IOGEAR 4-Port USB KVM Switch with Cables and Remote GCS24U, Black

I bought the 4-port version and have it connected to my main (rarely goes anywhere) HP laptop, a Dell desktop, and an old IBM thinkpad, all running Win7. I liked the included cables, and the biggest challenge was figuring which USB slot on the switch corresponded with which cable if I only were to use one (i.e. not a problem at all). My mouse/keyboard are on one shared transmitter, and it works fine. Some have asked about the switching time, and it is only the time it takes your computer to jump from single to double monitor mode -- usually under a second or so. Note if your computer goes to sleep mode, there can be a significant delay in getting things to wake up and recognize the added display. If the machines are "awake," the switch toggles through them just fine. Since I have 3 brands of PCs ranging in age from 2014 to as far back as 2007 (the thinkpad) this seems to vary by PC/video card. Oddly, the new 2014 Dell seems the most twitchy. I often have to remind the PC when waking up that the added KVM display is more than XGA -- and this isn't an issue with the HP laptop nor the Thinkpad, so there's something internal to the Dell's controller (or a setting I'll look into). I also like the fact that this supports "Max resolution 2048x1536" and my shared monitor is >HD resolution -- 1900x1200, and the switch handles it fine. Last thing: because I only am using one USB on the switch for the shared mouse and keyboard, I'd hoped to use the second plug for an external USB drive. The spare USB on the KVM *will* support an external, *powered* USB hard drive (I tried a portable, and there's not enough juice to run the non-powered drive), BUT, two of my older laptops couldn't recognize this connection. Even though they both can work with the tested drives, it "failed to install drivers" when going through the KVM switch. It worked with my newer PC, but not the older laptops. I don't blame the Iogear KVM for this, of course, and this was a "nice to have" but not a necessary feature for my setup, so I am quite pleased overall.

So far, this device is working very nicely. I've been building a streaming studio, and this is coming in very handy for eliminating keyboard clutter in the studio. With this device, I'm able to switch between multiple computers, with just one keyboard, mouse, and monitor. However, I don't use the VGA component, since all my systems are independent, yet must be visible at all times. So, I just use the USB portion of the device. My only gripes are that the cable for the remote is so thin, I'm afraid it might get damaged under constant wear, and tear, and that it would've been even better had the device indicator LEDs been on the remote, rather than on the very part of the cable system which is now tucked away, behind monitors, where it belongs. My only concern is that by adding cable length to USB devices, signal strength could degrade a bit, but I've not noticed any problems with just a keyboard, and mouse. I've not tried using the device for data transferring devices like USB drives, SD cards, or removable drives. Frankly, I'd seriously stick to directly connecting those types of devices just to be safe. Other than that, the rest of the cabling seems fairly durable, and tough enough to do what needs to be done in a studio. I wish I'd gotten one of these a long time ago. Now, it's easy to switch between the streaming PC, chat monitoring PC, and gaming PC with but a press of a button.

I bought this unit to replace an aging Belkin PS/2 4 Port KVM which still worked well but PS/2 is going the way of the Dinosaurs and finding keyboards and mice to use with it is becoming more and more difficult. I found the installation to be quite simple as the cabling is attached. Simply plug your monitor, mouse and keyboard into it and then plug one of its cable sets into each of your machines and you are good to go. No fuss, no muss. Now for the "buts:" My first issue is the cable length. They are 4' I would have liked to have seen 6' The wire for the control button seems extremely flimsy. And the biggest ding is the fact that there is no keyboard shortcut to change machines. That can be a bit of a PITA. This is doubly concerning given the flimsiness of the controller wire. If that wire does fail the thing basically becomes a paperweight. However, I knew 2 of 3 of these things (Cable length and lack of keyboard shortcut) going in and these were accepted given the low price point. The cable length issue is one easily addressed for me with USB and VGA extension cables. Overall, for the price I would recommend this as an inexpensive option for someone who needs to control a couple/few machines in a non-production setting.

Best bang for your buck. 4-Port. I'm VERY careful with the switch button because it's a very thin cable. So I don't yank, twist, or move the thing. I mounted the button on my desk (surrounded it with 4 push pin thumbtacks). But $50 - and still works flawlessly after SEVEN years. Are there things I'd like to change? Yes. But for the few hundred dollars difference in price for an upgrade? I'm good. As a note: I don't use it daily. My usage comes in spurts according to what stupid projects I've involved myself in. So if you are flipping across 4 computers every day multiple times - YOU may need one of the multi-hundred dollar models. Me, as a hobbyist, I've put a good deal of time on mine over the past 7 years and counting. I routinely have 3 PC connected. Win10, Win10 Pro, and a dual boot Linux. The 4th connector only gets used if I hook up a new hobby computer or am working on someone else's PC/Laptop for troubleshooting or repair. Creds - I got my first computer when I was 15. 45 years ago. Been a hobbyist ever since, traveled the U.S. in the military on a "Tiger Team" bringing the Air Force into the digital future, and screwed off ( made G.I. Bill money) going to college and have a 3.9 GPA in Computer Network Technology.

This product absolutely made my day. I've struggled through switch after switch, each one requiring multiple unreasonable steps to setup and always ending with at least one computer not working. I tried everything from replacing cables to redoing all the steps on each switch, and was about to give up and make a panel of USB ports to just plug in what I wanted to switch to. Then I read a couple forum posts from people saying they had no problems with the IOGEAR brand USB KVM switch. So I ordered one in, received it in 2 days, and it worked perfectly first try with all four of my computers. I followed the instructions on the first two, and didn't follow the instructions for the second two. That didn't matter. This product worked great first try regardless of how I installed it. I can switch quickly to any computer, change my mind and switch again, and they each always work now. The difference between this product and the others I tried is like night and day. Save a couple bucks and waste endless hours of your time, or buy this product to start with.

