Customer Reviews

Kensington ShareCentral 5 for USB Device Sharing (K33901US)

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

 

 

I asked for and got a Kensington Sharecentral 5 for Christmas, and I've enjoyed using it every day. It has worked flawlessly just as in the product description. Its sturdy, well made. Truth be told, its really a super duper powered USB hub with the built in feature of being able to switch periperherals between two computers. I previously used several traditional powered 4-7 slot USB hubs purchased here on Amazon, but I had the same two common problems:
(1) when I plugged in more than three peripherals, the hubs would constantly shut down and start back up ever 5 minutes
(2)they were thinly made and the power cord would never stay connected (e.g. cheaply made).
The Kensington5 doesn't have these problems. I've connected peripherals to all the slots and it has handled all the peripheral combos I've needed. And the power connector stays connected - just like the cord on a well-made appliance.

And just so you know, if you have a USB powered drive that draws significant power, they work fine with the Kensington5. I've got both a LaCie and a Signature Mini portable drive connected to it right now, and it keeps both powered with no problems so far.

I noted two folks here seemed to have problems with computers not waking up properly, or having to unplug cables to get things going. I can just tell you I've had none of those problems. I also don't use the "automotic" switching mode which seemed to cause problems for one reviewer. I just use the manual mode - meaning when I want to use peripherals on a computer, I just have to push the buttons which takes all of 10 seconds. That may be a reason for the problems in computers freezing when they start up - the interface with the automatic detection mode (where the Kensington5 automatically "detects" which computer you're useing) may be finicky. Just use the manual mode - its a breeze. There's a switch on the bottom of the unit that lets you choose automatic or manual mode - easy to set.

FYI: I'm running Windows XP on all my computers. I use the Kensington5 to share multiple desktop hard drives (4) and a printer between my desktop unit and my laptop. I head up an environmental consultancy, so I'm no computer tech person. It took all of 10 minutes from the time I opened the box to the time I had the software installed on both computers and had the Kensington all connected and working. And I'm not the most patient guy in setting up tech hardware, so I can do it, anyone can.

Lastly, if you travel for work like I do, the Kensington5 (and I'd expect the Kensington1 and 2 models) are easy to carry along as portable powered USB hubs. I bought an extra unit and carry it in my computer case when I'm away from home for more than a day - I can set it up to connect a keyboard, mouse, and external hard drive, and flash drive in a hotel room. I prefer using an external powered USB hub vs. connecting all those peripherals to my laptop since it does not pull any power from the laptop and thus it does not heat up. I've bought 4-5 external USB hubs I now don't use because they seem to not be able to handle the work - they're all in a box in my closet now. I've replaced them with Kensington units.

Hope my comments help. I've benefited from many of the reviews here on Amazon, so I thought I'd do my part and share what I've learned about what I think is a good product.

I bought this because I have a Macbook Pro and an older Dell PC and wanted to share a mouse and keyboard without unplugging them all the time. I was a little concerned because I have a merc stealth keyboard and a logitech g5 mouse and wasn't sure how well that would work, especially since my older PC only has one USB port left that can recognize my mouse. It works better than I expected. My devices are instantly recognized when switching back and forth, and my keyboard doesn't even reset it's backlighting like it did when I had to unplug it before. I also didn't realize when I bought it that there are five USB ports. One of the four buttons controls 2 USB ports, so you only have to use one button to switch a keyboard and a mouse. Brilliant. I should mention that the orange LEDs are big and very bright, which took a little getting used to.

New customers should complain to Kensington directly. I was very disappointed to hear from Kensington's overseas tech support today that this product is discontinued and has no Windows 7 support. I always saw Kensington as a good company with long warranties and quality products. I suggest other customers complain about this directly to them as this product is being sold as new on their website and other etailers. Also experienced some Mac crashes when trying to switch (however due to lack of windows 7 support I cannot switch devices between computers anyhow. If it supports Vista, I dont know why they wouldnt support Windows 7 since the Windows 7 is basically an thinned out Vista. Trying to use this with Snow Leopard and Windows 7. If anyone has had any such luck please post about it.

i was looking to hookup 1 printer and 1 keyboard and mouse to 2 computers for a long time.
then i read about this product and was impressed. i bought one and am very happy with it. just plug in what you need and go.
perfect.

