Customer Reviews

IOGEAR 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Cables and Remote GCS22U (Black)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This KVM is fine, IOGear makes pretty good products. I am writing this just to provide a few comparison notes on the few but important differences between this and it's slightly more mature sibling the GCS632U.

1) This KVM does not offer any keyboard shortcut. There is a little wired "remote" connected to the KVM, and you must click the button when you want to change from one machine to the next. This does not seem ideal to me, because your hands must leave the keyboard and I would worry about the clicky switch failing over time. The GCS632U offers a typical "double scroll-lock tap" to change over, and this can be changed to another keypress as desired. I find this works much better than this unit's remote button setup.

2) This KVM has cables that connect to the monitor port and TWO USB ports on each target computer. The GCS632U one-ups this in a neat trick; it combines the keyboard and mouse inputs into ONE USB cable, so it only takes up ONE USB port on each target computer. Very nice, and fewer cables to plug in. This feature alone is actually enough for me to return the GCS22U for the upgraded GCS632U.

3) Last, but not least, the GCS632U adds 1/8" plugs for audio. I personally don't use this, but for those who want to connect a single pc speaker system (or other audio output) to the two target computers, this is a nice feature.

Hope that's helpful. To me, an extra $10 is worth having an extra USB port free on my laptop and other computer! And I much prefer the keyboard shortcut vs the remote button!

In a nutshell: Compact, less wires to get in the way, great remote switch to change computers, and works out of the box.

Longer story

Here were my needs:
- I purchased this to be able to hook up my work laptop to my monitor and keyboard when I work from home.
- I needed a USB KVM switch (versus older PS/2 connectors)
- I prefer for the audio not to switch over so I can play music on my home computer while I work on the company laptop.
- I hate wires, so the fewer the better.
- Needed the switch to work with my wireless mouse and keyboard (you guessed that by now, didn't you?)

This unit was perfect as the unit has the wires molded in and they are just long enough to reach both computers comfortably with no excess wiring to deal with.

The remote button is nice and does not get in the way.

My mouse and keyboard (Logitech) use one shared USB cable and the switch provides for two ports and plugs. This caused a little confusion and initially did not work when I plugged everything up. I figured this was more of my computer's USB recognizing the keyboard had moved ports problem rather than a switch problem. I was right.

To solve this, I had previously plugged the monitor to the switch and the cable from the switch to the computer, this did not change. I did not hook the USB mouse/keyboard to the switch, but left it plugged into the computer where it was working originally. All was well so far. I then started the computer, made sure the mouse and keyboard were still working and moved the keyboard/mouse to the one of the switch's USB ports. I had tried both USB plugs in (this is important) the same USB port on my computer that the keyboard/mouse were plugged into. I found the right plug and everything was working. I could switch back and forth and/or restart the computer without issue.


Other hints that might help.

From a cold start (remember the switch is powered by your USB port) the switch will start on computer 1 (green lights show which is which, one dot or two). The cables were not labeled, so I guessed, and guessed wrong. I switched the plugs and all was well.

Once I found the proper keyboard/mice USB cord coming out of that switch I was able to unplug the other one (remember, my Logitech uses one USB for both keyboard and mouse) to save a USB port on the back of my computer. I figure that I would not remember that later, so now was the best time to do this. Can you have enough USB ports directly on the computer?

I expect this switch to work well for you if you have similar needs to what I outlined earlier.

If your computers are far apart from each other, or you want to switch audio, or you need to switch between more than two computers, this is not the switch for you. You will need to invest in a more expensive solution.

Great product, I would buy this again and recommend it for anyone with a home office.

I bought this switch because I just purchased a new computer, I have a lot of software and files on my old computer that I can't get rid of (yet) so this was/is the ideal solution. This product works OK, it was easy to set up (about 20 minutes). It works as far as switching between two computers, be aware that there is a slight lag between switching but not a big deal. A couple of problems though:

1) When I put both computers into sleep mode I wasn't able to swtich to the first computer that went into sleep mode when I fired both computers back up, the only way for the keyboard, mouse and monitor to work on the second computer was to do a "hard" shutdown, rebooting the computer. I called IOGear's support and they had me go into device manager and turn of the power saving functions for the USB ports on both computers and this solved the issue.

2) The resolution on my 20" flat panel monitor was terrible after installing this switch, font and images were blurry and jagged, to the point it was messing up my eyes. I tried everything I could do to fix the resolution but nothing worked. I also mentioned the resolution problem to IOGear's support but I never got an answer as to how to fix the issue (I suspect there probably is no fix).

