Looking for a Decent KVMA Switch

My KVM switch has given me nothing but problems -- it's one of those that
uses a repeated keypress to switch, and it switches on its own all the time.
I don't know if it's my screen reader (I'm blind) or the switch that's the
problem, (though friends that use my computer report the same problem when
the screen reader is off) and the Trendnet customer service dropped the ball
on fixing the problem.
So I plan to ditch the Trendnet KVM and replace it with something more
reliable and with customer service that can actually respond to customer
problems.
Here's what I need:
At least 4 ports, though more would be preferable
No more than $100 in cost
USB capability for keyboard and rodent
VGA monitor ports
Audio switching with the other stuff so I don't have to daisy chain things
"Hold down a Key and hit a number" switching from the keyboard
Buttons to allow me to physically switch things if something gets wonky
I would prefer a box with jacks on the back and buttons on the front as
opposed to a losenge style form factor, as that will fit under my power amp
I use for computer sound. (Tascam DA-50 power amp, half rack form factor)
I've tried searching on the web, but no luck so far. Anyone have any good
suggestions? I'd prefer something currently produced. Autoscan rates don't
really have any use to me, so I'm not concerned about them.
Thanks for any direction anyone here can provide.

On 4/24/2012 10:42 AM, Rick Massey wrote:
My KVM switch has given me nothing but problems -- it's one of those that
uses a repeated keypress to switch, and it switches on its own all the time.
I don't know if it's my screen reader (I'm blind) or the switch that's the
problem, (though friends that use my computer report the same problem when
the screen reader is off) and the Trendnet customer service dropped the ball
on fixing the problem.
So I plan to ditch the Trendnet KVM and replace it with something more
reliable and with customer service that can actually respond to customer
problems.

I was hoping monoprice.com would have something that meets your
requirements, as their quality has been (in my experience) top notch,
and the customer support is very good as well. Although, about the best
they could do for a deficient product is replace or return.

At any rate, the closest thing they have does not have audio switching,
unfortunately.

I did find the SV411KUSB from startech.com

http://www.startech.com/Server-Manag...hing~SV411KUSB


Here's what I need:
At least 4 ports, though more would be preferable

4 ports

No more than $100 in cost

This lists for $115 at startech.com, but I see that you can get one off
of Amazon for $80.

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-P...5294376&sr=8-1

USB capability for keyboard and rodent

Check

VGA monitor ports

Check

Audio switching with the other stuff so I don't have to daisy chain things

Check -- speaker and microphone

"Hold down a Key and hit a number" switching from the keyboard

The manual says that can be setup

Buttons to allow me to physically switch things if something gets wonky

I see buttons in the product photos

I would prefer a box with jacks on the back and buttons on the front as
opposed to a losenge style form factor, as that will fit under my power amp
I use for computer sound. (Tascam DA-50 power amp, half rack form factor)

It's a flat box, but a smallish box that has ports on all of the short
sides of that box.

I've tried searching on the web, but no luck so far. Anyone have any good
suggestions? I'd prefer something currently produced. Autoscan rates don't
really have any use to me, so I'm not concerned about them.
Thanks for any direction anyone here can provide.

I have had no personal experience with this product, so I'm not vouching
for it. My general experiences with startech have been hit and miss.

You do not specify your KVM switch model. For example, I have a TRENDnet
model TK-400K, but since I use it with personal computers, not servers, I
did not try to turn more than one on at a time, even when I used to have
three computers hooked up. I bought it because the video signal
autodetection feature was far more convenient than having to turn a knob or
pressing buttons on the KVM device, so I might expect that it would perform
fine for your requred tasks. My sense of sight is OK for a man over 50 years
old, with a little difficulty focusing on near or faraway objects.

"Grinder" wrote in message
...
On 4/24/2012 10:42 AM, Rick Massey wrote:
My KVM switch has given me nothing but problems -- it's one of those
that
uses a repeated keypress to switch, and it switches on its own all the
time.
I don't know if it's my screen reader (I'm blind) or the switch that's
the
problem, (though friends that use my computer report the same problem
when
the screen reader is off) and the Trendnet customer service dropped the
ball
on fixing the problem.
So I plan to ditch the Trendnet KVM and replace it with something more
reliable and with customer service that can actually respond to customer
problems.