Overall I am thus-far pleased with this product. I had a two port KVM from the same company which I have been using pretty much daily for between two and three years now. It started acting up a bit AND I needed a four port now since I have more systems in my office....connects easily, switches from system to system well. Correct, it is VGA and not DVI, HDMI or Display port but for my purposes the VGA is fine. I have two servers and a workstation I connect with VGA so have three systems going through this switch for video, mouse and keyboard. For one of my systems I have dedicated dual monitors so just use the mouse and keyboard function of the switch for that. Works well....it DOES (as did my two port) sometimes not operate the mouse or keyboard as it should but if I switch away from the system and then back it is fine. Just a minor annoyance. The only other negative I see is that there is not soft-key/hard-key toggle (i.e. a combination of keys to switch from system to system). The switching is done through a button which is connected to the switch. I used a little velcro and attached it to the edge of my mouse pad so it is always there and doesn't fall off my desk. I just wonder, as I am cycling from system to system, how long this button is going to last. Bottom line. I am happy with this product and with the two port I had previously. It is low end, not a bunch of bells and whistles (i.e. multiple types of video connections, sound, etc) but it works as it should and is fairly priced. Add too many bells and whistles and you also add significantly to the price. UPDATE: I lowered this by a couple of stars. It worked well initially but a couple of weeks ago I noticed I see a lot of latency in the mouse and keyboard input to my systems. I tried swapping these items to no avail....I have also noticed that one of the outputs from my laptop (I use a docking station and two large monitors...switching from my laptop and workstation and two servers) to this device no longer works...not sure why yet. I am going to try using an HDMI KVM Switch and see if it makes a difference. My monitors are a bit high end and require displayport or HDMI input. I am currently using a VGA for this as my two servers just have VGA connectors (I am using an adapter to change the VGA output to HDMI)...I know this isn't ideal but it has worked until recently.

Overall recommend on this product. Normally I would have stayed away from any product that has integrated anything. Vendor lock and one size fits all does not scale well in any IT environment. With that said, I purchased this product on the strength of reviews, intending to send it back immediately for the smallest performance glitch -- I have not encountered any. It's been a few weeks so here are my impressions: PROS: The picture quality, responsiveness of keyboard and mouse, and quick changes from one computer to the next were each a very pleasant surprise. I have a new PC mixed with very old XP desktop systems that have been converted into Linux. CONS: Design. The cables are integrated with the unit. I'm still nervous about the durability of any all in one unit with integrated cables. But, the price point and performance negate these concerns and make this a "shut up and just buy it" purchase decision.

So far this product seems to work great with an aluminum, 20' imac and, a pc that is running linux. I have used it for about a month now and haven't had any problems. I use it with a wireless keyboard (kb) and separate wireless mouse. Using a separate mouse is important because it would not work correctly using the same wireless transmitter for the keyboard and mouse. After trying and troubleshooting a couple different setups I developed the opinion that the KVM requires something to be plugged in to both usb ports which is what prevents the kb/mouse combos as they only end up using one port. I bring this up because there appears to be only a handful of cheap wireless options where you aren't forced to get a combo kb and mouse for the deal. Wanted to mention that I also tried the default wired kb/mouse that comes with an imac where the usb mouse plugs into the usb port on the kb and the kb plugs into the computer or in this case the KVM. This didn't work for me which is consistent with my opinion that both usb ports on the KVM need to be populated. I would have given this KVM a perfect rating because I don't think iogear intended it to be used with wireless accessories but I wish it supported the use of hot keys. The KVM has a toggle button which I knew about going into it but the button is very light and unless weighed down by something moves too much. The button works fine but requires a thin cable that tarnishes my wireless experience slightly. I park the toggle button between the mouse and keyboard. To give it the five stars I think it would have been nice if they included a 3M sticky strip or added some weight to it for stability.

tres bon produit , de bonne qualité , ravis de mon achat . . . . . . . .

This is just what I needed. I'd have preferred one with a software switch, but for the price, this was excellent! Works great for switching between a few servers in the rack.

Keine Installation nötig, einfach zusammenstecken und das Switchen zur Nutzung eines Bildschirms bzw. einer Tastatur und Maus für mehrere Rechner funktioniert auf Anhieb. Nach dem Umschalten muss zwar ein bisschen mit der Maus gewackelt werden, damit der jeweilige Bildschirm übertragen wird, aber das sehe ich nicht als Einschränkung. Ebenso sind die Zuleitungskabel aus meiner Sicht mit ca. 1 m ausreichend lang bemessen. Preis-Leistung stimmt hier.

En mi trabajo tengo 5 a 7 computadoras en constantes pruebas y es complicado estarles cambiando los perifericos (monitor, teclado y mouse), Por lo que me ha servido mucho desde que llegó. Llegó todo muy bien y muy rapido.

This is an inexpensive KVM that does the job done. The initial cable management is going to be busy, as you are dealing with cabling to go to four different computers. I like that the remote switch is small, as it does not take up a lot of space on my desk. The remote switch is delicate, so you want to have it positioned where it won't get damaged. As others have noted, if a PC falls asleep, the KVM won't wake that PC back up, but this is quickly resolved by tapping the power button on the computer that is sleeping. One of my computers recently started causing USB issues when it is connected to this KVM, but for the moment I am blaming the computer for this, as this is a re-occurring issue that was happening before I bought this KVM. Very satisfied with the product.