A KVM that doesnt sucks?

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1

hello! i just saw your video about the dual screen kvm switch and i have a few questions to see if it will fit my setup design,

my ultimate plan was a single usb-c line that goes out from a laptop, and either usb-c or hdmi and usb3 that goes out from a pc,
to a switch that have mouse keyboard and Dual display output.

i have searched the internet, and didnt find anything that is not either super old or super bulky that could do that.

the closes thing i got was the dual display you guys just posted on youtube a few days ago.

what do you think will serve a proper solution?
(a pc and a laptop, laptop has mini-hdmi and usb c, pc has hdmi, vga, etc. but its a pc so its more mudolar. the new screens have not yet been bought)
i have seen neat tricks with usb-c making it capable showing dual monitors, and have seen two input to two output like you guys showed but didnt see it together.

do you think its even possible to make something like that? or am i just day dreaming of the day that all i need is to plug in one cable to my laptop when i come back with my laptop from work.

any advise will be welcome, thank you!

2

You can create what you are looking for easily with a combination of thunderbolt 3 / usb-c docking station and a KVM. I use this setup:

Laptop plugs into Lenovo usb-c dock via one usb-c cable. This provides power, network, video and peripherals.

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/acc100348

The dock plugs into my displayport KVM (you can use a hdmi one if you prefer)

Main pc connects to the KVM directly via displayport and usb cable.

With this I can swap between pc and laptop with one keyboard shortcut. It works flawlessly.

Note make sure your KVM supports your monitor resolution. Anything above 1080p I would avoid hdmi and use displayport.

Good luck

3

There’s always the Level1Techs KVM🤷🏻‍♂️

4

Is this for working at home with work laptop? Have you tried RDP/VNC? If you want >1080p and/or >60Hz a good KVM may be the way to go. If you just want to be able to use one good setup with: multiple monitors, keyboard and mouse with your desktop and laptop; RDP/VNC might be an easier solution and works perfectly well for most office and programming type tasks.

My work at home setup is:

  • work laptop (win 10) with RDP server running, plugged into power and ethernet
    • I have my work laptop plugged in on other side of the room, but I have coworkers who have plugged their laptops in other rooms of their houses
  • note the local IP of laptop
    • so I can skip this step, I have router set to give static address (192.168.1.50 for example below)
  • on desktop launch “xfreerdp /u:USER /p:PASSWD /v:192.168.1.50 /multimon”
    • replace USER:PASSWD with appropriate credentials for machine running RDP server, or omit /u and /p to be prompted
    • can also use “RDP Client” if running windows
    • “/multimon” tells xfreerdp to use all available displays, in “RDP Client” there is a multiple monitor setting that does the same

And then you are running multiple monitors and your good keyboard and mouse. All without a mess of cables or additional hardware. That said if you are doing something like: CAD, video editing, gaming, or anything else that requires low-latency/high-refresh this is not the solution.

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