Experience with VGA/KVM switch?

  • Thread starter Thread starter chasthur
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chasthur

I have a Gateway laptop 1.6G 18G hdd that is docked. I'm online with DSL
in my Senior Citizens apts. Many residents have PCs but are not online,
just use them to play games like Solitaire and Mah Jongg, etc.

The drill is when someone wants to go online to download something,
they bring their pc to my apt. and I disconnect the moniter and DSL
from my dock, plug into their's and do the thing.

Now I read about vga and kvm and it sounds good. Evidently I just get
the thing, plug my monitor in the OUT and my laptop in one of the INs.
When my friend comes I just plug his machine into the other IN, plug in
the DSL to him and go. Sounds very simple except when I read the reports
I see lots of horror stories about not working well/at all.

Prices run from $18 up (to the sky). I don't need the KVM, just the
VGA. Does anyone have experience with these gizmos and can suggest a
really good one for at or under a $100 for my purposes? Just sporadic
use: maybe once a month or so.

Chas.
 
There are a lot of gotchas in the scheme. In general, the name brand units
work if the monitors are analog and the keyboards & mouse PS2.
The laptop(s) introduce another set of variables that may or may not create
problems.
You should expect the display to have a bit more noise than without the KVM.
It might be that use of a USB "stick memory" is less expensive. This means
that you would use your PC to do the download operation, and transfer the
results via the "stick" to another machine.

An alternate method might be to use a router between the modem and your PC.
This would allow the visiting PC to be connected to the router, assuming the
pc has a lan adapter. My router is both wired and wireless.

You all might go together, twist the Apt managment's arm, and setup a "Wi
FI" system.
 
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