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Belkin OmniView SOHO Series 4-Port KVM Switch with Audio

Belkin OmniView SOHO Series 4-Port KVM Switch with Audio

List Price:
Your Price: $133.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DVI version sucks
Review: cable won't fit

Power supply cable covers other connectors

mouse does not not work

includes flash update cable but web site has no flash images

If you don't plug a keyboard into it sits there and just beeps

What idiot designed this trash.


Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This one is ok
Review: I agree with the other reviewer...so backing them up might help other people looking for a kvm switch. I originally bought the 2 port belkin soho from Best Buy (mistake...cost [amt]). So you can imagine my delight when I found the 4 port for less money. Errr...well I love the exterior...unfortunately I think the 2 port had better audio quality and managed cables much better. In all if I had it my way I wouldn't have acquired 3 machines and stuck with the 2 port, much better execution on the part of belkin. However that being said I am the type of person that would take the belkin simply for the aesthetic appeal (it looks much better than the clumsy linksys or plain looking iogear)...and since I only have 1 workstation and 2 servers I decided to simply bypass the audio switching and input my speakers directly to my sound card. BUT remember you have to buy all of the cables, @[amt]a pop...you do the math.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It's OK if you only need 2 ports.
Review: I bought it to use with 3 computers. However Belkin does not sell a CHEAP all in one cable for this product. It costs 30 bucks for one, AT LEAST. And by the time you use different cables, everything is REALLY messy. Also the worst problem is that it says it can support 4 computers, which it can, but you can only put on the sheath when you use only 2. I emailed Belkin and they said that they use the same casing for the 2 port as they do for the 4 port. So it really looks messy. The item itself works flawlessly, but I shelled out the extra bucks so the sheath would cover all the ugly cables. I don't reccommend this product unless you are going to use 2 ports, or you don't mind the messy cables without the sheath.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Solid KVM Switch With Audio
Review: I bought this over a year ago, and am very pleased with it.

It was easy to set up, and works well with all my Windows XP Pro boxes. Switching between PCs is fast enough, with only about a second delay (typical of KVMs in general) to restore the mouse pointer. Once locked to a particular PC, the KVM is very stable. I've had no problems with either the video display or keyboard/mouse functionality on any of my Windows-based systems and can play games as well as perform all normal office-type tasks with no noticable performance degradation.

The only issue I have is with losing mouse control when switching to my Red Hat 9.0 server running X (not a big deal since I primarily access the terminal from the command line on remote anyway). There is no issue when I boot up the Linux box and use the KVM without switching to another workstation. I suspect the problem may be fixable, but it has never been enough of an issue for me to pursue it, given my needs.

The unit has the unique ability to support stereo audio as well as firmware upgrades. In addition, the cable management is cleverly built in to the sleek housing as opposed to completely exposed as in most square footprint KVMs, thus saving a small amount of desktop space.

Overall, in my experience, the Omniview has been a good KVM for the money.

Pros:

Supports Audio switching
Unique cable management design
Supports most common and higher-end video resolutions
No noticable performance loss with games or everyday tasks
Upgradable firmware

Cons:

Sketchy support for non-Windows OSes (though I haven't yet upgraded the firmware)
Does not support 5.1 channel audio
Requires specific type of KVM cable (male male)
cable management design can be limiting

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Doesn't work with Linux!
Review: I have an older Omnicube and had attached two linux boxes, one solaris box and one windows box. I needed another KVM and liked the audio component on this device. I also had good results with my old Omnicube, so I decided to get this one. Unfortunately, this device does not work correctly with linux! With one RH linux box and one windows box, everything is peachy; however as soon as you add the second linux box onto this KVM, the mouse goes haywire. I have tried changing mice, switching ports, going between USB and PS/2, and different cables. I finally called Belkin and was told there was one TID for linux and it involved changing the XF86Config to use the PS/2 protocol instead of IMPS/2. Well I tried that and as soon as I restarted X, the mouse went haywire again. I have never returned anything mail order because of the hassle, but this device is useless to me so it is going back!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Doesn't work with Linux!
Review: I have an older Omnicube and had attached two linux boxes, one solaris box and one windows box. I needed another KVM and liked the audio component on this device. I also had good results with my old Omnicube, so I decided to get this one. Unfortunately, this device does not work correctly with linux! With one RH linux box and one windows box, everything is peachy; however as soon as you add the second linux box onto this KVM, the mouse goes haywire. I have tried changing mice, switching ports, going between USB and PS/2, and different cables. I finally called Belkin and was told there was one TID for linux and it involved changing the XF86Config to use the PS/2 protocol instead of IMPS/2. Well I tried that and as soon as I restarted X, the mouse went haywire again. I have never returned anything mail order because of the hassle, but this device is useless to me so it is going back!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: So far very good.
Review: I have had this product for about two weeks. It works well. My monitor setting seemed to need to be adjusted for a fall off in brightness. I'm uncertain whether this is the KVM's fault or my imagination.

The first time the switch connects in a session the connection takes a little longer. Once the connection is made switching is pretty fast. Sound seems fine but I'm no audiophile so I'm just endorsing that the general system sounds and game effects come through. I don't use a mic yet so no comment there.

No cables come with the unit. Cables can be expensive. I found cable sets for this unit using froogle. I paid about 14 a set. There are "all in one" cables available too. They are quite a bit pricier around 30.

If I'd do anything different it probably would be to get a unit that can switch from the keyboard. Those are OSD switches for On Screen Display. Fortunately for me, it's no biggie. By the way, I was worried about the USB wiring setup because I didn't know if one USB port would handle both the keyboard and mouse. It does. So, when you buy a set of cables you can save a cable by using USB if your computer has one available working USB port.

I'd recommend this product as long as people realize you have to hit the external switch on the device, you may experience a slight fall off in monitor brightness, and you have to buy cable sets for each computer to work with the device.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Nice, but . . .
Review: I have used this KVM switch for a couple of months, and it has great features, especially the switching of mic and audio out. It does have one nasty habit, though. It will sometimes just forget what it is and what it's connected to. At these times, one of the connection lights will flash, but none of the four buttons to select any of the machines will work, and any machines booted during this period will not "see" the keyboard or mouse. I don't have a standard method for correcting the problem, but if you randomly unplug and replug various keyboard and mouse connectors, it will re-sync and continue to work until the next time. Note: This only happens when all four machines are not in use and then one or more are started up.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What a pile of junk. I wish they had 0 stars.
Review: I'm done using Belkin. I have two of these "SOHO USB" units, and they both display similar problems: Certain machines won't boot past POST when attached, keyboard and mouse randomly fail to work on boot, video loads in wrong resolution unless you set KVM focus on the booting machine clear through to when your OS boots into the GUI. One of my configurations requires me to keep mice attached to the machines directly -- if I attach them to the KVM the machines lock on boot. I just picked up the 4-port Belkin "Pro2" (thinking I'm getting what I pay for with the SOHO model), and it's even worse! I can boot successfully (on three different systems) perhaps one out of every 8 tries.

Finally, on a recommendation from our IT dept., I tried the IOGear Ultra. I attached three different machines (including one Sun box), and everything booted up without a hitch! I'm done tearing my hair out over Belkin's quirks. If you run into similar problems once you pick up a Belkin model, I'd suggest you give IOGear a try. It opened my eyes.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Rip Off!
Review: I'm evaluating the DVI version. The cables are sold seperately, so what's the point to buy a KVM without cables?!?

Lastly, hearing the problems doesn't surprise me, as working with the two port version, I had some problems where computers becames unresponsive.


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