2 systems, 1 Monitor, keyboard & mouse..........HELP

[Mynzaboxer]

My new system PentIII, 1ghz(WinME) and my old system PentII, 350mhz(Win98) are cabled together so that I can move files from one place to another. I also had this done so that I could play older games (which cannot be played on the new system) on my old system. This is the only reason I have them set up this way. Something I overlooked .....in order to shut down my old system, play games on each, etc., I have to move the monitor , keyboard and mouse cables from one system to the other.

Someone told me that there is some sort of 'switch box' that I can plug the Monitor, keyboard and mouse into that will make it possible (by the use of a switch) to access one system or the other? My newer mouse uses a USB port. Is there such a piece of hardware available? If so what's it called and where's the best place to find one.

Sorry for the ignorance, but hey, I'm good at other things Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[ScottMac]

You're looking for a "KVM" switch (Keyboard, Video, Mouse).

You can get a completely rigged two port box for ~US$60.00 from a number of places on the web (Onvia, Buy.com, etc).

Good Luck

Scott

 

[Tallgeese]

<< Someone told me that there is some sort of 'switch box' that I can plug the Monitor, keyboard and mouse into that will make it possible (by the use of a switch) to access one system or the other? My newer mouse uses a USB port. Is there such a piece of hardware available? If so what's it called and where's the best place to find one. >>

What you describe is called a KVM switch. Some better known vendors are Rose, Belkin, and Avocent (my personal favorite, created from a merger of Apex and Cybex).

This type of device originated in server rooms and wiring closets, where every square inch costs BIG $$$, and most offering are high end, rack optimized solutions that are priced accordingly. However, in the last few years, KVM vendors finally realized what a large segment of customers they were ignoring by not offering low-end solutions for the SOHO and small shop markets, and started releasing lower cost products to meet these needs.

There are a few things to look out for:
* Check the operating and connection specs very carefully.
* Most KVM vendors are still working on implementing USB (it's proven to be a little hinky in multiple machine, shared setups), so the majority of KVM solutions are still PS/2 based.
* Some do not support wheel-mice AT ALL, especially the Intellimouse series from Microsoft.
* The switch should furnish and receive power from the PS/2 bus. This keeps the switch from introducting potentially motherboard-killing surges and spikes over the bus.
* Check the price of cable kits. Some vendors low-ball the intial price of the switch, only to gouge purchasers with exhorbitant pricing on proprietary cable kits.
* If you need support for any type of machine other than an x86 based PC (like a Sun or Mac) then you'll pay a good bit extra.

Hope this helps.

 

[mobly99]

There are KVM switches that will work for USB as well, but usually they are only PS2 (and video) ports or only USB (and video) ports - so either way you will probably need to get a ps2 to USB converter for the keyboard or a usb to PS2 converter for the mouse (it nay have came with one).

I have the linksys 4 port (PS2) KVM switch (which is OEM'd) which was pretty inexpensive and works ok.


here is a list of some USB KVM's

the nice thing about the usb models is that they usually let you switch additional usb devices (printer, scanner) as well. The cable for the video is the same between the PS2 and USB switches but the USB cable is just a standard USB A to B cable.

 

[Mynzaboxer]

Thanks for all the helpful info on this guys.....the cost sounds very reasonable.....I'll start looking