOGEAR representative attempting to address the problem.

PACKAGING: Nice cardboard box, foam wrap around all internal components, manuals were in color and in plastic bags, the manual content is complete but concise in English.

QUALITY: Everything seems to be made of sturdy high quality components. The cables are thick, well insulated, and are generous length. You would only need to be concerned with cable length if your two machines are over 10 feet away from each other. There are plastic caps that cover the stereo cables if not in use and the cables themselves are color-coded. The cables plug into the switch ports firm and secure.

HOOK-UP: Couldn't be easier. There was no need to look at the manual, everything is intuitive enough. There is a mini stereo jack cable for your left/right speakers and then one for your microphone. I have a 4.1 surround setup and I don't have a need for a microphone. Well, good news for those like me... just use the microphone stereo port for your rear left/right and you will have full 4.1 surround through the KVM. This was a great surprise, and it works.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: One problem I ran into was that my Logitech MX510 mouse has 5 additional buttons. When run through the KVM it only detects a standard three button scroll wheel mouse. I never really used these buttons anyway, but it required me to reconfigure the mouse driver to speed up the cursor movement again.

I hid the KVM switch behind my desk and only see the slim remote button. The bottom of the button has a no-slip rubber pad, so you can lay it on your desk flat and it won't really slide anywhere. The button itself is easy to find and press without having to look at it.

Everything else worked great right out of the box. Since this is a digital KVM switch, you don't have to worry about quality of the signal. Either the signal arrives or it doesn't. You get perfect clarity or nothing at all. In my case, it's perfect. There is absolutely no difference in display quality when compared to directly connected the computer to the display.

MY SPECS: Computer #1 is an older XP machine with a ATI 9800 graphics card. The other machine is an HP running 64-bit Windows 7 with a GeForce 260. The mouse is a Logitech MX510. The keyboard is an older Microsoft split ergonomic PS /2 keyboard. I used a USB adapter without any issues at all. I hooked up a PC Works FourPointSurround (with subwoofer) through the two mini-stereo ports. Like I mentioned earlier, you can use any equipment that uses two mini-stereo ports, it doesn't have to be a microphone.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I am completely satisfied and this product has met my expectations. My opinion of IOGear has increased a few notches. When looking for future hardware, I'll certainly give IOGear a favorable consideration.

This IOGEAR KVM works very well switching between my new Mac-Mini and Windows 7 Gateway PC. My only performance complaint has little to do with the KVM itself. If my SATA-connected Western Digital MyBook is turned on, it may take up to a minute for the PC to recognize all the peripherals connected on the USB hub.

In order to make use of all the peripherals I use regularly, I elected to connect a USB Hub to the "mouse" USB port instead of a dedicated mouse. I don't use the purple, dedicated keyboard port at all. Initially I needed to connect a USB keyboard to that port and disable Mouse mode. The instruction book will tell you how to do this. Once Mouse mode was disabled I was able to connect a powered USB hub (Belkin FSU234 - couldn't find on Amazon but I'm sure any would work). To the hub I connected my Microsoft Wireless Desktop (mouse and keyboard), Logitech USB headset, and Microsoft LifeCam HD-5000. The Mac-Mini works with all of these. As mentioned before the PC works fine except if the MyBook is turned on.

The sound works fine (I have a basic 2+1 speaker setup) and the DVI picture quality is excellent on my Acer X223 monitor.

I think my setup complaint would be that the computer connection cables are a little short if you have computers on opposite sides of the desk. My computers are 3 feet apart but it was still difficult finding a happy landing place for the KVM. It is currently on the floor between the 2.

I use the little remote to switch systems rather than a keyboard hot key. The hot key doesn't seem to work with the hub.

All in all I'm pretty happy with this. The mac handles the switching flawlessly. Sometimes the PC will hesitate or require rebooting when the MyBook is turned on.

So my setup is a PC plugged into my display via DVI and I had an imac plugged in via VGA when I used to work from home, and I'd share my G15 and G19 keyboards between the computers no problem.

