2 monitors, 1 laptop, 1 desktop and 2 KVM Switches - Need help hooking up

[skanknpunx]

I have a Desktop PC with a video card that has dual DVI-I ports. I have a laptop (in a docking station that has a VGA port and a DVI-D port. I have 2 KVM switches that have all VGA connections. I also have 2 VGA lcd monitors.

I need to be able to use the 2 monitors at the sametime with each PC, without haveing to move wires around when i want to switch between the PC and the Laptop. IS this possible to do with using 2 KVM switches?

My other question is, do those $5 DVI-D Male to VGA female adapters really work? I have a DVI-D female port on my Laptop and would need one of those adapters t connect the VGA monitor cord from the KVM switch to it. Thank all!

 

[Mondoman]

Normally, inexpensive KVM switches use keyboard key combinations to activate the switching function, and thus only a single KVM (connected to the single keyboard, and to the two computers) can be used at a time. This will only connect to a single video monitor, and won't work in your situation.

Here's what I do with a similar setup. I have two computers, each of which has graphics cards with dual monitor outputs. Each of my two video monitors has two video inputs (this is key for this solution to work).

I connect a single KVM to both computers' keyboard and mouse ports, and to my single keyboard and mouse; I use this to switch the keyboard/mouse input between the two computers.

Each computer's video card is connected to both monitors (4 cables total). For example:
computer 1 video output 1 to monitor 1 input 1
computer 1 video output 2 to monitor 2 input 1
computer 2 video outupt 1 to monitor 1 input 2
computer 2 video output 2 to monitor 2 input 2
Then, I use the video input selection button on each monitor to switch between the computer video feeds. Thus, to switch everything from computer 1 to computer 2, I press the KVM switch key sequence on the keyboard, and press the video input select buttons on each of the two monitors.

Yes, the DVI/VGA adapters should work fine, although you may notice a loss in signal quality at high resolutions (such as 1680x1050 and higher).