Recommend a "best" DVI or HDMI-capable KVM?

[BonzaiDuck]

Back when I made money for a living, I spent something like $280 a pop on two Belkin Omni-View 4-port PS/2 KVM switches. That was 20 years ago, and I'm still using one.

I have discovered for various reasons that the VGA connection or requirement for this KVM is a limiting factor for me.

I've visited this issue in recent past years, and I get the same ambivalent results now as I did then: customer-reviews on DVI-capable KVM switches seem lackluster.

I'm taking recommendations, and I"ll probably want to discuss those recommendations as I research or analyze them further.

I THINK I can get by with a 2-port KVM. Price rises linearly with the number of ports. But that's not so critical. Even so, I have two desktop monitors that I can deploy "differently." WHS can use less "direct access" with its cheap video card, and I can hook it up to a non-HD, VGA type monitor. But I want to get the DVI/HDMI/VGA-capable monitor hooked up to at least two computers using a new switch. A four port switch would let me work with just a single monitor, and I could dispense with the non-HDCP, non-HD LCD unit completely.

I want to be absolutely sure that the HDCP-compliant monitor continues to behave and perform as such if I insert a KVM switch into the mix.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think that you are looking in the wrong place. Look for "HDMI switchers". I've got a (passive?) 3-port unit that shipped from Monoprice for like $13. It works pretty well. Three inputs, one output. Three LEDs, and one button to switch between them.

True, I haven't tried watching a Blu-ray over the HDMI connection through the switch. So I can't vouch for HDCP capability. But for computer usage other than Blu-Ray, it functions just fine.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I think that you are looking in the wrong place. Look for "HDMI switchers". I've got a (passive?) 3-port unit that shipped from Monoprice for like $13. It works pretty well. Three inputs, one output. Three LEDs, and one button to switch between them.

True, I haven't tried watching a Blu-ray over the HDMI connection through the switch. So I can't vouch for HDCP capability. But for computer usage other than Blu-Ray, it functions just fine.

"Haven't tried" isn't conclusive to anything. If it is actually an HDMI switching device, it should be totally HDCP.

Since I want to have a single mouse and keyboard across three PCs, I'm assuming I could continue to use the Belkin for that, while using the HDMI "switcher" between the displays (and the Belkin disconnected from the monitor and PCs?)

This has piqued my interest. I'm still open to the more expensive KVM suggestions. Phase 0 -- "collect the information."

True, I've looked at these things before (but not the HDMI switchers.) But I already explained . . . the ambivalence . . .

 

[Arcanedeath]

Monoprice.com has a good 1x4 Hdmi switcher thats hdcp compliant, it's not Hdmi 2.0 though.

see here http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=4088&seq=1&format=2

edit: note this would be an easy way to keep the KVM you have and just use the Hdmi switch for video and it's cheap

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Those HDMI switchers have a wide price range.

I happened to find this one with a general web-search after looking at the Egg and coming away with "ambivalence."

Customer reviews look pretty rosy. It's small, it's "bi" -- it's "HDCP compliant."

But I think I came across one at the Egg or somewhere that was SUPPOSED to be HDCP compliant, but users argued that it wasn't. . . .

 

[mfenn]

IOGear makes a reasonably-priced dual-port HDMI/USB KVM with full HDCP compliance, the GCS62HU.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

IOGear makes a reasonably-priced dual-port HDMI/USB KVM with full HDCP compliance, the GCS62HU.

I came across another IOGEAR model with lackluster reviews, and can't say much more for this one. Like another make and model I saw at the Egg, there are problems with "mouse dropping out" on this one.

Do you have personal experience with it?

 

[mfenn]

I came across another IOGEAR model with lackluster reviews, and can't say much more for this one. Like another make and model I saw at the Egg, there are problems with "mouse dropping out" on this one.

Do you have personal experience with it?

Yes, works great for me. IMHO most KVM problems are due to bad cables or simple misunderstandings/misuse.

I won't claim that this is the "best" KVM out there because I have not personally tested all KVMs on the market, but it works for me.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Sorry! forgot to link this in at Post #5 -- to get some opinions:

http://www.amazon.com/Sewell-Direct-...hdcp+compliant

So like I said -- it's "Bi," HDCP-compliant, 4.5 *'s out of 5 with 300+ reviews.

I could see getting a single 18" HDMI cable to go between the device and the monitor, and two 6' or 2-meter cables between the PCs and the device. Hopefully, I could then just secure it on my desk near the monitor for easy access.