Is there a gadget that exists for this use case?

[ED209]

@ED209 this is the exact setup I am going for but need to find a decent USB switch first, cheers for your post

I had enough of swapping over USB cables for the mouse and keyboard so I got this.

Its a quick job to do but when your doing it a few times a day it gets annoying.

You could try this, I have not tested it myself but looks similar to what I currently have

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Sharing-Highspeed-Swithcher-Keyboard/dp/B0B2VDD7Q8/ref=sr_1_17_sspa?crid=16IYFUI91FE81&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.va0AFOnzyFQNoEEMuzjN5yJcFmgQCH-fpSZzFmpziWzpDO2iXi-DHnRKFfqRMXYAFNKS0-_PcEeRxNVMMgHGwsyE0pgACN7jo1yu7EZlZAuS_3lMS96qlxqR4lRHNpIl186Bn9FRCTrqxctxy8fJJvb0P4fXmEg34doqYlPympKJtGwc-2l2Lw7gYVv5uCnAzAJVgZJabziQG0ZyvPlaETFzEb9wh6NGDGXLdtvHZus.EOF6lzteHJjNkgEeLuF3KpDgYjRf5VzaHNoXp1mVr8s&dib_tag=se&keywords=USB+switch&qid=1715085426&sprefix=usb+switch%2Caps%2C183&sr=8-17-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9idGY&psc=1

 

[breathe3asy]

Hmm so I received my £10 USB switch but getting some performance issues with my keyboard when pressing keys quickly they will sometimes not register or register twice with one press, so I have ordered another more expensive switch from another more well known manufacturer to test.

Received the more expensive USB hub and all is working as expected so the cheaper switch was either faulty or bad but glad to have sorted either way

 

[breathe3asy]

For work does anyone else run their high refresh rate monitor at 60hz because they can't handle the difference in smoothness when moving their mouse over to the 60hz laptop display?

 

[Joe Jones]

IP KVM is your best friend in this scenario.

I built a PiKVM a couple of years ago. About £50 for a Pi version 4 and £20 for HDMI to CSI-2 adaptor.

The IP KVM provides a web based interface to control the laptop by passing keyboard and mouse to the laptop as HID devices (laptop thinks KB and mouse are plugged in) and the video output is streamed across the network to the browser with very minimal latency.

Don't have to worry about changing monitor refresh rates or problems that can sometimes arise from having multiple devices sharing a monitor or trying to find a KVM that can handle your gaming resolutions and refresh rates.

 

[CuriousTomCat]

You could connect to the laptop from your PC using Remote Desktop.