not all KVMs are equal

First I want to say I'm a 3d fx artist and animator, and I'm going to be working heavily in various high end softwares, so I need reliability and quality. That said, I'm also kinda broke, so I need something that won't break the bank. Less than $40 USD please. So that said...

...here's my setup: I've got a large monitor connected to my desktop, and I've recently purchased a tweaked out Compal Hel 80 laptop (love it!) So, what I'd like is a well priced, well made KVM switch that will let me use my keyboard, video, and mouse in a multi-monitor set up with the notebook/CRT and single monitor for the desktop. An audio switch would be nice too, but I can just route the laptop audio through my desktop line-in, so that's optional.

Most importantly:- it must have quality video, as I've heard some limit your refresh rates and resolution, or even produce ghosting effects between the 2 inputs.- work with a USB mouse converted to serial (I don't have a USB keyboard yet) with mouse wheel acting as middle mouse button
I've read reviews all over the place and I'm kind of leaning towards the Trendnet KVMs, but I've heard IOGear, dLink, and Bytecc all have decent models.

Anybody have any experience with this?