Belkin 4port Omniview USB KVM Switch

Rating:
Summary: Just a warning from an experience with the DVI version
Review: I'm extremely unhappy with the Belkin OmniView SOHO Series 4-Port KVM DVI Switch with Audio. I'm sure most of this applies for the VGA version

1) It is nearly impossible to connect a cable to the console DVI Connector. Belkin had to overnight a special extender to connect the monitor DVI cable to the KVM.
2) Connecting the Power Adapter to the KVM blocks one of the peripheral USB ports.
3) It's absolutely impossible to put on the cover (i.e. cable management cover) if you connect the four (Belkin) cables to it.
4) Connecting only two PCs with a resolution of 1600x1200 to the KVM resulted in green shadows for one connection. (both NVidia cards GeForce 4 (4200 series) and a Geforce 5 (5200 series)
5) The Microsoft Wireless Keyboard doesn't work as stated in the manual. I did manage to plug in the wireless dongle connector to the USB mouse port on the KVM but now I can't use the hotkeys to switch between computers. Belkin has also indicated that wireless keyboards don't always work as stated in the manual

6) There isn't a FAQ or software/firmware upgrade listed for this device. I would recommend checking out the belkin support pages or lack there of.

Rating:
Summary: If you're patient, it will kind of work
Review: This is my review for the Belkin 4-port USB/Audio/VGA KVM. I share with you the following experiences and tips.

First, you can't NOT plug in a USB keyboard without the unit beeping incessantly. However, if you have a wireless keyboard/mouse combo that has a single USB dongle on the receiver, you have to plug it into the mouse USB port on the KVM to use the both the wireless mouse AND keyboard. Which causes the no keyboard beep. Which will drive you nuts.

I spent approx. 2 hours trying to update the firmware to a NO KEYBOARD BEEP revision available from Belkin. It requires enabling a parallel port in your BIOS, making sure to set the BIOS port to NORMAL as opposed to ECP, EPP, BI-DIRECTIONAL, etc. This is NOT documented, from what I could tell.

Additionally, Belkin recommends running a firmware driver fix for Win2K and WinXP machines prior to the firmware flash, as the firmware updater won't recognize the parallel port properly without the driver update. A friend also noted that you should to run the updater in compatibility mode (Win98) in WinXP and Win2K.

The firmware update took about 5-10 minutes. After the update, you're asked to disconnect ALL cables from the unit to get it to reset. ALL CABLES MUST BE REMOVED -- POWER INCLUDED. Be prepared for it to beep again when it resets. I honestly thought the firmware flash had not worked when I heard it.

I read online that this KVM DOES NOT WORK WITH DOCKING STATIONS, which is why I bought the unit for use with my desktop and a Dell laptop/port replicator. Thankfully, it DID WORK, and I was able to switch from desktop to laptop/docking station without too much trouble.

Sometimes, when the USB is switching, the computer that I'm going to can't reinitialize the USB device and WinXP throws a minor error. I just go back and forth for a second to get it to re-initialize. Try switching to an empty KVM channel if you need to.

I'm wary of using the KVM's built in USB hub (2-port) because of this USB switching issue. I had planned on connecting a USB hard drive between the two computers, but I'm concerned that I would (a) lose data or (b) damage the hard drive switching back and forth between the two computers, particularly if USB switching doesn't always work.

So far, I've used it while playing hi-res games on my desktop which hasn't caused additional problems like video or USB bandwidth issues. Good luck with your purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Poor quality product
Review: While this KVM works great with USB mice, it has terrible support for USB keyboards.

I have one of these at work and I've had nothing but problems. It will randomly type 77777777777 or something when I hit the shift key. The shift key randomly gets stuck for no aparent reason when I'm selecting text. Everytime I press CTRL-ALT-DEL to log onto a computer after switching to it, I am unable to type anything for over a minute unless I press a bunch of the shift keys to 'unstick' them. The problem is, the USB KVM switch is RE-INTERPRETTING the USB keyboard signal so that it can trap the Scoll-Lock key (used for switching). This is totally unacceptable because it also breaks the functionality if you have an enhanced keyboard like the kind from logitech which has many additional keys (volume, scroll wheel, etc).

This device would have been MUCH better if it simply acted like a disconnect/reconnect of the USB cable (which is perfectly fine) for the keyboard.

I'll wait awhile until USB-DVI-KVM switches mature before purchasing one for home use.