Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (K33900US)

by Kensington

Product Details

ShareCentral Reference Guide [PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 8 x 3 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0014IUVQA
• Item model number: K33900US
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,343 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

No more plugging and unplugging computer devices. With the Kensington ShareCentral 2, two computers can share a printer, hard drive, scanner—any two USB devices—and switch between them with the touch of a button. With a small footprint and cable management, it fits seamlessly with your computing environment.

Sharing at Home
With different family members using different computers to access the same peripherals, sharing devices can be difficult. The ShareCentral 2 lets everyone access the printer or other device quickly and easily. By plugging in a USB cable to your computer you instantly have access to all the shared peripherals; truly plug-n-play.

Swapping Made Simple
To get access to a desired peripheral simply push the button associated with it. Color coded LEDs let the user know which computer is enabled.

Features Easily share access to USB devices between two computers-LED lights indicate which computer has access Gain instant access to your USB devices by plugging one USB cable into your computer Simply press a button to switch individual USB devices from one computer to another Both computers have direct access to the printer thanks to Automatic Printer Sharing Easy to set up and easy to use with no network required Eliminates cable clutter and is wall mountable Plug-n-play What’s Inside the Box ShareCentral 2 2 color-coded USB cables Cable holder Power adapter 2 spare keycaps Software CD Quick start guide

Technical Requirements

• PC and Mac compatible
• No software required for basic features
• Automatic Printer Sharing supported with included software and for computer running Windows XP or Windows Vista
• Two USB ports
• LED indicator lights

Product Description

Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works as advertised, September 23, 2008

By 

Michael Hopp (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (K33900US) (Personal Computers)

I bought this ShareCentral 2 to share a keyboard and mouse between two computers. In short, the device delivers. You plug everything in and it works, without need to install any software. Switching control between computers is easy, just press a button on top of the device.

I have purchased a couple devices from Belkin and others in the last few years that promised USB switching capability, but none of them worked all that well, so I'm happy to see something finally accomplish this.

Note that, as the other reviewer indicates, the documentation is pretty worthless and there is nothing more detailed online. All it really includes is a setup diagram. The diagram is sufficient to connect everything, but includes a step where you place the included CD in your computer's drive. And then you do nothing with that CD and do not need--what? Just ignore the CD and you'll be fine.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Product and Very Good Price, July 1, 2010

By 

TheFunnyOne (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (K33900US) (Personal Computers)

I bought this device a few weeks ago to share my keyboard and mouse among two computers (one desktop and one laptop). The device works very well and I have not had a single problem. It even works with a USB hub!! How cool is that!

I bought the device for $8.50 on Amazon which I think is really a bargain. What I really don't get is why the 1 port USB share (Kensington ShareCentral 1 for USB Device Sharing (K33903US)) is more expensive than this one, which shares 2 USB ports. Anyways, after using it for a few weeks, I like the device so much that I bought another three. I don't really need that many myself but I'm sure my siblings' families will love this device for their home. I mean, who doesn't have more than one computer these days.

There are few things I want to bring to your attention before you consider buying this device:

1) Switching Scheme

Initially, I was a little confused on the nature of the sharing scheme. This devices shares USB devices, NOT computers. I originally thought the two buttons are for Computer 1 and Computer 2. But actually, it's for USB device 1 and USB device 2.

How is that different you might ask. Well, when I plugged my keyboard and mouse in to the two shared ports, I pressed the first button thinking that both keyboard and mouse will work on Computer 2. But in actual fact, only the keyboard switched to Computer 2, the mouse is still on Computer 1. This is because the button is for switching the shared device (Device 1, which in my case is just the keyboard). So if I want to switch BOTH keyboard and mouse, I have to press both buttons once to switch both devices to the alternate computer.

I can see how this works better for peripherals such as printers and scanners where if you just press the printer icon, it will switch the printer; if you press the scanner icon, it will switch the scanner. However, this is a pain for sharing keyboard and mouse since every time I want to switch, I have to press two buttons!! Yup, I'm just that lazy ...

Thankfully, my keyboard is also a two port USB hub (which is standard now on most keyboards) so I plugged my mouse to the keyboard and keyboard to the USB share unit so I only have to press one button (i.e. the keyboard share button) to switch both devices. Pain free!

Oh, I should also mention that I use a PC (Windows 7 on Dells).


2) Magnetic Icons

If you are NOT sharing printers and external hard drives like me, you can take the default icons off very easily! The icons are magnetic, NOT stinky stickers. You can take them off and put different icons on in a flash while not leaving any sticky residues. I think this design is awesome!! Well done Kensington!

3) Switching Latency

There is a small delay when you do the switch (about ~2 sec). I'm a trigger happy guy and 2 sec seemed like eternity. I expected things to work as soon as I press the button, but this is not the case for this device. Therefore, you can't play CounterStrike and also MSN at the same time using two different computers because it just can't switch back and forth that fast...

4) Manual Override

There is an auto/manual button at the bottom of the device. So if you set it to auto, it will automatically switch between two computers (if one of the computer is turned off, or un-powered like in hibernation mode). This is a useful feature but I like mine set on manual. It's sorta like buying a car with tip-tronic transmission. It's just good to know that you have an option to go both ways.

5) USB Cable Length

One of the USB cable is fairly short (I think it's the orange one). It works out for my laptop/desktop configuration but I imagine it would be a problem if you have two desktops that are located at opposite edges of a large table, the short USB cable will NOT reach. However, USB cables are fairly cheap (~50 cents) so I don't really see this as an issue and I think most people nowadays probably do have a laptop and a desktop so it may not be a big deal.

6) Cable Organizer

The cable organizer is utterly useless! It is provided in the package as an add-on but I think Kensington should just not include that in the package and reduce plastic waste. I mean, really, most people run their cable at the back of their monitor so what's the point of having a cable sorter on the side of the device???

7) Weight

I consider the device having a near perfect weight. It is not too heavy to carry around when I need to. It's also not lite enough that if you fiddle with the cables at the back, the cable moves the position of the box on the desk.

8) Color

It is dark in color. Like the picture shown it is dark-dark gray, which matches very well with my computer systems but I can see this may be a problem for Mac users since most Macs are either silver or white.

9) Size

It is not the smallest USB switch I saw while shopping but I think the size is not too big to fit on my desk.

10) Price

The price is just unbeatable. Just do a search on USB share and you'll see what I mean. Similar devices costs around than $20 if not more.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars works as advertised and now even cheaper!, February 15, 2010

By 

***** "dubolex" (Fairfax, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (K33900US) (Personal Computers)

I bought this so I could share a printer with one other.
Once you install the software on both computers and the
"mutual" usb device is hooked up, then you are on your way.
Works well for me, just click on the button that corresponds
to the computer you are using. I can't find any real fault
in this so it gets all 5 stars. It's not perfect but like
my title suggests, it works as advertised and now it's only
$10. Consider that since I paid $40 for this last year.