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835 Review
29 Karma

Review on CKLau 8 Port HDMI KVM Switch with 4Kx2K Support, USB 2.0 Hub, Keyboard Mouse Switching - Windows, Linux, Mac, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Raspberry Pi and Ubuntu Compatible by Mike Barnes

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Stupid switch, not smart.

This turned out to be a dumb switch, meaning it is equivalent to plugging and unplugging cables and allows connected computers and monitors to determine the appearance and disappearance of the smart switch . In contrast, the computer gives the impression that it still has everything connected to the same monitor, USB keyboard and mouse, even if the monitor is pointing to a different machine. The computer never sees the shutdown event when switching from kvm to another computer. The result of the stupid switch for those of us with an open laptop plugged into one of kvm's HDMI ports is that the laptop sees kvm when it's unplugged. The monitor disappears and all the windows and icons, control panels, etc. are stacked back onto a laptop screen. Depending on the operating system and the current wind direction, you _might_ regain some organization when you switch back to the kvm monitor. There seems to be an emulation of kvm's USB keyboard port and possibly kvm's mouse port (which I can't verify as this kvm interferes with the mouse when plugged into the kvm mouse port and does not pass clicks through to the computer) . I'm connecting Hover your mouse over the hub's switch port and it will appear and disappear as the hub switches between computers.

Pros
  • Stable test results
Cons
  • A newer model could have been chosen