That iMac is gone now, and I picked up one of those new 2010 Mac Minis. I decided to spring for DVI this time, so I ordered this DVI KVM. By default, it specifically wants you to plug your keyboard into a keyboard port and your mouse into a mouse port. It does this because it emulates both. I believe the basic gist is to cut down on switching time when you go back and forth.

Well set up that way, my G19 would work as a keyboard, but all of the advanced functions wouldn't work. I'd read somewhere that someone with a G keyboard was using this KVM, so I re-read the manual and figured out what I needed to do.

I dumped the kb port and plugged my kb into the mouse port, and then my Performance MX little receiver is plugged into my G19. There's one catch that you have to do, you have to disable the mouse emulation. Once you do that, everything works fine, I have a fully functioning G19 and Performance MX mouse switching between both computers. The instructions are on page 14 of the manual. Basically, you should be able to hit the scroll lock key twice, and your scroll lock light on your keyboard should start blinking. Then hit the "m" key, then enter. That's it, you've turned off the mouse emulation mode and you should be all good.

EDIT: One addition, I'm not going to change the rating, but I ran into something weird. I was syncing 2 iphones and during that period the kb/mouse would disconnect and reconnect a few times to my PC. This has never happened before and has stopped once the syncing was done, and the phones were not connected to the kb/mouse/kvm, so that's weird.

I have a Dell 2408WFP and, when the video came up, I got distorted video, pink & blue sparkles throughout the screen ... however most of the time the monitor just cycled in and out of power-save mode, with no video displayed. After following all the directions from IOGear's tech support, and getting same behavior, I returned it and the replacement did the exact same thing. Again tech support offered some more suggestions which I carefully followed (updated firmware, reinstalled video/monitor drivers, reset the kvm, etc.) - no help. It appears to be a compatibility problem with this specific model of Dell Monitor, as I tried it on a similar Dell model (2007FP) that I have and, with it connected to the exact same computers, it seemed to work great. I'm giving up on this one. I give it 2 stars (instead of 1) because IOGear tech support was reasonably responsive. I think it is just a case of insufficient testing on IOGear's part ... given the complexity and immaturity of the related Windows 7 protocols I suspect that they should be doing a lot more compatibility testing. If anyone has had any luck with any DVI KVM switches that are compatible with Windows 7 and Dell 2408WFP, and are reasonably priced (< $130) please comment.

This switch worked well for me for the first few months though occasionally you'd have to hit the buttons a few times to get the video to be steady. In fairness to the product, it's not rated for the 1920x1200 resolution I've been using it at. Lately it has been causing the video image to blink occasionally. For this reason I'm dumping it for one that supports 1920x1200.

If you're using lower resolution I'd give it a try as it does switch very quickly and has a nice small button you can put on your desk for switching while keeping the main unit tucked away somewhere.

I bought this switch based on the good reviews. It does come packaged well. It is sturdy and substantial. It is apparently easy to hook up. Everything is well marked on the switch. I was hooking up Win 7 Pro and Win XP Pro. Monitors always worked right out of the box. Remote switch is helpful and works well.

Mouse and keyboard NEVER worked on Windows 7. Microsoft Sidewinder x4 Keyboard and Logitech MX 518 mouse. Both of these are USB. My hardware met all the system requirements of the switch but it just never worked. Iogear support was useless. The support website was very limited. The knowledge of the Indians who attempted to help me was limited. They told me to return it. It may have been defective but I am going to go with another brand of switch just to be safe.

Are you purchasing a new PC? Do you want to transition from your old PC to your new PC slowly, gradually installing your programs on your new PC while still using your old PC? I did, and I knew I needed a KVM switch to make my life easier. After much research I decided on this model, and I'm very glad I did. I have it working perfectly now, although there were a few minor hurdles along the way.

