Customer Reviews

IOGEAR GCS84B MiniView SE 4-Port Desktop KVM Switch with Cables

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This IOGear KVM is great! It works flawlessly for my computers. I'm running a mixed windows/freebsd environment. One thing that I noticed is that the mouse picks up really fast, almost instantaneously. Can't say the same for the Belkin KVMs I have worked with. I'm running mine without the additional power supply, it works fine without it. It is also very compact. I have mine vertical using the provided stand. This is a great product!

I just want to correct the previous reviewer about the GCS14. He probably has a defective kvm. Mine works flawless. One, I can boot any OS I want in any order. Two, the keyboard key combo (ctrl + alt + shift + "ID") works for me.

You don't need to have to monitor set to the booting machine. I recommend however that you do so when using any kvm machine. It help the operating system detect the correct devices (monitor, keyboard, and mouse) attached. If you don't, they OS will load the generic drivers for mouse, keyboard, and plug'n play monitor. This is perfectly logical.

After suffering for two years with a Belkin, I bought this guy. Look no further, this is The One. I have it hooked up to a Mac, a Windows box, a laptop, and a Unix machine, and it works perfectly. I am as pleased as can be. You can even do fancy stuff like have the keyboard go to one machine and the video to another, but I haven't had the need for that yet.
An excellent product.

I believe this model is the GCS14. It's been working for me so far. However, I can't get the Hot Keys or Autoscan to work.

IO Gear's technical support is hopeless. They never reply to your emails.

Here's a tip you should remember when you first use it. Be sure to power off all computers first, then connect them onto the KVM. Start by powering on the computer connected to Port A and once you have booted into the OS, move to the next port and power up the next computer.

Be sure to wait till the computer has booted into the OS before moving on to the next. Most computer BIOSes don't like it if there are no input devices (especially keyboard) installed on the computer. So if you power on the computer without switching to the port the computer will think there are no input devices plugged in and may just halt at the BIOS without booting into the OS. You should be able to turn this off in your BIOS. Windows also doesn't boot properly without any input devices in my experience.

Once you boot into your OS, Windows for example, it won't matter since the OS will take over and should detect the keyboard and mice whenever, wherever...

And here's another tip. Never buy a USB KVM! Plug-n-play takes too long to detect your keyboard and mouse.

This is a great KVM. I'm using a variety of machines with different resolutions & graphics cards. from an old Dell pentium 2 to an HP with an older nvidia 64 meg card to a Sony Vaio with intergrated graphics to another Vaio with an NVidia FX 5200. My Display is a Dell 26" flat panel LCD tv/Monitor. My Mouse is a Iomega wireless optical laser (USB with a PS2 dongle) my keyboard is a Microsoft natural multimedia. This kvm switches between systems seamlessy. Double tapping the Control keys switches up or down the systems. (Right for up, Left for down)
Installation is pretty straight forward. The supplied 6' cords are enough as long as the KVM is centrally located. No power supply needed which is another plus.
I did have one small issue when I first hooked the unit up. The intergrated graphics Vaio suddenly started doing a scandisk at startup. then I got an unspecified Hardware failure alert. After which the machine booted normally & everything works fine.
This KVM is a great space saver. It has allowed me to bring my older systems back into service without having to go into Real Estate

Functionality is marred by a bad choice of keyboard shortcuts.

I bought this after being pleased with a two-port model by the same manufacturer.

However, the keyboard shortcut was well selected for the two-port model (Print screen, I think). But, this one uses the control keys, and that's a big problem. Accidentally bounce the control keys a couple of times and you'll end up connected to the wrong computer. For games that use the control key to fire or such, the situation is hopeless. Imagine having the KVM switch to another computer in the midst of a heated battle on that game level that you worked so hard to get to. Oh, the agony of defeat. But you won't have to watch; the monitor has been switch away.

Unfortunately, the computer industry has developed a fear of dip switches. But, if ever there was a place to have dip switches, it would be on KVM's to disable really stupid keyboard shortcut assignments.

Yes, we want freedom of choice. Give us our options; give us our dip-switches!

It's a pity that such fine quality electronics is marred by stupid design choices and a lack of options. And, while the box is both pretty and rugged, rectangular boxes are stackable and more easily mounted to other things.

Minus 2 stars for bad keyboard shortcuts.
Minus 1.5 stars for lack of choices.
Minus .5 stars for frilly case.

I now have a couple of SVIEW04 units, which I'm quite happy with, and I'm ordering a third. But, the memory of this foolish thing fades slowly.

This is a great product. I should say that first. It works great with my linux boxes, except for one thing. I tried out the latest 6.0 rc2 from Mepis and I haven't gotten it to work yet through this KVM. I only tried the live CD though. So if you use the latest Ubuntu/Mepis distros or a linux distro with a newish kernel, you might have problems. But it is a really slick product otherwise.

Simple setup and simple to use. No problems at all. Would purchase again for sure.

Great unit. No problems setting it up or using it. My current setup consists of a dell laptop, xblade desktop, and two linux machines. No problem with any of them. Highly recommended.

If you're ok with using JUST your mouse on one PC and/or JUST your keyboard on another, this is kinda fun. Otherwise, avoid it. Maybe I just got a bad one, of course, but I can assure you as a QA engineer that mine is no good.