Header banner
Revain logoHome Page
Daniel Paige photo
1 Level
782 Review
55 Karma

Review on πŸ–₯️ StarTech.com 2 Port KVM Switch - Dual Monitor DVI/VGA with Audio, USB Hub - Efficient Screen Sharing (SV231DDVDUA) by Daniel Paige

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Looks great but has a few issues

Before purchasing StarView I was using a TRENDnet TK-409K switch. This switch worked great but couldn't handle DVI-D video so I bought this unit. Pros: The device looks very tidy on my desk. All cables exit out the back (unlike TRENDnet). The buttons are all in the front, which I like. The displays and buttons are well thought out. Cons: The DVI-D ports are so close together that I can't connect two StarTech DVI-I cables to adjacent ports. You would think a StarTech device would work with StarTech cables! Since only two of my computers use DVI, I was able to move the connections. One of my four Dell computers does not recognize the keyboard when I first turn on the computer. A message appears asking for a character before continuing (which I can't do since it doesn't recognize the keyboard I have connected to StarView). I solved this problem by getting a spare keyboard and leaving it permanently attached to this computer. I don't type on this keyboard but it makes the PC happy. Keyboard input on the StarView device has serious problems. Sometimes a character I know I typed falls out. Certain key combinations cause an endless stream of characters to be displayed. For example, the key combination Right-Alt-m (Right-Alt key combined with "m") sends Alt-m followed by "ddddd". The repeating characters continue until I press another key. I have reported this to StarTech Support. To my amazement, they didn't want to try the obnoxious key combination on any of their devices! Even though I had the same problem with 3 different keyboards and 4 different PCs, they insisted the problem was with my configuration! They told me that StarView used to have this problem, but that I had one of the units made after they fixed it. I solved the problem by plugging the keyboard into one of the regular USB ports. The keyboard now works fine, but does not support hotkeys. The only way to switch computers is to press one of the buttons on the front of the device.

Pros
  • Great for outdoor activities
Cons
  • 0