ATEN 4-PORT Dual-link Dvi KVM CS1784A

It works!It's getting hard to find good switchboxes these days at a reasonable price. DVI switchboxes are especially obscure. It seems that the switchbox world is dividing into two market segments: really cheap consumer switchboxes permanently stuck in the past with VGA only, or super expensive enterprise/rackmount switchboxes that I don't need.After searching high and low, this Aten switchbox was the winner for me.I needed a good DVI switchbox, that would support DVI dual-link at 2560x1440 resolution, which is the maximum that DVI can do. The competing Belkin DVI switchbox can not do this!Switchboxes are notorious for falling off desks because of the sheer weight of the mountain of cables that are plugged into the back. This unit is nicely constructed, of good solid metal, to help hold it down. And, it has rubber grips at all eight corners, to further help it stay in place and not slide around! That's really good to see.All 4 sets of cables are detachable. All 4 sets of cables are included in the box for you, you don't have to buy separately! That's good. The only disadvantage is that the cables are just 2 meters (7 feet) in length. Considering this switchbox supports up to 4 computers, a few longer cables would have been nice to have. I had to put the switchbox right in the middle of all my computers, at a place unfortunately out of easy reach, in order to fit all of them.Once plugged in, the switchbox was perfectly up and running the first time! The keyboard shortcuts worked as described. My Microsoft Natural Keyboard worked, it didn't have a problem with it. My Razer Mouse worked, which is a pleasant surprise, as my old switchbox wasn't able to deal with this mouse correctly. The Razer was downgraded to a normal mouse, though, and the Razer drivers were no longer able to recognize the mouse through the switchbox. That's OK for me, because I didn't need any of the Razer proprietary features, and frankly thought them annoying. Glad to be rid of them.Audio sounds clear. Even though it's an analog path, there's no loss of quality that I could detect by going through the switchbox. As with all switchboxes that I have seen, you can only play audio from one source at a time. Why doesn't somebody make a switchbox that nicely mixes together audio from all of your computers? Then, you wouldn't need to mess with switching audio at all, everything would just work. It would be great to play MP3 music from one computer while still being able to hear email and messenger beeps from another computer, for example. Unfortunately, I know of no switchbox manufacturer that does this.Although it's an additional keystroke, and it's only selectable from the keyboard shortcut (not from pushbuttons), it is possible to switch video/keyboard/mouse to a different choice while still leaving audio/USB attached to where they were originally. So, it is possible to hear audio from one computer while working on a different computer, although this is cumbersome.Another thing that would have been nice to have is an "off" setting. If I leave one of the switchbox ports disconnected, I can simulate an "off" setting by switching to that unused poirt. However, if all 4 ports are full, then I have no way to select "none of the above". It is really handy to be able to lock out the keyboard/mouse and turn off the video, when leaving the computers unattended! I wish that a switchbox manufacturer would include this thoughtful feature as well, but unfortunately, none have.This switchbox has keyboard shortcuts for switching between the 4 ports, and also, there are pushbuttons on the front. The pushbuttons are thin, but sturdy. They are translucent, and actually split into two buttons per port. I couldn't find a meaningful difference between the top and bottom button. Behind each button, the currently selected port lights up, so that you know which one has been selected. There's also a light for each port to indicate that the connection is successful, even if it is not currently selected, which is helpful.Aten is an obscure brand. Iogear is much more common (at least in the USA where I am located). However, did you know that Aten is the true manufacturer of almost all of the switchboxes that Iogear rebrands as their own and resells? So, save yourself some markup, by just buying Aten instead of Iogear next time.I would definitely buy this switch again, it is a good one.Josh

I had a Belkin 2 port USB/DVI flip that worked with my Logitech wired gaming mouse and software. I know that many switches do not support gaming mice with extra buttons and few switches support my monitor resolutions of 2560x1440. One of the Belkin ports was going bad so I was hoping to get another. However, it seems Belkin doesn't make them anymore.I did some online research and came across ATEN KVMs. I have seen more good reviews for the CS1784A than poor and the specs seemed to support what I needed:- Console mouse port emulation/bypass feature that supports most mouse drivers and multifunction mice- Superior video quality: 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz (Single Link); 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz (Dual Link)- Console keyboard emulation/bypass feature that supports most gaming / multimedia keyboards- Firmware upgradableI decided to add my work laptop to the switch, so I needed the 4 port version, CS1784A (CS1782A is the 2 port)Keyboard, mouse and monitor switch very quickly. However, in order for my multifunction Logitech mouse to work at all, I had to disable mouse emulation (instructions for that are in the manual). I upgraded the firmware as well.I give the ATEN CS1784A 4 stars because it works as I hoped and works with my gaming mouse.I deducted 1 star because this KVM only supports 2.1 audio and I have 5.1 surround set up with my PC. The 2 port KVM, CS1782A has 2 - 7.1 audio ports. I'm sure it is a space issue on the CS1784A as there is little to no room for 4 - 7.1 audio jacks.Other than being stuck with (to me) useless 2.1 audio, I am pretty pleased with this KVM switch.

So, this KVM never really worked right from the get go.Had to call their tech support just to get the keyboard and mouse to be recognized, for every computer I added (added about 1 a week).When I added the 4th computer, last week, the keyboard stopped working, and the whole keyboard and mouse kvm would not in stall at all.Called their tech support, and they had me try different keyboards (2 others, besides the one that was hooked to it the whole month), and 1 other mouse (besides the one that was originally hooked to it).It was determined that the unit was bad (sound started going in and out on it, the extra usb 'port' kept switching ports, etc etc etc).So, they told me to rma it (which took over a week to get the rma instructions so I could send it in), which was fine.But, now, I am out 3 keyboards, 2 mice, and 2 usb ports (motherboard usb ports! there are no more usb ports left now!!).I called them up, and they said: Oh well. We dont support anything the kvm is hooked up to, just the kvm itself.So, THEIR kvm fried MY hardware, and I am out the hardware.Whats worse, now I cant even use THEIR new kvm they are sending me, because I have no usb ports anymore to hook them to!In order to use the kvm, I have to go buy a usb pci card, and 'hope' it will work with the kvm.So, I am out: 3 keyboards, 2 mice, 2 motherboard usb ports, and 1 usb pci card.Do yourself a favor, and buy B e l k i n instead. I had their kvm for almost 10 years before it started going out. And when it DID start going out, it didnt fry any hardware.Also, FYI, Aten is I O G e a r (I just found this out today when I called them). I o g e a r is just cheap junk. Seems Aten is also cheap junk, and they wont even back their junk up.If I could give it a zero, I would. Didnt even last 1 month.:(

The KVM loses the Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) when switching from one computer to another. Monitor then goes to sleep and will not wake up requiring a reboot of the PC. Returned KVM to Amazon.