For $20 you really can't expect much, the old saying is true, you get what you pay for...With that said, I purchased a $60 Starview KVM switch (which is powered by a 5v transformer) that is made by Startech, its the difference between night and day. I'll keep the IOGear switch for a back-up in case the other switch goes bad.

All in all, IOGear's support was OK and the switch would probably be OK for someone that doesn't spent countless hours on a computer...Unfortuantely, for me I work on a computer day and night so I need a switch that transfers the screen resolution better than this switch is apparently capable of doing.

This thing is awsome! Not all of my programs would work with my new computer and Windows 7, so I had to keep my old computer with Windows XP active. With the IOGear KVM, I have two monitors on my desk, two computers under my desk and one keyboard and mouse (which are wireless). While using my new computer I have duel monitors, but with the push of a button next to my keyboard, one moniter switches to my old comupter to acces older programs. There is a slight delay when switching back and forth, but it's not a big deal if it means that I can keep the old PC viable for a little longer. Wish I would have baught this one sooner!

I was very excited to get the IOGear USB KVM switch in the mail this week. We had recently upgraded to a Windows Seven machine that works fine except for detecting our aging digital point and shoot. Our XP machine obviously worked well with this camera and still had plenty of hard drive space, so the option to have both PC's accessible was the desired endgame.

Enter this handy little switch to allow us to share the keyboard, video, and monitor between the two windows boxes. Setup was very easy, with the most challenging task being crawling under the desk to thread wires. Once everything was hooked up, I was easily able to switch between the XP and the Windows Seven rig.

One bonus point is that we have a wireless keyboard and mouse. So instead of plugging two separate USB components into the KVM's central point, all we needed to do was plug in the main wireless unit. There was no issue at all. The IOGear handled the wireless setup on both the XP and the Seven computer, and didn't stutter or drop when switching between the two PC's.

My only potential concern is the wiring that leads from the KVM central point out to the switching button. Its basically the same gauge wire as a pair of earbuds. Not real havy duty. The family cat has chewed through heavier wire previously. Or of something heavy were to drop off the desk and catch on it, I'd be concerned that the wiring might not survive. All of this said, I think it's a great option to handle two PC's in one place and would recommend it at Amazon's bargain price.

I bought this product and received it yesterday. Plugged it in and it works exactly as it should. No software, no hassle. My home office set-up originally had dual monitors for my job (plus keyboard and mouse) and a big monitor for my home computer (plus keyboard and mouse). It was a cluttered desktop and annoyance to swich out keyboards on the tray every night and morning. This KVM switch was simple to put in (plug and play) and I just tucked the toggle button next to my tower...and done. Now, my desktop is clean and open and I have no more swapping out hassle between work set-up and home set-up. My only wish would be a keyboard-based toggle to switch between set-ups instead of (or in addition to) the actual toggle button provided. But that's minor. Can't beat the price either!

Work great, they also have a model that has audio but if you don't need audio don't 2nd guess this product. I purchased a few of these and they work great. Never any issues switching back and fourth. I have recommended them to others and even purchased a few for other people. Unless you have a system with usb issues this will work no problem.

PLEASE NOTE: I have not tried this KVM on any OS older than XP but XP/Vista/Win7 Works great just wanted to include that in case anyone was wondering. I suspect you would need drivers for older OS, not even sure if they are available. Also cannot say if it works on Mac or Linux but check the info.

CHEERS!

I only use the USB part for toggling keyboard and mouse back and forth from Windows 7 to Mac OSX (Snow Leopard).

I had older KVMs that would work with XP and Linux but not Windows 7, and for lack of confirming reviews, crossed my fingers when ordering this one. So if you're fretting: don't, it works!

I often work from home and purchased this switch to multi-task between my work PC and personal PC. When switching between computers my mouse and keyboard often hangs and does not respond. Monitor switching works fine. Usually switching back and forth a couple times clears up the problem with the mouse and keyboard but it's quite annoying. As I was writing this review it happened again so I had to switch back and forth between PCs to get it to clear.

I have a Dell Precision laptop in a docking station and a Mac Mini. I purchased this switch along with the Mini. My keyboard and mouse share one receiver.

I plugged everything in and booted up both machines. The Mac seemed to be the default computer, and was complaining that there was no mouse; I simply switched the receiver from the left port to the right port on the switch and all was well. I switched over to the Windows machine, and immediately noticed that the picture was cruddy. At first I thought maybe the KVM cables were crappy, but I adjusted the phase on my monitor and everything looked great. I also had to adjust the position slightly. In all, everything works great, and I am very happy with it.