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Belkin OmniView SE 4-Port KVM Switch
By Tikkler - November 8, 2000
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More and more technology-savvy users have multiple computers because of the dropping price of computer hardware. Low-end CPU's can be had for less than $100 (USD) and hard drives for a fraction of the price that they used to be a few years ago, but there's still one piece of equipment that never really seems to drop significantly in price: the monitor. So, because of this fact, most of these users with multiple computers don't have much money to spend on a decent monitor for all their computer systems, and so they're limited to swapping computers by plugging the monitor into whichever computer they wish to use.
Then there's the fact that most people don't have enough desk space to place more than 1 or 2 monitors, keyboards and mice for use on these multiple computers, so, once again, we're posed with another problem-space.
The solution to this problem lies in a device called a computer switch. The computer switch for switching between multiple computers using only a set of keyboard, mouse and monitor isn't a new idea. There are even 2 distinct types of these switches: the mechanical and the digital.
The mechanical type is sometimes called a "computer switch box" and, basically, it's just that-a box with a rotary dial on it for switching between multiple ports, and nothing more. Because of this, there are several problems that arise when using one of these devices. The first and foremost is the fact that these devices usually output very poor-quality video signals to the monitor, which means terrible ghosting problems in resolutions anything higher than 800x600-not much fun. Then, there's the second annoyance when your mouse would get disconnected and suddenly not work when switching between the different computers connected to the switchbox-not a big problem, but would require a Windows reboot once it happens, reducing productivity. The advantage to using one of these mechanical switchboxes, however, is that these can be bought for quite low prices, usually for less than $50 USD for a decent 2-port switchbox. Unfortunately, the low price does not balance out the poor performance, unless you're connecting computers running only text-based OS's such as DOS or Linux.
The second type of computer switch is much more complex and uses micro-processors to help it deliver a much better experience to the user. Using these micro-processors, these digital KVM switches can output a crisp, clear video signal, usually all the way up to 1600x1200 resolution and eliminates the mouse problem mentioned above and can maintain your mouse connection at all times and even emulate that a mouse is connected so it will get detected when OS's are booting up, even if you're not currently switched to that computer. Because of this added complexity, these devices are much more expensive than their mechanical counterparts, anywhere from $100 to a few thousand dollars, but if you're interested in connecting multiple computers running anything other than text-based OS's, you should only look into getting one of these.
 The OmniView line of KVM switches by Belkin is one of the latter type. The unit that we're reviewing here today is a OmniView SE KVM switch with support for connecting 4 computers to one set of keyboard, mouse and monitor and also Belkin's Pro Series OmniView PS/2 High-Integrity Cable Kit for support of up to 1600x1200 video resolution. The OmniView SE product is actually designed for network administrators who need to control multiple servers and save them time and effort from running back and forth between the servers; however, this product can just as easily be used in the home of a computer enthusiast or small-office. In fact, this product is the centerpiece of OnePC's new test lab as we plug all our test systems into it.
Before we move on with the review, I must remind you that the cable kits that Belkin offers are not included with the switch itself. At $263 USD, the OmniView SE 4-Port switch already weighs in at a pretty hefty price, but once you add in the $50 high-integrity cable kit for each computer (so that's an extra $200 for 4 computers) or the $30 standard cable kit for each computer (or an extra $120 for all 4 computers), suddenly you've just burned some deep holes in your pocket. The high-integrity cable kits are more expensive for a reason-they allow crisper images at higher resolutions (usually, you start loosing image quality at 1024x768 with the standard cable kit), so, you decide whether you wish to spend the extra dough on the higher-quality cable kits. Of course, you could always mix and match different cable kits for different computers.
 On to: Specifications
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