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1255 Review
29 Karma

Review on Avocent SwitchView DisplayPort Compliant SVM180DPH 400 by Tutcht Cobb

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Works well

This is my third KVM in about as many years. I was looking for a KVM that would work reliably with multiple monitors, HD and HDMI/DisplayPort resolutions. I've looked at KVM with DisplayPort Multistream Transport (MST) before, but that turned out to be very finicky and not supported by macOS. So I went for this KVM with true dual head support and so far I am very satisfied. I've connected it to a Windows 10 desktop and laptop, a Mac mini, and an Intel NUC running Fedora. This works for everyone. Switching is pretty quick, maybe a second or so. Other KVMs seemed to be slower, so I'm happy with this one. I connected both monitors via DisplayPort. Computers connect in different ways, some with two DisplayPorts and others with a DP and an HDMI. I was worried it wouldn't work, but everything works great. There are a few things to note when compared to other KVMs. It has USB independent switching function, i.e. switch KVM but keep the USB ports tied to a specific PC. This means that each computer needs two USB cables (one USB 1/2.0 for keyboard and mouse and one USB 3.0 for other peripherals). The only thing I'm a bit disappointed with is that the console's USB inputs are enabled. front and not back, so having that on the table looks a bit ugly. I keep my KVM out of sight and use keyboard hotkeys to switch inputs, so it doesn't matter. As with any KVM, quality video cables are a must, but I currently use several different brands of DP and HDMI cables with no problems, and none of them are super expensive, I've just avoided super cheap cables.

Pros
  • Computers and accessories
Cons
  • Ugly packaging