StarTech.com 2 Port KVM Switch - DVI and VGA w/ Audio and USB 2.0 Hub – Dual Monitor / Display / Screen KVM Switch - DVI VGA (SV231DDVDUA) 2.2"x6.3"x3.9" Audio | USB 2.0 Hub

Das Gerät funktionierte anfangs perfekt. Zwei Rechner teilen sich bei mir zwei Monitore, eine Tastatur, eine Maus. Umgeschaltet wurde per HotKey (also per Tastatur). Das war eine wirkliche Arbeitserleichterung und höchst komfortabel. Doch leider: nach drei Monaten wurden Tastatur und Maus nicht mehr erkannt und mussten direkt an den (jeweils genutzten) Rechner angeschlossen werden. Damit konnte natürlich auch nicht mehr per HotKey (also von der Tastatur aus) umgeschaltet werden. Umschalten ging dann nur noch so: Unter den Schreibtisch kriechen, Knopf am Swich drücken (um die Monitore umzuschalten), Tastatur und Maus an dem einen Rechner abziehen, an dem anderen anstecken. Der Support antwortet schnell und spricht deutsch, auch das ist sehr gut. Zu guter Letzt wurde das Gerät ausgetauscht. Prima! Doch leider: Neun Monate später trat der identische Fehler erneut auf. Diese Support-Anfragen läuft noch... Die angeschlossene Hardware wurde seit Kauf des Switches nie verändert. Der Fehler liegt nach meiner Einschätzung also eindeutig im Switch selbst. Unerfreulich ist in meinen Augen, dass der Fehler jeweils erst nach mehren Monaten auftritt. Spätestens beim ersten Auftreten nach Ablauf der Garantie ist dann wohl ein neues Gerät fällig. Ich bin gespannt, was der Support sagt, und aktualisiere hier dann.

After a lot of effort I did manage to get the KVM switch to work...BUT (a really big BUT) the company neglected one SMALL detail (dripping with sarcasm). There weren't any cables included to attach the KVM device to the computers. Can you imagine paying $230 for a switch and then to discover that you have to go out and pay another $75 for cables to even begin the installation. After I wasted another hour and a half driving around town to purchase cables, I figured that should be it. WRONG! That is when I discovered that the Startech company neglected one other SMALL detail (more dripping sarcasm). I discovered that in order to connect the two monitors to two computers you had to have a dual VGA-DVI video card installed in BOTH computers. It doesn't say that anywhere on the product listing or if it does, then I certainly can't find it. Only one of my computers had the dual video card so Guess What? I had to drive back to the retail outlet and shell out another $79 for a second dual video card (cheapie) and install it in the second computer. (By this time I've spent close to $400 and that doesn't count for my time having to drive around town). For $400, I probably could have purchased at least three new monitors. After I installed the dual video card the darn thing would still only work on one monitor....I finally discovered that the video card driver needed to be updated and then it finally worked. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! What an ordeal! Seems like a lot of money, time and effort just to be able to share two monitors on two computers. I had to figure out how to complete the install by Guess and by Golly because there wasn't any instruction manual included with the device and I still don't have any idea of what the warranty is. I thought about sending it back but figured that by the time it was processed I would have to wait a few months to get my refund. I bit the bullet and sucked it up but I wasn't impressed at all with the way the company left out many important details.

For the grief and anguish getting this to work I really want to give a 3 or maybe a 4 star rating at best. But I have to admit to contributing to the problems I had myself. But the thing is, at the end of the day this box works as advertised. Make sure you read the scant literature that's available, twice or maybe even thrice. I looked and looked but I couldn't find the manual for this box on Startech's website. There was a manual for the 4 port KVM and that was for the all DVI port model. A simple cabling diagram for this exact box would have saved a lot of time and gnashing of teeth. The manual only covers the SV431DDVDUA in great detail, including features that are not available on the two port model. This unit, SV231DDVDUA is only mentioned in passing, no pictures, no diagrams, no nothing. I was very close to sending it back. This KVM is for a vender certification lab project that I set up in my home. I purchased this unit to switch between two computers, one with only VGA, the other with only DVI outputs. Because the computers had different video outputs was the reason I thought this KVM would be what I needed. In the end it works. I will not cover all of the cabling trial and errors I went through so I'll skip to the chase and tell you what worked for me. The computer with the DVI video had a fairly high end dual DVI & Display port card. I replaced the card with a very low end card that had a single DVI port and a single VGA port. I don't even know why I still had this card. I should have thrown it out years ago. So, to you electronics pack rats...old does not mean not useful. In the manual under "System Requirements" does say: DVI and VGA enabled computer system/video card. While there may be other ways to get this box to work, it would not work for me until at least one of the computers had a dual video card. Once you understand that, then this box is all that and a bag of chips. I would rather have given 4.5 stars, but there are no half stars available so I'll give 5 stars. StarTech: how about including an accurate manual/user's guide of THIS box on your website that includes a cabling diagram. StarTech: how about making this series of KVMs a little larger or arranging the DVI connectors so that two DVI connectors can be plugged into the box next to each other. Right now the connectors are so close you cannot get two connectors side-by-side. Lastly, because this ends well I'll be generous and include a plug for another StarTech product. The certification lab project requires me to connect to the console ports of routers, switches, and firewalls. Most modern desktops don't come with a serial port/connector any more. I bought a StarTech PCI2S550 2 port PCI RS232 Serial Adapter and it works great. Once again the documentation is less than desirable and the ports are not labeled, so you have to be a little persistent. Windows recognized the card and the 2 ports without needing to use the included drivers disk.

