Review on IOGEAR 4 Port Switch Cables GCS1764 by Ian Iknokinok

I have two KVM IO Gear GCS1764 connected to three desktops and one laptop, two monitors, mouse and keyboard. These are Asus x2 do-it-yourself computers, Tyan do-it-yourself computers and an HP laptop. Monitors - HP LP2465 x2 with built-in USB hubs. Keyboard is Microsoft KB4000 and mouse is Logitech MX300. KVMs look good, are solid, and are reliable. In my experience, IOGear's warranty and customer support are excellent: a device broke during a move, and IOGear offered to service it up to three years later and asked a few questions about how it got damaged. I've been using KVM for about a year. or two, but I haven't tested all keyboard and mouse functions as I haven't downloaded specific drivers for them and prefer to run them with minimal drivers on my old Asus motherboards. I haven't checked the sound switching functions either. So what works? Switching between monitor, keyboard and mouse works well with both hotkeys and front panel switches. USB switching is reliable and works well with built-in USB hubs in HP monitors (no conflicts). . However, the speed drops to USB 1.1, which is hard to forgive considering USB3 is just around the corner. . USB sticks and portable hard drives connected to the USB ports on my monitors are noticeably slower when this KVM switch is connected to the loop. This product needs to be updated to improve USB performance. For USB 2.0 performance, I have an Avocent SwitchviewDVI that I've been using for 6 months to switch the monitor using the front panel buttons (this feature works well). Unfortunately, I have yet to hook up a USB port to it or test other Avocent features. So I can't tell if the USB switching works well or if it works at USB 2.0 speeds (as advertised). I hope to have experience with Avocent by next year and post a review of this product. UPDATE AUGUST 29, 2008. I've been working with the downloaded MS KB4000 keyboard drivers for a few months now and haven't encountered any conflicts with the IOGear switch. Also have some experience with the competing Avocent Switchview DVI. When I tried to use the Avocent switch to replace the IOGear switch I was using as the primary device (to switch Video 1 signals and also mouse and keyboard signals), the Avocent very quickly disabled the keyboard and the mouse, rendering the computer unusable. I reset the IOGear switch and everything was back to normal, albeit with USB 1.1 as the persistent speed limit. I can still successfully use the Avocent switch as a simple second DVI switch to route Video 2 signals from different computers. to my second HP 24" monitor. I haven't tried switching USB 2.0 peripherals with Avocent. IOGear has finally introduced several new products with USB 2.0 support. In particular, I'm excited to introduce the IOGear GCS1204 switch with a wealth of Specifications including USB 2.0 support to try. USB 3 is coming soon, remains to be seen if it's too little or too late again. Let's hope someone chimes in on the plate and set the switch up with USB 3s at the start of the next transition cycle -Support ready. Growth in the enthusiast KVM market is only possible if state-of-the-art products can be purchased. Of course, these products must also work well to give consumers confidence that this is a worthwhile purchase.