I've been using a Belkin OmniCube 4-port kvm at my desk for almost a year now and it's been great. I think I paid about $130 for it, but I've recently seen it for nearly half that on sale at the various superstores. I have also chained an older Belkin OmniView 2-port kvm off it and it works fine.
KVMs are no longer just the domain of the NOC... for those who prefer Linux, but need a Win2k or 98 (ugh) box on demand (or anything else for that matter) a kvm can be a huge plus. It's also allowed me to save space (got rid of 2 extra monitors on my other desk).
The OmniCube has a nice shortcut... double-tap scroll-lock, then hit the number of the box I want and it comes up. This has allowed me to leave the kvm on the floor behind my desk, with all the cables.
One thing to consider... I use a high resolution and a high refresh rate on my monitor... if you want 1024x786 @75Hz or higher, you'll probably have to shell out around $25 for a high-end vga extension cable. PS/2 extensions can be had for under $5 ea, and lower-grade vga extensions are easy to find under $10. Just something to keep in mind if you are on a budget.
Only negative I've found is that I need to have the Win2k box selected while it boots, otherwise the wheel mouse isn't detected... the rest of the mouse works, just not the wheel.
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I've been using a Belkin OmniCube 4-port kvm at my desk for almost a year now and it's been great. I think I paid about $130 for it, but I've recently seen it for nearly half that on sale at the various superstores. I have also chained an older Belkin OmniView 2-port kvm off it and it works fine.
KVMs are no longer just the domain of the NOC... for those who prefer Linux, but need a Win2k or 98 (ugh) box on demand (or anything else for that matter) a kvm can be a huge plus. It's also allowed me to save space (got rid of 2 extra monitors on my other desk).
The OmniCube has a nice shortcut... double-tap scroll-lock, then hit the number of the box I want and it comes up. This has allowed me to leave the kvm on the floor behind my desk, with all the cables.
One thing to consider... I use a high resolution and a high refresh rate on my monitor... if you want 1024x786 @75Hz or higher, you'll probably have to shell out around $25 for a high-end vga extension cable. PS/2 extensions can be had for under $5 ea, and lower-grade vga extensions are easy to find under $10. Just something to keep in mind if you are on a budget.
Only negative I've found is that I need to have the Win2k box selected while it boots, otherwise the wheel mouse isn't detected... the rest of the mouse works, just not the wheel.