Windows and Mac USB switcher

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27 Jul 2012
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1,705
Are there any USB hub-type devices that can plug into my Windows or my Mac so that I can keep my keyboard and mouse on my desktop and be able to seemlessly switch from using it for my PC to my Mac whenever I turn on my Macbook Pro?

Cheers
 
Man of Honour
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13 Oct 2006
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90,820
Yup - I've found it works well - the best out of any cheaper options I've tried for compatibility with a wide range of keyboards/mice and different OSes.

Doesn't switch quite as fast as my more expensive 4 port KVM which is instant - but it switches the devices between the machines in less than 2 seconds when pressing the button and so far it has just worked seamlessly for me.
 
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OP
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27 Jul 2012
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Yup - I've found it works well - the best out of any cheaper options I've tried for compatibility with a wide range of keyboards/mice and different OSes.

Doesn't switch quite as fast as my more expensive 4 port KVM which is instant - but it switches the devices between the machines in less than 2 seconds when pressing the button and so far it has just worked seamlessly for me.

Is there any lag once it has switched?
 
Man of Honour
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If synergy has no lag then I think I might just refund the 2 port USB kvm and go with the software as it means less plugging in etc.

Personally I had 1-2 minor compatibility issues when gaming with synergy and you have the downsides that the host PC needs to be on to use the input with the 2nd PC and if the main PC crashes or is very busy, etc. then you are down until it is back up as well.
 
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Personally I had 1-2 minor compatibility issues when gaming with synergy and you have the downsides that the host PC needs to be on to use the input with the 2nd PC and if the main PC crashes or is very busy, etc. then you are down until it is back up as well.

Synergy has too many issues. USB is the only way! It still has one slight set back which is that when my PC is in sleep if I switch to my Mac then switch back, my PC wont recognize that as the software needs to activate the KVM. It means I cant wake my PC using KB/M and that it takes about 10s to register my input first.
 
Caporegime
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8 Mar 2007
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I use one of these as its USB3.0:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00JX3Q28Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Plug the single end into my monitor which has a USB hub and has my mouse, keyboard and a spare Micro USB plugged in, then have one cable going to my PC and another tucked out the way which I plug into my laptop when needed, and then a press of a button swaps keyboard, mouse and Micro USB between the machines.

I want to combine it with a ThunderBolt 3 dock so that I can also connect my monitor to the laptops USB3.1, but they are silly expensive at the moment so I use a separate HDMI cable.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
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90,820
Synergy has too many issues. USB is the only way! It still has one slight set back which is that when my PC is in sleep if I switch to my Mac then switch back, my PC wont recognize that as the software needs to activate the KVM. It means I cant wake my PC using KB/M and that it takes about 10s to register my input first.

Hmm think the only way around that is the higher end KVMs that constantly emulate a hub device on each port.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Feb 2006
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3,368
I use Synergy for 3 PC's and a Mac and it does have some issues. The one that gets me the most is when a Windows program needs admin and the popup loads, I have to use the keyboard that’s connected to the pc where the popup is to click ok. Also some games don’t like Synergy so I need to stop it to play them (Doom is one). Overall it’s really good, been able to copy and paste from one pc to the other is greate but I have not tried a hardware KVM.
 
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