Customer Reviews

IOGEAR 4-Port MiniView Symphony Multi-function KVM Switch with Cables GCS1774

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recently bought a second computer and wanted to use both of my (Windows XP) computers in my home office at one time. Since space on my desk is very limited, I wanted to share as much as possible with both computers.

The online and on-the-box advertising literature for this expensive KVM switch made it sound ideal. It would supposedly let me share one monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers and Internet connection, plus two USB printers, with both of my computers. I am not a computer technician, so installation needed to be straightforward.

When the KVM switch arrived from Amazon.com, I spent a lot of time routing cables behind a bookcase and carefully making all of the connections. Nevertheless, when I turned out the two computers, I had nothing but problems. One computer would not work with the KVM switch at all. The other one would work poorly, with the keyboard only reproducing some characters and randomly repeating others. The mouse had a delay between when I moved it and when the cursor moved on-screen.

Since IOGEAR's technical support is only available Monday through Friday, during business hours, I tried to get things working on my own. I spent many frustrating hours on Saturday reconnecting things and trying various workarounds, but to no avail. Both computers worked properly when I disconnected them from the KVM switch and hooked them up directly to the keyboard, mouse and monitor.

Today, Monday, I called IOGEAR. Their technical support person (who said she is outside the U.S.) did not sound especially knowledgeable about the product, but eventually pointed to a problem with the NVIDIA product described in the Properties window that she had me call up on my monitor. She started to suggest modifying my computers with the addition of some sort of internal card, to enable their KVM switch to work.

Rather than start adding internal computer hardware to address an incompatibility with NVIDIA products, I asked to speak to someone else. After keeping me on hold quite a while she said she'd have to get them to call me back. After waiting a little while, I called back to IOGEAR's customer service and spoke to someone else, in Irvine, CA. After asking me some questions about my computers, he said that the problem was indeed due to an NVIDIA product -- but not on my monitor. Rather, he said it was due to the NVIDIA product on my new computer's motherboard. He said it has a known (to IOGEAR) incompatibility issue with this KVM switch, and that to work around it I would need to install some sort of card in my brand new, very expensive, computer. I asked but he said that they would not pay for the card or the labor to do this, and would not accept responsibility for not letting potential customers know in advance that this serious incompatibility with NVIDIA -- a common and widespread brand of computer hardware, exists.

That is not acceptable to me. I will be returning the KVM switch. I strongly recommend that readers of this review contact IOGEAR before purchasing this product to make sure, in advance, that it will work with their computers, since IOGEAR says nothing about any possible, potentially serious incompatibility issues in their advertising literature for this product which I read online at their Website and at Amazon.com, and then based my purchase decision on. Note that the printed system requirements on the product's box completely matched both of my computer systems specs.

I've been using a Linksys 4 port KVM since 2000 and it's been great. The only problem is that there is no USB sharing and all of the connections for keyboard and mouse are PS2. So, I decided it was time to upgrade. After all the research, this appeared to be the product. I was excited to get the unit delivered and open it up. I disconnected the old KVM and hooked up the new one only to find a few big issues. Port 1 had the keyboard working great, but my Microsoft Optical mouse kept blinking red. On port 3, the mouse worked great, but the keyboard refused to function. I powered everything off and reset the connectors hoping that would fix it. Still no go. I even switched out a few of the cables to rule that out. The manual says to make sure you have the latest firmware found on their web site, so I went to their web site and could not find any firmware listed. I even used their search field looking for 'firmware'. One document came up with the term, but no downloads to be found. I called their support line expecting them to be closed on a Sundy, but amazingly enough a gentleman answered. This is what I find amazing - he told me that they do not support multi-function mice and keyboards. Nor do they support mother boards with the Nvidia chip set. I find that amazing because this is a USB 2.0 sharing device and my keyboards are a Logitech corded keyboard and the mouse is a Microsoft Optical Mouse Blue (typical two buttons and a wheel). Not anything fancy. I even tried my old Dell USB keyboard.

So, I'm assuming two things: the device was faulty and the guy in support either didn't know what he was talking about or Iogear is putting out junk with pretty packaging. I'm going to back Linksys.

I bought this kvm about a month ago and it seems to work quite well.
It is solidly built with a metal housing and plastic guards on the
sides to prevent scratching.

The catch is that the documentation is somewhat limited and
you must know your computer's limits.

The documentation doesn't mention it, but it looks to me like
the usb signal in the supplied cables is brought into the KVM
via the VGA connector. Hence you must use the supplied cables
and the green end must connect to the KVM switch.

