Customer Reviews

Iogear MiniView Micro 2-port USB KVM with built-in cables (GCS52U)

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

 

 

As I write this in Mid-January of 04, there is little info available at Amazon's page for this item.

It is important that potential buyers know that this item is labled as a 'usb' kvm switch. What Iogear means by this is that you plug a monitor cable and a usb cable into each computer, then plug your monitor and PS2 mouse and keyboard into the kvm.
I bought this item supposing that I would be able to plug in my USB mouse and keyboard.

Otherwise this might be and excellent KVM switch. Unfortunately I had to put a rating on this review so I placed a 3 with my kvm UNOPENED as it does not suit my needs.

I hope this helps.

This product, in contrast to many other KVM switches, establishes the connectivity to both computers via USB and VGA cable. This is particulary interesting for notebook users since many notebooks do not offer two PS/2 ports (newer models have none, ie. Apple PB). Note, however, that the connection keyboard => switch and mouse => switch is via PS/2, so you need to have 2 USB => PS/2 adapters (often included when you buy a mouse or keyboard) for USB devices.

As promised this product works with Mac and PC. I share a monitor and a keyboard between a desktop PC (WinXP) and a Apple Powerbook (OS 10.3.1). The keyboard is a Logitech Cordless keyboard and works ok. My Logitech "Mini Optical Mouse" doesn't work through the switch. Logitech "Trackman Wheel" works just fine. So, you might end up not being able to use your favorite mouse.

Switching between the two computers is done by pushing the "scroll lock" key twice (I didn't know I have such a key...). The device is very small and easily disappears behind your desk.

I have a desktop and notebook that I use this product with so I can control both from my desktop monitor. The only issue I had was that I had a cordless keyboard and mouse and they didn't work very well with this product. Iogear's website says the product does not really work well with cordless keyboards and mice. After I switched to a corded keyboard and mouse it worked fine.

This is a nice KVM switch, very small, with built in cables, and relatively inexpensive. For many people, this would be a very good choice.

EXCEPT if you use a mouse with extra side-buttons or if you use one or the other of the computers for gaming. It may just be because it has PS2 inputs and not enough channels for the information, but the side buttons on my mouse don't work through this switch.

Also, the keyboard and mouse signals seem to be a little rough. This doesn't really have an effect in most computer use, but when gaming, at times holding down a key won't do anything. I have to repeatedly press the key to get it to register. It's very annoying.

There doesn't seem to be any problem with video. That looks fine.

This won't work for me, but it may work fine for others. Given that most of the alternatives are twice as expensive, it could be a good choice for many.

I bought this KVM for work in 2004 and have been using it ever since. Since then, I also bought one for home, a coworker bought one for work, and the office finally bought two more when the price went down by about 40%.

The KVM works great! I've used it on Windows 2000/XP machines, as well as Red Hat/Fedora Core Linux from RH7.3 to FC3. Usually I run it at 1280x1024 or lower resolution on a 19" LCD or CRT.

The main downside, as others have mentioned, is that it only supports three mouse buttons and the scroll wheel (the wheel "click" is the third mouse button). That means I can't play Halo with it because I lose my "melee" and "exchange weapon" mouse buttons. :'( I don't know if it supports the sideways scrolling on the new MS and Logitech mice with tilt wheels.

The other issue I have had with this KVM is that its PS/2 inputs are too close together. I cannot both a USB keyboard and USB mouse at the same time on this, because the two USB-to-PS/2 adapters won't fit side-by-side at the same time. Had the mouse and keyboard ports been spaced further apart or arranged one on top of the other instead of side-by-side, this would not be a problem.

One thing nobody else really mentions is that this KVM does not beep. That is a great thing, especially for the workplace. At the office we also have an 8-port IOGear KVM which beeps whenever you switch computers, and the noise can be very disruptive to others.

Everyone who uses two computers on a regular basis, or who troubleshoots computers, should have at least one of these things. They'll save you a lot of time and hassle.

Even with these two annoyances, I think the GCS52U is a fantastic product and I'm glad I bought mine. The new, lower price (since summer 2004) makes this an excellent bargain for anyone who's tired if crawling under the computer desk to swap cables.

Could only get to work intermittently with an older
Dell PC and a PowerMac G4. The keyboard would rarely
work when the PC was selected. Iogear, please go back
to the drawing board!

This has USB connections to computer but old-school round PC connections on the dongle end. converters do not work, you have to use the old keyboard and mouse with it.
If you can deal with that this device works better then other cable-only KVMs I have tried since that were all-USB.

Saves time and space. I use mine to connect to my desktop and server. No need to buy another monitor. This is a Great product and easy to install!