Does such a thing exist?

trimmer1980 · 6 Jul 2015 at 11:41

My current setup involves two monitors, a docked laptop for work and my pc. I have searched various websites looking for a usb 3 keyboard and mouse switch which will allow me to switch the use between work and pc machines.

I own a k70 rgb and the m65 mouse

Does anyone know or own a product for this senario? :confused:

kaku · 6 Jul 2015 at 11:43

What you're looking for is a USB KVM switch.

trimmer1980 · 6 Jul 2015 at 11:46

Correct but ive noticed they have not updated the design of these for the past 10 years, I don't require the vga part of it only the usb but it needs to connect to 2 pc's

ED209 · 6 Jul 2015 at 11:48

could you search google for a "KVM switch"

should give you the results of what your after

don't know if you can get just a keyboard and mouse one through

Armageus · 6 Jul 2015 at 11:49

kaku said:
What you're looking for is a USB KVM switch.

Although USB3.0 versions seem silly expensive, and likely still won't give optimum performance (e.g. may not allow different polling rates or may add latency due to the additional hardware) with the "gaming" keyboard and mouse mentioned.

Would have thought the easiest solution would be to be use a separate keyboard and mouse for the work laptop (wouldn't have thought you really need high sensitivity etc for work anyway)

trimmer1980 · 6 Jul 2015 at 11:58

Armageus said:
Although USB3.0 versions seem silly expensive, and likely still won't give optimum performance (e.g. may not allow different polling rates or may add latency due to the additional hardware) with the "gaming" keyboard and mouse mentioned.

Would have thought the easiest solution would be to be use a separate keyboard and mouse for the work laptop (wouldn't have thought you really need high sensitivity etc for work anyway)

At the moment i'm using 2 usb extension cables strapped to the desk from each machine saving me moving and connecting via the IO's. It was a wild stab in the dark as you said it could cause further issues with latency. Silly really has working from home is common or the use of 2 machines. adding and addition keyboard and mouse is just messy.

Pulseammo · 6 Jul 2015 at 12:15

There's a software solution to this too, the only one I can remember off hand is Synergy.

A friend used to use it with his gaming PC and laptop on the desk. The PC hosted the keyboard and mouse and the laptop was just the slave.

http://synergy-project.org

Google "Software KVM" and you might find more.

trimmer1980 · 6 Jul 2015 at 12:23

Pulseammo said:
There's a software solution to this too, the only one I can remember off hand is Synergy.

A friend used to use it with his gaming PC and laptop on the desk. The PC hosted the keyboard and mouse and the laptop was just the slave.

http://synergy-project.org

Google "Software KVM" and you might find more.

black magic lol, would need to do more research into this product, my issue would be gaining admin rights to the work laptop as i prsume it would need to be installed on each machine. :rolleyes:

I could hope and pray i suppose

D3K · 6 Jul 2015 at 12:23

That's awesome. Any idea if it compromises performance of the host machine?

andy_mk3 · 6 Jul 2015 at 13:52

I used Synergy many many years ago, cool software. The second PC was like an extended desktop.

Cat_J · 6 Jul 2015 at 17:02

Otherwise you could get a cheap wireless keyboard and mouse, that way you just put them away when not needed.

zola25 · 6 Jul 2015 at 21:00

Does it have to be USB3? I use a Startech 2 port KVM for my home PC and work laptop, I believe the model is SV215MICDVIA.

Note that almost all gaming keyboards fail to work fully over a KVM, this is due to how the KVM emulates the keyboard so that both devices believe it's always attached. Any special functions the keyboard has may get lost, or it may not work at all. To get around this you can purchase KVMs that provide USB pass through but these are normally very expensive.

Are you able to use remote desktop to get to your work PC? Sadly my work laptop has local policy settings that block the RDP ports.

drakioned · 7 Jul 2015 at 08:23

Just use a KVM and don't bother plugging in the video.

Armageus · 7 Jul 2015 at 08:33

drakioned said:
Just use a KVM and don't bother plugging in the video.

Did you read any of the thread?

A KVM likely will not work properly with a gaming keyboard and mouse, as has already been mentioned

Confused Stu · 7 Jul 2015 at 10:25

I used Synergy for my work setup back in the XP days, and it was great, but I had issues with it when using Windows 7 and UAC (basically, every UAC prompt would lock Synergy out of that PC). I switched over to Input Director and it's been faultless since then.
http://www.inputdirector.com/

It's pretty easy to set up, and works great if you have multiple PCs connected to a monitor each but with keyboard+mouse only connected to one. I've even been able to game quite happily on the machine without the keyboard+mouse attached without any issues (well, COD4 - it is a work machine!).

trimmer1980 · 7 Jul 2015 at 10:56

Confused Stu said:
I used Synergy for my work setup back in the XP days, and it was great, but I had issues with it when using Windows 7 and UAC (basically, every UAC prompt would lock Synergy out of that PC). I switched over to Input Director and it's been faultless since then.
http://www.inputdirector.com/

It's pretty easy to set up, and works great if you have multiple PCs connected to a monitor each but with keyboard+mouse only connected to one. I've even been able to game quite happily on the machine without the keyboard+mouse attached without any issues (well, COD4 - it is a work machine!).

Would i run into any issues as my work laptop is needed to connect to a work vpn (cisco)?

ubersonic · 7 Jul 2015 at 11:04

trimmer1980 said:
My current setup involves two monitors, a docked laptop for work and my pc. I have searched various websites looking for a usb 3 keyboard and mouse switch which will allow me to switch the use between work and pc machines.

The mistake is you don't need a USB3.0 KVM switch just a USB one, that should make it easier to find what you need, assuming you have one screen connected per machine and don't want to switch the screens then just get a cheap VGA KVM and don't connect the video inputs/outputs then just use it for KB/mouse switching.

If you do want to switch the screens too then DVI/Displayport KVM switches are readily available but more expensive.

D3K · 7 Jul 2015 at 11:18

I'd like to try synergy but there's no trial for it. I'll have a look at inputdirector later, thx.

trimmer1980 · 7 Jul 2015 at 12:36

ubersonic said:
The mistake is you don't need a USB3.0 KVM switch just a USB one, that should make it easier to find what you need, assuming you have one screen connected per machine and don't want to switch the screens then just get a cheap VGA KVM and don't connect the video inputs/outputs then just use it for KB/mouse switching.

If you do want to switch the screens too then DVI/Displayport KVM switches are readily available but more expensive.

I would agree with but you also need to remember i have a k70 RGB and mouse.
using an ordinary keyboard wouldn't be an issue

ubersonic · 7 Jul 2015 at 12:57

trimmer1980 said:
I would agree with but you also need to remember i have a k70 RGB and mouse.
using an ordinary keyboard wouldn't be an issue

Most decent switches will work fine with gaming peripherals (you have to remember that a "gaming" mechanical keyboard is just an ordinary 80's/90's keyboard in cooler plastic), you can find USB KVM switches with VGA video quite cheap that are compatible with the K70 (if you don't want video, ones with DVI/DP cost more).

StarTech make a 2 Port Black USB KVM Switch Kit with Audio and Cables that's quite good.