KVM Switch Recommendation?

[Tech_E]

Hi all, I'm a little confused on what KVM switch to order...

I have 2 computers, 1 keyboard, 1 mouse, 1 audio system.
One computer is for web surfing only, the other is for gaming.
The monitor has both VGA and DVI cables, and both computers have VGA and DVI outputs.

Something less than $100 would be nice, I don't need anything fancy, just something thats easy for my wife to switch back to her computer.

Any ideas on what would work? Thanks!

 

[hollett]

For low cost 2 PC solutions I have used a number of Belkin KVM's with no problem. The site is here http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=275159
and is avalible from newegg, amazon etc. google shoping for F1DG102U

 

[Henry Chinaski]

There are many options:

From Dlink: http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=517 (Ps/2)
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=511 (USB)

From Conceptronic: http://www.conceptronic.net/Site/desktopdefault.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=212&cid=10&gid=1040&pid=CKVM2U (USB)
http://www.conceptronic.net/Site/desktopdefault.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=212&cid=10&gid=1040&pid=CKVM2P (PS/2)

 

[Tech_E]

Thanks for those links!

Just a question, does it matter if the DVI cable is not used? Won't I get a better signal if it's hooked up too?

 

[Henry Chinaski]

The DVI has a bit better quality than the D-sub15 (tipycal vga conector). Anyway, they are much more expensive. Here you have one: http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=404605.
I would go for the D-sub15.

 

[barrydpeters]

Thanks for those links!

Just a question, does it matter if the DVI cable is not used? Won't I get a better signal if it's hooked up too?

I'm jumping into the discussion a little late, but hopefully I can clarify some misconceptions I've picked up in this discussion.

1. The DVI is clearly better quality than the D-sub15. Spend the extra money on the cables and go with DVI. To put this in perspective, it's a little like hooking up your new LCD flatscreen TV to your cable converter or satellite box using composite cables instead of HDMI, just because the composite cables are cheaper! You spent the money to get a new monitor that is capable of delivering a high quality picture, so make sure you feed it the highest quality signal you have available, and that's DVI. (HDMI is also much better than D-sub15).

2. You only need one video connection to produce the desired signal in your monitor, either the DVI or the D-sub15. If you plug both in, you typically can use your monitor to select which one of the two inputs you want to view. (In this case, you will quickly see how much better DVI is than D-sub15!) To put the dual input topic in perspective, you're hooking up electronics, not plumbing, so simultaneously hooking up two video cables (DVI and D-sub15) from the same source will not "flow" more signal to the monitor--only one input source is necessary for a signal to appear in your monitor.