MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Oh STW, font of all knowledge: a question about KVM switches.
I've got three computers I'd like to hook up to the same monitor, keyboard and mouse. Two of them have HDMI outputs, but one of them (the most important one I use for work) only has old-school VGA. The monitor has HDMI and VGA inputs, the mouse and keyboard are both wired USB units.
I'm assuming there's a switch out there that can handle this, but my Amazon searching skills are letting me down... Can anyone help?
I see three options
HDMI/USB switch and manually switch the screen for the VGA compooter.
Or if they have USB3 ports a USB3 to USB and HDMI hub and just move the cable between each computer.
Or use virtual desktop from one computer to the other two.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TechRise-High-Speed-adapter-Converter-Charging-Black/dp/B01E8DD6J6
+
https://www.amazon.co.uk/mrocioa-Switcher-Remote-Splitter-Support-Blue/dp/B0815V9HVP
+
https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Sharing-Keyboard-Scanner-Printer-Black/dp/B01N6GD9JO
About £55 all in
one of them (the most important one I use for work) only has old-school VGA
I'd be reducing the variables before I started worrying about KVMs, stick a HDMI graphics card in it. Converting a digital signal to analogue to convert it back to digital again is, erm, sub-optimal. Ten seconds' googling gave me this for sub-£20:
... though you might need something beefier depending on screen res.
What do the other two do? Is RDPing to them a practical option?
I’d be reducing the variables before I started worrying about KVMs, stick a HDMI graphics card in it.
Not sure the bank that lent me the laptop to work on would be too happy if I started swapping out its internals 🙂
What do the other two do? Is RDPing to them a practical option?
The other two machines are a Raspberry Pi and a 5 year old Lenovo running Win10.
I'll almost certainly end up using RDP for the RPi once I've got it up and running, but for the moment I'd rather use a proper monitor+computer set up as I find RDP a bit crap, not to mention the work laptop blocks RDP connections when I fire up the VPN. (And I shouldn't be using it for home stuff anyway, of course...)
Cheers for the suggestions - I'll almost certainly go with a VGA->HDMI convertor and a USB switch.
Or just plug the VGA directly into the monitor and switch inputs via the monitor when you need to.
Don't over complicate it.
Not sure the bank that lent me the laptop to work on would be too happy if I started swapping out its internals 🙂
Ah, I could've sworn you said it was a desktop! Sorry.
Or just plug the VGA directly into the monitor and switch inputs via the monitor when you need to.
Thats the approach I use with the work laptop. Depends on how easy the monitor makes it but works nicely for me.
+1 for switching the monitor manually, my Dell monitor allows you to assign one of it's buttons as a short-cut key - I guess it it involved going into a menu each time I might lean more towards the converter option.
Or just plug the VGA directly into the monitor and switch inputs via the monitor when you need to.
Don’t over complicate it.
Just had a play with the buttons on the monitor, didn't realise you could force it to use one input or the other - it had an auto setting which would default to HDMI if it was available, which was confusing things.
As KVM solutions go it addresses the V but doesn't really mitigate the need for three sets of K and M...?