First, you can't tell which cords go with which indicator lights, so when I first hooked it up and turned on my PCs, I couldn't understand why the monitor was blank. Turns out you need to be switched to the PC while it's booting up for it to "register" and appear on the monitor (at least that's my take on it). When I clicked on the remote button (great feature, btw) I saw my new PC's login screen. So I shut down my old PC, hit the KVM's remote switch, and booted up the old PC again. The bootup screen on my old PC immediately appeared and I was off and running.

The other minor glitch was mouse support. At first I had no mouse support at all on my old PC, but I tried a different USB port and it came to life. I then had to reset the mouse settings, because for some reason it went back to the default Windows XP settings. Now that I've got that out of the way everything is working great!

Screen resolution is just as it was before, and it even recognizes my Dell RT7D10 keyboard (which has media player buttons built into it for things like volume control, mute, play, fast forward, rewind, etc.) Switching is quick too -- about 2 seconds to switch back and forth between old and new PCs.

Haven't tried the mic yet, but audio works great. Even my remote volume/mute control works on both PCs!

Great product that will make my transition to a new PC much less painful!

I purchased the IOGear 2-Port USB DVI-D Cable KVM with Audio and Mic to set up a home office that could toggle from home desktop to work laptop using the HD monitor (both running WinXP SP3).

COST: At under a $100, the IOGear USB DVI-D KVM is a good value. Most KVM swtiches supporting DVI were >$100.00.

SETUP: Setup was very easy. I started by reading the enclosed manual, then flipped over the back of the box, where illustrated step-by-step instructions and product specs were very accessible and easy to understand.

FUNCTION: So far, everything works perfectly. No distortion on the video. Keyboard and mouse both responsive, as is the switch between computers using the handy "remote" (that connects to switch). Also pleasantly surprised at the audio connection. Hadn't planned or needed to use it, but thought I'd hook it up while the desktop was pulled out. No apparent difference in the desktop sound quality (using Cambridge Soundworks PCWorks system).

DRAWBACK(S): The only drawback observed so far (and noted on other reviews) is that that the switch itself is very lightweight and difficult to keep stationary when the heavier cables are moved. No mounts (that I could see)--so I've wedged it in between the computer and the wall, and use the "remote" toggle button (that plugs into the switch).

Other than that, I'd highly recommend the IOGear 2-Port USB DVI-D KVM switch if you have an HD monitor.

I have two of these KVM's -- one for home, and one for work, and use them both daily for switching between my Windows and Mac workstations. Unlike the similarly-priced TRENDnet 2-Port DVI USB KVM Switch with Audio Kit TK-204UK, the IOGear doesn't give me any trouble using 1680x1050 resolution (from my MacBook Pro to a 22" LCD) and my systems don't seem to freak out when I switch between the two.

I was a bit apprehensive about using a USB-powered KVM instead of one with its own brick, but the IOGear has performed almost flawlessly.

Almost.

Over the past couple of months, I've had two problems:

1) IOGear thoughtfully includes a function that allows you to swap your Windows and Alt keys when using a Mac (and another function to map Sun keys, but I'm not digging out my Sun box to test it). However, IOGear does not have a documented function to undo this. It took three tries contacting IOGear's support online and on the phone before someone could help me without pointing me to the manual, realizing it wasn't documented in the manual, and being stumped.

2) Using my Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse MX is a no-go on the KVM. Period. I'm running the systems with individual mice for this reason.

Other than the two problems I had -- which may be totally obscure, this KVM is basically perfect for most people, and the price is right.

I was looking for a DVI KVM switch that would allow me to share a monitor, kbd, mouse, and speaker system between my new Dell XPS Win 7 (64bit) machine and my old Dell XP machine. All I had to do was hook up the connectors (color coded) and turn the computers on. The mouse, keyboard and speakers worked as if nothing had changed as did the new monitor with my new computer. The only thing I had to do to the old computer was adjust the video resolution to the native resolution of the new monitor. This all came as a real shock to me as I expect at least an hour of cursing with any new installation. I'm also quite pleased with the small footprint and generous cable lengths. Great Product.