KVM Switch Help / Advice

[fuse]

Hoping for a bit of help / buying advice on this one from you sagely types

Currently got a 24" WS Samsung monitor with DVI/VGA. PC's connected via DVI @ 1920x1200, and NTSC-J Wii via VGA @ 480p with sound going off to an external amp, all running happily, switching between the two.

What I'd like to do is get to learn a Mac platform and use it for the more everyday stuff. Figured that a Mini's my best option as it's small, cheap, and powerful enough for day-to-day tasks. I was under the impression a KVM switch would just take the connections and just route them to either one or the other, but after a quick search I notice some only support up to certain resolutions and such

Essentially what I'll need switching is; DVI that'll display up to 1920x1200, a couple of USB ports, speaker and microphone ports. Any recommendations as to what to get/avoid? Anything I should be aware of?

Cheers in advance for any advice...

[briareos_kerensky]

but after a quick search I notice some only support up to certain resolutions and such.

Yeah, cheap products don't have enough bandwidth to support high resolutions with high refresh rates...and at maximum supported bandwidth there's a noticeable loss of image quality, it's not wise to save on a KVM if you have a good monitor and value your eyes.
I'd suggest a Belkin KVM, they come in all shapes and prices, you'll surely find something useful to you by checking their website

[fuse]

Nice one, the Belkin suggestion was just the ticket. They even have a fancy "KVM Wizard" on their site with a fancy UI to pick the right thing for you.

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=375076

This is what I've come up with, Froogle's saying £60 which is a bit more than I expected, but seems acceptable

[BaudAttitude]

I've had two Belkin "flip" switches and I would not recommend them to another soul. They have a tendency to get out of sync or just lock up - usually when switching quickly to the second computer and back, but sometimes seemingly just for the hell of it.

It's odd, because I normally have great results with the brand - otherwise I wouldn't have bought a second after my experiences with the first.

[fuse]

Crap, knew it was all going too smoothly!

Had any better experiences elsewhere, or?

[BaudAttitude]

I've had excellent luck with their "Omniview" series of KVMs, but I don't know if they have those in DVI versions yet.

They're also more expensive, of course, and I'd already spent way too much on "flip" switches, so I wound up just installing VNC on all my spare machines - it's not the optimal solution as there's a lot of screen lag and of course if a machine can't boot for some reason I have to demount it and hook it up to a physical mouse and keyboard.

[fuse]

Happy end to the story, thought I'd finish it all up for those who ever have the same problem.

Went for one of these: http://avocent.co.uk/web/uk.nsf/Cont...2port_European

Between the switch and all the cables ended up paying out the best part of £150, which was a bit more than I expected but eh. Any problems? You bet! My KB & mouse were wireless and came as a set, and the receiver went into one USB port. Did the switch like that? Did it heck. So, new KB & Mouse later, then tried again. Mac worked fine, PC however? Would recognise them but no signal... Bit of a googling later, and was recommended a firmware update on the switch and finally - all working

In short: it's a very nice piece of kit, the switching is very quick and doesn't seem to confuse either machine (and I especially like being able to unbind audio from the switching, so I can play music from one machine whilst using the other), just a bit of a pain in the neck to set up, and quite expensive.

[briareos_kerensky]

Nice input. I've started looking for a good DVI switch for future PC+PS3+X360 use on my current monitor but was able to find only devices accepting up to 1600x1200...now it would be good to see if they would sell directly to Italy.