I have a couple of computers I use at my desk. Space is limited at my desk and I certainly don’t want to dick around with two sets of keyboards/mice, so I got a KVM. I bought the IOGEAR GCS632 because it works with USB peripherals (my USB wireless Microsoft Mouse and wired USB keyboard) and it got lots of good eggs on NewEgg.com. Everything was going pretty good until the day I needed a new keyboard.
First I tried using one of those sleek new Aluminum Apple keyboards, but since those don’t have a Scroll-Lock key (used to toggle which computer is active on the KVM) I had to research how to change the default toggle key on the KVM. Turns out there is in fact a “procedure” to do this so that you can use the CTRL key instead of the Scroll-Lock key. Problems with this “procedure”:
- It doesn’t work with the latest aluminum Apple keyboard.
- If toggle key is changed to CTRL using a PC keyboard, the toggling still won’t work using the aluminum keyboard left or right Control keys.
Since this model of KVM has no way to manually switch from one computer to the other, unless you’re using a supported PC USB keyboard, you’re stuck. So I figured I’d buy a nice PC keyboard at Fry’s electronics and just be done with it. Turns out most of the keyboards I liked were wireless but unfortunately the KVM does not work with a wireless keyboard. It works if you plug both the keyboard and mouse into the mouse port of the KVM using a USB hub, but if the keyboard wireless receiver is plugged into the keyboard port of the KVM toggling PC’s is a no-go.
In short: This KVM sucks unless you plan on using standard USB Keyboard. A KVM that has a manual Toggle button and doesn’t depend on a standard PC keyboard for toggling between computers is what I’ll be buying next.
Hope it helps someone else.