KVM Switch

[jimbrogers]

I am looking for a recommendation. I work from Home, have a desktop with two monitors, one HDMI and one HDMI Adapted (not sure what that is called). I have a work laptop and docking station. I have to shut my desktop down daily to connect the monitors for my work and then back for personal use in the evening. One of my IT guys mentioned a KVM switch but can't help me. Can someone recommend something that I could push a switch and shift back and forth from desktop to laptop without shutting down every day that is not helping the desktop unit. I am a bit of a dummy when comes to this, I am a finance guy and not a teckie. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You.

 

[bharvey2]

I've used a number of KVM switches from IOGear over the years and they are very simple and reliable. The ones I've used are for VGA monitors, not HDMI but they do make them with HDMI capability. For a simple two computer setup, this is very close to one I use:

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-2-Port-Switch-Cables-GCS22U/dp/B004YCUDMU?th=1

I've not used this model specifically but I've been pretty happy with any IO Gear KVM switch I've used to date.

 

[N9JIG]

I have had the same experience with IO Gear KVM's myself, good performance, good reliability, decent price. When I was still using them HDMI units were persnickity but since we used VGA on the servers they were used on it was not an issue.

If your monitors support both HDMI and DP or some other method of multiple inputs you can use the Input Selection to switch the monitor from one computer to another. I have been doing that for years to share monitors between my Mac and Windows machines.

Many mice and keyboards also have the ability to pair between multiple computers these days too. My Bluetooth mouse and keyboard from Logitech have that ability as well. This way a KVM switch would not really be needed.

 

[jimbrogers]

Thanks everyone for comments, greatly appreciated.
My desktop does not have any DP ports, just one HDMI, so I am out of luck.
I do use an HDMI to USB adapter to get two screens on my desktop.
I tried one from Amazon for 2 monitors, 2 PC's and needed DP ports which I dont have, so it went back.
I am just tired of unplugging my desktop each day for work on my laptop.

 

[N9JIG]

Check if your MONITOR has multiple inputs, if it does then you can share it between 2 computers. I have been doing that for years and it works fine.

 

[bharvey2]

The link I left above is for computers and monitors with HDMI connections and I think it would work for your application. With regard to adapter cables (e.g. HDMI to Displayport) I've found them to work fine of they are of good quality.

 

[StaticDischarge]

If you have everything connected to your network you can use a free program called AnyDesk and then this omits the need for a kvm.
I use it to connect to all of my Raspberry Pi's, Windoze machines from my main Linux box and when a friend has a problem with their machine I have them download the software (if they can) and I can fix it without leaving home.