Apolonio Blog

I been using my new KVM for a week now, it is time to give a quick review.

Why I need a KVM?

First off, why do I need a KVM, recently I was told that I needed to separate my administrative tasks from my normal daily work. Then they went even deeper and said access to higher levels of access required another laptop. So now I haul around three laptops.

Unrelated note, you cannot stack and run laptops like this, the laptop senses some magnets and thinks the displays are closed and you can’t do some tasks (honestly I forget why), but another reason is heat.

And the way I work, I need multiple screens, furthermore I don’t have desk real estate for 3 laptops opened up with an extra monitor each. Also it is a pain to switch keyboard and mice.

I did have a logitech bluetooth keyboard and mouse that supported three devices. These are the Logitech M720 Wireless Triathlon Mouse and the Logitech K380 keyboard..

But this didn’t solve the way I like to work with 2 monitors. I was able to RDP into my single workbox in the past, but recent security changes now prevent me from doing this, so I decided to buy a KVM that could support dual monitor support.

I tried another KVM which was an off brand CMSTEDCD KVM that had 3 channels of two monitors each. It was frustrating to use, it could have been the monitors, because if the screen saver kicked in, the KVM would lose the monitors. The only saving grace was to go to my linux box which did not have a screen saver. I kept that KVM, it does work with some weird glitches, but ended up purchasing the TESmart 4 Port KVM Switch Dual Monitor.

This KVM was going into my main workspace so it needed to be Display Port.

This is my personal monitor layout

My graphics card has 3 Display Ports and 1 HDMI port. The bottom two are what connects to my new KVM, the top left locks to my main PC and I can play videos or have info I can reference there when switched to other devices. The top right is an interesting one, it is the output of my Elgato video capture hardware. The input is an external HDMI only switch with 4 ports itself. I use this to view the HDMI of anything else. Not the focus of this post but interesting notheless.

KVM Review

Now for the main part, the KVM review, this is the TESmart 4 Port KVM Switch Dual Monitor

As of this writing (I week after I purchased it) it is on sale for 389.99 which you can apply a $23 coupon to bring the price down. I little buyers remorse because I paid 459.99 and with the additional coupon it brought down the price to 439.99. Still keeping the switch though.

In addition to the unit itself it came with rackmount ears, an IR remote, a remote, 12V power supply, 8 DP Cables, 4 USB cables, and a manual.

The cables are important because they do add up. In my use case they were mostly short, and I expended about another $50 to $100 for longer cables. The cables included were 6 foot long, but they way I laid out my area they were too short.

To move between channels, I use the hot key, there are buttons you can press, but the hot key is what I use. Double pressing the right CTRL button then the channel number switches you between the machines.

My use case is Dual monitor for each device with treating them as extended monitors. One feature that is really cool is you can lock the the monitor to one channel while you move around.

You can also lock USB devices.

There is a nice LCD display to show what is connected and what channel you are on.

My Setup

I do make use of multiple KVMs. The top one, is not a true KVM, but an HDMI switcher with 4 channel inputs. Like I mentioned above it goes to my elgato capture card.

In the middle is a cheap 4 channel HDMI KVM which I use for lab work. It goes to one of the HDMI switcher ports on top of it.

And on the bottom is my new Dual Monitor KVM.

I do make use of docking ports

When I come home, I just want to plug my three laptops in and start working.

Another side note: The docking station with the lightening bolt indicates a Thunder Bolt connection. Those do not work with my admin boxes because of how the USB-C/thunderbolt connection is locked down.

Problems and Cons

Here are some of the problems.

COST, if this was not subsidized by work I would not have gotten it. BUT that 389 sale price today… kind of gets close to what I would pay for it myself.

Monitors go out of sync. I found myself having to restart the KVM to get it recognized across devices. Sometimes only one monitor would appear.

There is a slight 1 sec delay between devices when you switch.

Conclusion

I like this unit, it is a keeper, the hot key makes my work easier. My desk is cleaner, and my workflow should be better.

I just got docking stations that are all compatible, so we will see how it is like on my next work day.

Weight: 333.2