KVM Switch for Mac PC

[michaelk7]

Does someone have a decent KVM switch they have found or using one they would reccomend. It will be used between a Dell and an Apple. I was not happy with the Belkin as it didn't allow me to use the Apple keyboard between the PC and Mac. Past experiences with the Belkin has led me to believe it would be easier to shuffle the keyboard and mouse each time and have just a DVI monitor switch for the monitor.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Michael

 

[Fogtownrog]

i use the Belkin USB KVM connected to my mac mini and dell PC and it seems to work just fine with the exception that when using mac mini, sometimes the caps lock feature on the keyboard malfunctions and starts typing caps without pressing the caps lock key. A little banging on the keyboard corrects the problem.

I also had trouble with the monitor connection to the mac mini, where the image on the screen became wavy...but after some pulling on the cables the problem corrects itself.

I think the answer is to dump the pc!

 

[thendis]

I've been looking into it just today. Got very put off by the Belkin when I read these reviews:

http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/72680/rpem/ccd/productDetailReview.do

almost *everyone* said it died after a month, which is pretty bad. Of course, maybe it's just that only the customers with bad experiences bothered posting reviews, and the perhaps thousands of happy customers didn't.

The fact that it is available at Apple Store should indicate that it's pretty decent. AppleStore don't tend to sell things they don't believe in.

I don't know much about the technology, so let me get this straight: If I bought this thing, I could put my PC tower alongside my iMac G5 and switch between MacOS and Windows using the same monitor and keyboard? Does it use USB, coz my PC only has USB 1.0.

Sounds like a fantastic solution for me, because half my office space is wasted with a PC I rarely use. Would be great to consolidate my Mac and PC onto one desk.

I just want to be certain it works the way I think it does

 

[lazytiger]

so let me get this straight: If I bought this thing, I could put my PC tower alongside my iMac G5 and switch between MacOS and Windows using the same monitor and keyboard?

A KVM switch isn't going to work with an iMac because there's no way to pipe in an external video source. However, there is a way to control your PC remotely through your Mac. That might be a better solution for you. Check it out:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=remotedesktopclient

One big caveat though - you have to be running a version of Windows that allows remote desktop connections. That means Windows XP Professional, as it's pretty unlikely you're running a Windows server. XP Home or any older version of Windows won't work, at least not easily.