KVM switch

[bluesdevil67]

Hello

Current setup is a works dell laptop connected to a 27” monitor which I’d like to plug my pc into. I think all I need is a switch that I plug all peripherals into, plug both ‘systems’ into and I’m away?

Am i missing anything obvious?

[sociopath]

It's a convoluted mess of cables rather than just a switch, but yep that's all you need.

Plug the monitor, mouse and key pard in one end and the two pcs the other.

Some also come with mic and speaker connections to flip those too

[bluesdevil67]

Cheers, overthinking it as per. Cables I can handle

[xeny]

Cheap ones literally do an electronic equivalent of a plug/unplug so window sizes etc get rearranged, and some keyboards with media keys etc have problems.

Fancier ones emulate the display and do something to make the extra keyboard keys work and tend to support higher resolutions/refresh rates.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

I use a wireless mouse and keyboard which have switches on and a button on the monitor …

It is neater than the cable mess of a KVM and I find it more reliable. In the past I found cheaper KVM switches can be buggy - I have had well known brands which would occasionally only switch 2 out of 3 devices which I found highly frustrating.

[biggiles]

Many newer monitors have dual inputs on the back. Cheaper KVMs work ok for switching keyboards, but they often mess up the window layout. If you're switching every few minutes it's a pain. Expensive ones might use DisplayLink, but that has its own issues, and can appear slightly slower if it's a high-res display.

If you have dual inputs, consider using the KVM button for switching the keyboard/mouse, and the monitor button for the display. More buttons, but it's another option to try out and see what works for you.

[OutInTheShed]

I use an HDMI switch for the monitor, and plug the usb wireless mouse/keyboard receiver into whatever device.

Next time I buy a monitor, I'll be sure to get two or more HDMI inputs.

[tribbles]

If you're worried about the windows rearranging themselves when you switch between the PCs, then you can get an in-line EDID emulator that pretends to be a monitor. This fools the PC into thinking there is a display there all the time.

You will need one per PC, and I've not found a cost-effective one that reads the monitor's EDID.

I use ones that are fixed to the resolution that I use (1600x1200), and they emulate a Dell 2408 monitor. It didn't work with my 2407, but did work with my 2412.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

I use a USB switch for peripherals and monitor multi-input for my monitors. So PC1 uses, say, the DP of the left screen and the HDMI of the right screen, whilst PC2 uses the HDMI input of the left screen and the DP of the right screen.

Sure, it's less convenient than a proper dual monitor KVM switch but it's a hell of a lot cheaper.

The Dell 34" ultrawide on my other PC goes one step further and actually has full KVM functionality which allows you to assign different USB ports to different inputs, so when you switch inputs you switch USB ports too.

[tribbles]

I did the same for a while - although with only one monitor.

It did get a bit tedious having to switch both (and a third would've been even worse), and I wanted to add more computers than I had monitor inputs (I did have a spare monitor, but it would've filled up the desk too much).

So I got a KVM which had a keyboard shortcut to switch between the inputs.

The only problem is that one of my work laptops doesn't appear to like the USB structure in the BIOS, so I need to ensure it's not plugged in when I turn it on until Windows is ready to accept my login. I didn't have that with the previous solution...