Iogear 4 PORT COMPACT PS/2 KVM SWITCH ( GCS614A )

Rating:
Summary: IOGEAR KVM plus MSFT ONE NOTE - A rocking combo !!!
Review: First, the device is flawless. It is a solid little piece of work that looks like I could throw it at the wall several times and it would still operate. I'm not going to do that-- it just looks and feels that solid.
What jazzed me up enough to write a review was a real world application - One Note from Microsoft. I am lucky enough to have it on the 3 computers that I use (SBS Server, desktop, laptop). One Note has a sharing feature that allows me to seamlessly move text, images, audio, and video between computers. For a long time I had messed with CLIPBOOK and other virtual clipboard managers but none worked as expected or advertised. I had given up the dream when it occurred to me that One Note had a collaborative aspect to it.
For anyone who's running a KVM like the GCS614A - One Note takes switching to a new level. It was great to network my machines with SBS and D-LINK hardware. It was great to recover the real estate on my desk hogged by all those monitors, keyboards, and mice with IOGEAR. But it is really great now that everyting comes together with One Note.

Rating:
Summary: Limited support for audio
Review: This is the second KVM switch I've owned. I was excited to have audio support. However, upon setup I found that audio response was very poor ~ next to no response from my subwoofer, and all low-end sound seemed to be filtered out. I emailed IOGEAR's support department and received the following response:
------------
Greetings,

Thank you for contacting us.

Subwoolfers are not supported by this KVM. It will only support a powered two speaker setup. We are changing the packaging to reflect this.

I apologize for any inconvenience.
------------

...very disappointing, as this not-so-minor detail is not mentioned anywhere on IOGEAR's website, not in the product brochure.

Aside from this drawback, the switch works as you'd expect. One minor gripe I have is that the hotkey sequence 'ctrl-alt-shift-#', where '#' corresponds to the computer you'd like to access, is kind of a pain. My previous KVM switch used a double-tap of the scroll lock key...which became second nature after using it for a while. I'm not sure why such a long hotkey combination is necessary. Granted, this is only a minor drawback. On the possitive side, setup was a no-brainer, and my Logitech wireless keyboards works perfectly (despite IOGEAR's warning that wireless keyboard and mice aren't fully supported).

Bottom line? If audio is important to you and you have more than two speakers, you'll definitely want to consider other options. If audio's not important, you may still be able to find a cheaper 4-port KVM swich which does not have audio integration.

Rating:
Summary: Limited support for audio
Review: This is the second KVM switch I've owned. I was excited to have audio support. However, upon setup I found that audio response was very poor ~ next to no response from my subwoofer, and all low-end sound seemed to be filtered out. I emailed IOGEAR's support department and received the following response:
------------
Greetings,

Thank you for contacting us.

Subwoolfers are not supported by this KVM. It will only support a powered two speaker setup. We are changing the packaging to reflect this.

I apologize for any inconvenience.
------------

...very disappointing, as this not-so-minor detail is not mentioned anywhere on IOGEAR's website, not in the product brochure.

Aside from this drawback, the switch works as you'd expect. One minor gripe I have is that the hotkey sequence 'ctrl-alt-shift-#', where '#' corresponds to the computer you'd like to access, is kind of a pain. My previous KVM switch used a double-tap of the scroll lock key...which became second nature after using it for a while. I'm not sure why such a long hotkey combination is necessary. Granted, this is only a minor drawback. On the possitive side, setup was a no-brainer, and my Logitech wireless keyboards works perfectly (despite IOGEAR's warning that wireless keyboard and mice aren't fully supported).

Bottom line? If audio is important to you and you have more than two speakers, you'll definitely want to consider other options. If audio's not important, you may still be able to find a cheaper 4-port KVM swich which does not have audio integration.