KVM switch

[DevUK]

I have this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B083VYLWJP

Works well

[hairymouse]

Sorry I haven't had time to properly study the thread to be sure that what I am talking about will help you so take it for what it's worth.
I bought this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and use it to switch between my work and home computers. My monitor has two hdmi inputs and switches automatically between them so both computers are plugged into the monitor. Rarely I have to use the buttons on the front of the monitor to switch manually if I happen to have both computers on.
I have USB speakers and microphone and keyboard, so all those switch automatically . Works fine.

[LondonManc]

Has anyone here got any experience of using KVM switches?

At home I've got a desktop pc with two monitors. I'm currently working from home using a work's laptop machine. I like an ergonomic workstation setup so I've been disconnecting one of my monitors from my home pc and plugging it into the laptop machine to use as my main screen (e.g. for coding) and just using the laptop screen for stuff that I look at occasionally (e.g. email). I find it annoying to have to crawl around on the floor to plug the monitor back into my home pc when I want to use both my monitors with it.

To avoid having to keep plugging & unplugging the monitor cable I thought about buying a KVM switch. At first I thought of just getting one that has one monitor output and just sharing one monitor (and the keyboard and mouse) between the two machines. Then I started looking at switches that have two monitor outputs. Then I noticed that many KVM switches are 30Hz whereas my monitors are both set to approx 60Hz in the Windows10 display settings.

The KVMs that have only one monitor output at 30Hz seem quite cheap, but once I started looking at those that are 60Hz and with two monitor outputs the price went up a lot. Not sure it's worth it for me. 30Hz seems quite slow (I think one of my monitors is capable of 144Hz). Does it matter much for stuff like coding, viewing webpages, email, video calls etc?

I'm not sure it's worth the considerable extra expense to go for two monitor output and 60Hz. I think I might be better off just buying a single monitor 30Hz KVM. Not sure what brand to choose though.

One option might be to set up a remote desktop connection from my home pc and use it to control my work's laptop. However, I don't want to share any data between the two machines. I really want to keep my personal data and work data separate, and therefore as I understand it, a KVM switch would be more appropriate for that purpose. Is there any risk of the machines seeing each other's data?

Sounds like the setup I've got.

I've got a desktop with two monitors, along with a works laptop that shares one of the monitors. The shared monitor is an LG, so the only effort involved is changing the input to the LG via the menu button under the screen.

If you're sharing one keyboard and mouse, that would still work with a cheap KVM - you could get an oldschool (i.e. cheaper) VGA KVM switch to support just the keyboard and mouse via USB. You'd then have a button about the size of a 50p coin on your desk and click that as well as toggle the monitor to switch between the two.

This would do the trick, just don't use the VGA cables:
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/aten...15-cables-blac

[ladymuck]

My monitor has KVM built in and you can split the screen to see the inputs* then use a natty key combination to switch the keyboard and mouse. If you need full screen then a natty key combination will switch the whole lot. Simples!

*up to four!

[LondonManc]

My monitor has KVM built in and you can split the screen to see the inputs* then use a natty key combination to switch the keyboard and mouse. If you need full screen then a natty key combination will switch the whole lot. Simples!

*up to four!

The OP is after KVM to support single keyboard and mouse controlling a desktop and a laptop interchangeably. Does your solution support that?

[ladymuck]

The OP is after KVM to support single keyboard and mouse controlling a desktop and a laptop interchangeably. Does your solution support that?

Yes.