Since usb is a serial signal, it is possible that you could
switch in the middle of the info from the mouse or keyboard
and really confuse your computers. It is best to NOT be
moving the mouse or using the keyboard when you switch.

My Mac also gets confused if I switch away from it while it
is booting up or shutting down. Since it does those two things
much faster than my PC, I wait. At the minimum the Mac gives
an error message about being unable to find a bluetooth mouse.
At the max it locks up. A little waiting is a small price to
pay for the reduced clutter and confusion of one keyboard and
screen.

Also, remember that you should attach external drives, including
flash drives, directly to the computer you use it with. Otherwise
your computers will warn you about disconnecting without properly
dismounting these usb devices when you switch. Actually if you are
just going to be attached for a short period of time, you can use
the switch's usb ports, but don't forget to dismount before you switch.
Switching with a usb printer and similar stuff seems to work fine,
as long as I am not in the middle of a print job.

Think before you switch and you should do ok. That should be
true for any KVM, as you are trying to keep your computers from
being confused by fragments of mouse and keyboard data, partially
finished print jobs, suddenly appearing and disappearing drives, etc.

I like the built in network hub as it has allowed me to transfer
data easily from the old to the new computer without yet another
box and attach both to a broadband connection via a single cable
to the router elsewhere in my house. This has allowed me the
luxury of switching to using my new computer one program at a time.

The extra usb ports on the front of the switch also allow me to
hang some usb cables to attach to whatever I want to download or
upload quickly. A convenient feature.

The switch has a mode where if you want to partially change focus
you just press a button for a short time, but if you want to
completely switch over, you hold the switch for a few seconds.
So if you bump a switch and things stop working as you expect,
just hold the correct switch and things will work out. I don't
intentionally use the partial switch feature, but have done so
accidentally. Best to position the switch so you don't bump the
buttons.

I've had it now for a couple of months. It does everything it says without fail. I love it.

My setup consists of 3 DELL computers with a DELL 2007FP monitor and USB Microsoft Natural 4000 Keyboard and optical mouse. This KVM switch works very well for me. Highly recommended.

Overall it's a very good product.
I just can't get to hear the sound of my second computer.
Therefore I still hear the sound of my first computer,
even when I am working on the second one.

We purchased a few in our technology group and never have issues. Way better than the Belkin models

I'm a professional developer & very familiar with commercial grade KVM's. Went looking for one for home use & was generally disappointed with what I found.

IOGear's DVI version didn't work for me. IOGear 4-Port DVI KVMP Switch with Audio and Cables GCS1764 and the offering from Belkin was complete junk. Belkin F1DG102U Flip 2-Port KVM Switch with Audio Support (USB Connection)

But I installed this guy and he works perfectly. Switches quickly, smart enough to convince a booting computer that there's a mouse & keyboard connected, smart enough to keep a switched off computer thinking that the mouse & kbd are *still* connected (i.e. no "Windows is searching for a driver for your new device" - it kicks in almost immediately!)

I was worried that the non-standard peripherals I use would confuse it - but they didn't. I'm running a Logitech G9x mouse & a smart keyboard with lots of extra buttons. Never a glitch, mouse & kbd extra functions function just fine.

Pretty cool feature-wise as well:

- cables are long enough that your computer doesn't have to be six inches from your desk
- even LONGER cables are available from IOGear if you really need the legroom
- the switches are well lighted & it's easy to tell which computer's got focus
- it switches audio & USB as well
- there are USB ports on the front where you can get to them easily
- switches your network connection as well. (although I prefer to use a router so that none of the computers lose connectivity as I switch back & forth)
- you even have the option of letting computer A use the kbd & monitor while B plays music through the speakers.

(okay, I rarely use that last feature and I don't like the fact that you have to hold the button down for a while to switch the speakers - small potatoes...)

Happy-Happy, Joy-Joy!

I have a Microsoft Wireless Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 (mouse & keyboard). The KVM has separate USB ports for mouse and keyboard. I suspect that the intermittent problems I experienced were due to having a single wireless transceiver for keyboard and mouse.

I've had one for over a year. It's been reliable.

However, I cannot boot one computer while using another. If I do, then after the computer boots it will not know which resolutions my monitor supports and will set the resolution to some much lower resolution. Since the resolution information (called "DCC") is exchanged during boot up, the problem is that the switch doesn't store my monitor's DCC information so it could be provided at boot-up.

Perhaps this is not a problem with all monitors and video cards, but it is with my 1680 by 1050 monitor and all the video cards in my four PCs.