So recently had the ability to work from home a bit more than usual so I’m in the market for a KVM or USB switch to go between my PC and work laptop. Anyone have suggestions?
ETA. Thanks for all of the useful feedback, appreciate it!
What’s your budget and feature requirements? You can get a cheap USB switch for like $12, or a 4k multi-display KVM for like $2000.
Sure. Sub $200 is what I’m looking at. Something that can handle multiple 1440p ultrawides with good USB 3.0 support.
As someone that works in AV for exactly your type of scenario… you unfortunately won’t find anything that supports >1080p60 for under $500. That type of video bandwidth is at a premium for switching on KVMs, matrixes, eg. Good USB 3 support is unfortunately expensive, too.
Expect lots of noticeable lag, too. Switches aren’t engineered for gaming yet.
That’s a shame. I was thinking that I could get along with just a USB switch for the mouse and keyboard and manually switching displays when needed as the bare minimum. I can’t imagine a simple USB switch would have that much delay in response time for peripherals but who knows.
Either way thanks for the great input.
multiple 1440p ultrawides
Yeah that won’t be cheap. https://www.store.level1techs.com/products/p/14-kvm-switch-dual-monitor-2computer-z5erd-n6mbj
Might I suggest a USB switcher, a hub, and just changing inputs on the monitor?
Yeah, as I keep looking that’s what it seems like it’s the best choice to continue to game and be productive, which is fine by me, not that hard to switch inputs on a monitor.
Check out ddcutil and setting keyboard shortcuts. At a single press you can switch monitor inputs easily so no need to fiddle with monitor buttons. Combined with a USB switcher you’re down to just 2 button presses to swap machines like this.
You’re not gonna get that for under $200.
https://www.kvm-switches-online.com/cs1942dp.html
If you can verify you can use MST or displayport passthrough, you can get one for a bit over $200: https://www.kvm-switches-online.com/cs1922.html
I would verify your video and USB bandwidth requirements will work with those before purchasing. You may need to go up a model level if you’re going to be pushing a lot of data.
I suggest something from level1techs. The prices are high, but they support DP 1.4 https://www.store.level1techs.com/products/p/14-kvm-switch-dual-monitor-2computer-z5erd-n6mbj
Tesmart have a wide range. Happy with the 4k60 4port I bought.
no product recommendation but in general KVMs can’t handle high bandwidth displays. Maybe some can but the vast majority are meant for 1080p60 desktop use.
If you can somehow manage to install software on your work laptop then I highly recommend Synergy. It is by far a better solution than a KVM and you could keep the keyboard and mouse plugged into your PC so no effect on gaming.