I was hoping monoprice.com would have something that meets your
requirements, as their quality has been (in my experience) top notch,
and the customer support is very good as well. Although, about the best
they could do for a deficient product is replace or return.

At any rate, the closest thing they have does not have audio switching,
unfortunately.

I did find the SV411KUSB from startech.com


http://www.startech.com/Server-Manag...hing~SV411KUSB


Here's what I need:
At least 4 ports, though more would be preferable

4 ports

No more than $100 in cost

This lists for $115 at startech.com, but I see that you can get one off
of Amazon for $80.


http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-P...5294376&sr=8-1

USB capability for keyboard and rodent

Check

VGA monitor ports

Check

Audio switching with the other stuff so I don't have to daisy chain
things

Check -- speaker and microphone

"Hold down a Key and hit a number" switching from the keyboard

The manual says that can be setup

Buttons to allow me to physically switch things if something gets wonky

I see buttons in the product photos

I would prefer a box with jacks on the back and buttons on the front as
opposed to a losenge style form factor, as that will fit under my power
amp
I use for computer sound. (Tascam DA-50 power amp, half rack form
factor)

It's a flat box, but a smallish box that has ports on all of the short
sides of that box.

I've tried searching on the web, but no luck so far. Anyone have any
good
suggestions? I'd prefer something currently produced. Autoscan rates
don't
really have any use to me, so I'm not concerned about them.
Thanks for any direction anyone here can provide.

I have had no personal experience with this product, so I'm not vouching
for it. My general experiences with startech have been hit and miss.

If I remember correctly it's their 402 model. It's been a while since I was
dealing with the model number. But it's highly annoying. And it will
sometimes switch to a computer that isn't on, requiring me to get up and hit
a button right in the middle of something. This happens almost exclusively
in the middle of operations.
That said, I fail to see why it's important what the problematic piece of
hardware's model number is. I've gootten substandard customer support for a
problem with poorly functioning hardware, so I'm looking for something made
by another company that might provide better support. I won't consider
another Trendnet product of any type ever again after how badly they dropped
the ball.
"Juan B. Rivera" wrote in message
...
You do not specify your KVM switch model. For example, I have a TRENDnet
model TK-400K, but since I use it with personal computers, not servers, I
did not try to turn more than one on at a time, even when I used to have
three computers hooked up. I bought it because the video signal
autodetection feature was far more convenient than having to turn a knob
or
pressing buttons on the KVM device, so I might expect that it would
perform
fine for your requred tasks. My sense of sight is OK for a man over 50
years
old, with a little difficulty focusing on near or faraway objects.

"Grinder" wrote in message
...
On 4/24/2012 10:42 AM, Rick Massey wrote:
My KVM switch has given me nothing but problems -- it's one of those
that
uses a repeated keypress to switch, and it switches on its own all the
time.
I don't know if it's my screen reader (I'm blind) or the switch that's
the
problem, (though friends that use my computer report the same problem
when
the screen reader is off) and the Trendnet customer service dropped the
ball
on fixing the problem.
So I plan to ditch the Trendnet KVM and replace it with something more
reliable and with customer service that can actually respond to
customer
problems.

I was hoping monoprice.com would have something that meets your
requirements, as their quality has been (in my experience) top notch,
and the customer support is very good as well. Although, about the best
they could do for a deficient product is replace or return.

At any rate, the closest thing they have does not have audio switching,
unfortunately.

I did find the SV411KUSB from startech.com


http://www.startech.com/Server-Manag...hing~SV411KUSB


Here's what I need:
At least 4 ports, though more would be preferable

4 ports

No more than $100 in cost

This lists for $115 at startech.com, but I see that you can get one off
of Amazon for $80.


http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-P...5294376&sr=8-1

USB capability for keyboard and rodent

Check

VGA monitor ports

Check

Audio switching with the other stuff so I don't have to daisy chain
things

Check -- speaker and microphone

"Hold down a Key and hit a number" switching from the keyboard

The manual says that can be setup

Buttons to allow me to physically switch things if something gets wonky

I see buttons in the product photos

I would prefer a box with jacks on the back and buttons on the front as
opposed to a losenge style form factor, as that will fit under my power
amp
I use for computer sound. (Tascam DA-50 power amp, half rack form
factor)

It's a flat box, but a smallish box that has ports on all of the short
sides of that box.