I'm using a Sharecentral 5 mainly to share a keyboard and mouse between a PC and an iMac. Works just fine (no rebooting nonsense that other reviewer referred to). Also sharing a laser printer between machines and the device automatically switches between the two. I am very pleased (so far, so good!)

Have been using this for a couple of months. I agree with the previous reviewer that it work 70% of the time. It really depends on the weather. There are some device that will not switch over with window 7 but is fine with XP. To work around this, I bought a USB hub and connect to one of the ports and then connect the device into the hub. Strangely it work that way + u get another 3 extra ports.

Hope this help.

Item works as advertised. Allows one to share 5 usb products fluidly between two systems. Switching from one system to another is done by pressing one of the keys, one thing I noticed though is that you may have to keep your finger on the key until it switches (just pressing it and releasing may not always work)
Item arrived on time and in one piece. Kudos to Amazon "again" for "gittin my stuff to me"

When I saw this product, I wondered why it hadn't been done before. It goes way beyond the A/B switch. I use this to switch between my work and personal computers--no more plugging and plugging my printer, scanner, keyboard/mouse, and external hard drive--what a concept! In fact, I plugged another hub into the external hard drive slot and have peripherals (including my external hard drive and memory stick) on that hub, in essence adding slots to the ShareCentral 5, and it works perfectly!

Set up was a breeze. The pictures guided me through the process--I didn't have to read any technical jargon; I'm a bit technologically challenged, so I appreciated the pictorial guide. Even the box has pictures to identify peripherals so there is no confusion as to the button one is pressing. It also has worked flawlessly for me--I have been able to switch between computers with the press of a button.

If I had a complaint, the only think that comes to mind is that it doesn't really reduced the number of cords, only having to switch them around--but it's well worth the trade off. Thank you Kensington for this great product--it's the best addition to my home office since the computer!

I was a little apprehensive about purchasing this product after seeing some of the other reviews but it was on special and had a rebate as well so the price was low enough that it was worth the risk.

The problem I needed to solve was sharing two printers and possibly a scanner between two different PCs. After several days of use, it appears to work perfectly for this purpose. No more plugging and unplugging USB cables to use the printer.

Pros:
1. The two additional USB cables to connect it up are included.
2. The LEDs indicating which way each device is connected are quite bright.
3. It works as advertised for the purpose I tried (connecting printers and scanners to two computers).

Cons:
1. The included USB cables are fairly short, I had to swap around with a longer cable in one case.
2. The visual indication of the LEDs (to show which computer is connected to a given device) is very poorly designed and not at all intuitive. I added a couple of printed labels with the numbers 1 and 2 on them to make it clearer.

I did not test it for the purpose of connecting keyboard and mouse to multiple computers as several other reviewers tried (with problems). It works fine for the printer sharing that I needed and at a very steep discount I'm happy with it.

I just bought this from my local Fry's while it's on sale for $7.99 after rebate.
Setup takes only a few minutes.

I am VERY thrilled how easy it was to setup this device and connect other USB devices to it.
It is now connecting 1 Brother MFC-7340 to 2 PCs - my wife was screaming that she was not able to print to the new printer I just purchased. I also hook up one 4-port USB hub to it. The hub has four external USB HDD drives connect to it.
Both my PCs recognize the MFC and the drives without any problems and all functions are available to both PC when the user switch it over.

The only issue is that Kensington Share Central will automatically switch all devices when a PC boots up. Therefore, it forces the user to manually switch it back if he/she want to use the connected devices. This issue can become a huge problem if a file is being copied/moved or an important operation is interrupted. Kensington really should fix the firmware in the device to prevent this from happening.
It is a little bulkier than I would like it.

Overall, it's a great device to share USB devices between two computers in close proximity.