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Review on High-Performance 2 Port KVM Switch with DVI, Audio, USB 2.0 Hub - 1920x1200 Display/Screen - Includes DVI Cables by Mike Groover

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Good price, loud sound

I use this to split a screen between my main Mac and the Windows PC I use for gaming. The switcher with sound features was appealing as I want music, Skype etc from a Mac to be normal and I need to hear GLaDOS in all its caustic glory when playing Portal for the 87th time. Video and USB have been reliable so far. The sound works but is loud. One star deducted for a few minor annoyances: * Screen activity can be heard as noise in the audio. If nothing or only a faint sound is played and the screen is redrawn, you move the window, etc., you will hear a buzzing in the sound. It's not deafening, it's just annoying.* The transfer hotkey only works on Windows, not Mac. You have to press a physical button on your device to transfer from Mac to Windows, but you can double-tap the scroll button to switch from Win to Mac. This is mentioned in the manual as a known thing, but it's annoying. * Switching to a sleeping Windows computer will not wake it up, nor will keyboard or mouse activity. You must press the physical power button to wake up the system. Your Mac wakes up normally when you use the keyboard.* Computers need to be restarted during the initial setup. I connected it to my Mac just by moving the cables and the keyboard/mouse didn't work until I booted up the Mac. The manual says you can hot-swap cables, but also says you have to restart computers on first install, so I'm not sure how that works. I didn't try to move the cables after the initial install. Overall it works well for around 24 hours of use and is very good for the price. I can see if the audio cables can be shielded from the outside (foil has time!).

Cons
  • There are other interesting options.