I've tried searching on the web, but no luck so far. Anyone have any
good
suggestions? I'd prefer something currently produced. Autoscan rates
don't
really have any use to me, so I'm not concerned about them.
Thanks for any direction anyone here can provide.

I have had no personal experience with this product, so I'm not vouching
for it. My general experiences with startech have been hit and miss.

On 4/26/2012 6:50 AM, Rick Massey wrote:
If I remember correctly it's their 402 model. It's been a while since I was
dealing with the model number. But it's highly annoying. And it will
sometimes switch to a computer that isn't on, requiring me to get up and hit
a button right in the middle of something. This happens almost exclusively
in the middle of operations.
That said, I fail to see why it's important what the problematic piece of
hardware's model number is. I've gootten substandard customer support for a
problem with poorly functioning hardware, so I'm looking for something made
by another company that might provide better support. I won't consider
another Trendnet product of any type ever again after how badly they dropped
the ball.

I've made a similar vow, albeit because of a different piece of hardware.

As a sort of stop gap maneuver, I purchased one of their low-end
wireless routers. Later, I tried to put the hardware into a permanent
role as a wireless access point. It was installed in a window, on a
second floor with a direct line of sight to a network adapter 80 feet
away. I could not get enough signal to see or connect to the router.

I called them and their tech bluntly said that I should not expect that
sort of range from any consumer grade router. That sounded ridiculous
to me, so I dug an old Linksys router out of my parts bin. Three bars
at the network adapter.

After trying several other access points, I concluded that the TRENDnet
router was the only one not up to the job. A second call to their sales
department revealed that they were willing to claim their hardware would
work in my situation. However, when I pointed out that the piece of kit
that I had would not work, and their tech department thought it was
ludicrous for me to think that it would work, they hung up on me.

**** em.

"Grinder" wrote in message
...
On 4/26/2012 6:50 AM, Rick Massey wrote:
If I remember correctly it's their 402 model. It's been a while since I
was
dealing with the model number. But it's highly annoying. And it will
sometimes switch to a computer that isn't on, requiring me to get up and
hit
a button right in the middle of something. This happens almost
exclusively
in the middle of operations.
That said, I fail to see why it's important what the problematic piece of
hardware's model number is. I've gootten substandard customer support for
a
problem with poorly functioning hardware, so I'm looking for something
made
by another company that might provide better support. I won't consider
another Trendnet product of any type ever again after how badly they
dropped
the ball.

I've made a similar vow, albeit because of a different piece of hardware.

As a sort of stop gap maneuver, I purchased one of their low-end wireless
routers. Later, I tried to put the hardware into a permanent role as a
wireless access point. It was installed in a window, on a second floor
with a direct line of sight to a network adapter 80 feet away. I could
not get enough signal to see or connect to the router.

I called them and their tech bluntly said that I should not expect that
sort of range from any consumer grade router. That sounded ridiculous to
me, so I dug an old Linksys router out of my parts bin. Three bars at the
network adapter.

After trying several other access points, I concluded that the TRENDnet
router was the only one not up to the job. A second call to their sales
department revealed that they were willing to claim their hardware would
work in my situation. However, when I pointed out that the piece of kit
that I had would not work, and their tech department thought it was
ludicrous for me to think that it would work, they hung up on me.

**** em.

The sad things, my Buffalo MIMO router will do twice that without it sitting
in a window, and when I call support for them I get someone in Austin,
Texas, not Bangalor. Part of the problem I had with tRendnet was their two
levels of support in India couldn't do anything for me, so they had to refer
me to the third level helpdesk in California, so I had to wait for a
callback and then have the third level tech drop the ball and not send me
the information he said he would.