After trying out a couple of KVM switches, this is the one that met my requirement 100%. My setup is a bit unusual in that it involves both VGA (from a server computer) and DVI-D (from desktop computer). The experience with different KVM switches - includingStarTech.com 2 Port DVI USB KVM Switch which I reviewed in some detail - has shown that integrated (DVI-I) KVM switches do not cope well where there is a mix of analogue and digital and unfortunately there is no pre-warning of this pitfall by manufacturers (at least not explicitly). This KVM is designed specifically where analogue VGA and digital DVI graphics need to be switched, and must be a testament to the fact that the DVI-I interface (which combines analogue VGA and DVI-D interface) may not work as expected. Then you may ask why I didn't rate it with 5-star. This KVM switch is advertised as supporting up to 1920 x 1440 resolution in analogue mode with 1920 x 1200 as a recommended upper limit. Despite this, sometimes (say 1 out of 5) when switched to the VGA graphics, full resolution on my display (operating at 1920x1080) may not be achieved and it settles for lower (mostly 1400 x 900 or thereabouts). This is a symptom of the VGA signal not having the full bandwidth (i.e., the VGA signal coming out of the KVM is not the exact replica of its input - which is expected but the distortion level may be significant to affect the full resolution). Interestingly, toggling the switch away from VGA and then back will almost certainly get you the full resolution so it must be operating near a critical margin. From my perspective, this is an excellent KVM switch where VGA and DVI-D graphics need to be switched. The only minor disappointment is that the VGA graphics can sometimes downgrade its resolution (since the analogue signal passing through the KVM switch can never come out with zero distortion; it's possible to tackle this problem but would increase the cost!). Another very very minor problem is that the LED lights are brighter than they need to be but easy to tolerate this. I haven't even mentioned the Keyboard, Mouse, and USB hub interfaces. These interfaces have no issues at all and work smoothly as advertised.

I purchased this KVM specifically because it was able to handle VGA and DVI inputs and because I have 3 different PCs that utilize 3 different video configurations: 1) Has dual VGA outputs (older PC) 2) Work laptop has 1 DVI and 1 VGA 3) Home desktop has dual DVI ***I'm inheriting a MAC that has a DVI out, haven't tested this yet, but I'll be interested to see how the keyboard functions considering the keys are different on a MAC Overall the device works well with the multiple configurations. I had to be somewhat creative with how I connected everything. Fortunately my monitors support the DVI or VGA connection and the KVM has a single DVI and single VGA connection for each PC I need it to support. For the PC that had dual DVI connections I had one monitor connected to the KVM and then the other monitor I actually ran the DVI cable to the PC and used the button on the monitor to switch back and forth. I do the same thing for the dual VGA configuration. Obviously for the laptop that is DVI/VGA I just use the device as is. A couple of minor things that honestly I don't fault the device/manufacturer for is how it operates before the system boots to windows (haven't tried this with Linux systems, but it would likely work). My company has a security software (I believe it's disk encryption security) that requires to enter your password before booting into windows. The keyboard works, however I do have to press the keys twice when entering the password. For example if the password is 123, you'd have to enter 112233 for it to enter 123. The other item I've read about in other reviews is the occasional power flicker, where the device beeps and your monitors flicker. While this is a bit startling at first, it's actually kind of rare and for the convenience I get with having the device it's a very minor downside that I'm willing to accept. Frankly you are taking multiple inputs with varying signals, so the fact that the device works as well as it does is good enough for me. The only con I would mention is the price. I think I paid around $230 which is pricy for a KVM. But like I mentioned above, most KVMs only handle one or the other (VGA / DVI). One last pro is StarTech support. Prior to purchasing the device I contacted them via live chat and was able to explain the configuration I had and confirm that the device would meet my requirements.