Controlling 2 PC's W/ One Keyboard/Mouse N' Sharing A Monitor?

[thisistoto]

Has anyone used these before: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817107702#DetailSpecs

And how would I be able to share a monitor among THREE machines (Two PCs and one iBook)?


Thaaaanks.

[thisistoto]

For sharing a monitor I came across this thing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817107219

But there has to be a cheaper way :hmm:

[diggrd]

I've used this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103306) for 3 and 4 PCs, has audio as well. Some KVMs are fussy and only work if everything is compatable, and cable length and quality especially with USB is important. I prefer to have seperate cabling some sets only connect at the video like this

http://store1.yimg.com/I/kvm-switch_1881_23244395

while it keeps things neat it just seems like you could be asking for trouble.

[GregY]

I briefly considered a KVM but may I ask ... how about a software solution instead? I have 3 PCs all connected to my network router. I'm able to use VNC (RealVNC) to connect to any one of them. Very simple to setup and it is free. You can also have it start as a service in Windows so it's there after the PC boots. Works great (for me.)

Don't know if there are Mac solutions for using VNC.

[ffooky]

Chicken of the VNC (http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14099) works pretty well and there's always Apple's own Remote Desktop, though I think it's a bit expensive.

[thisistoto]

Thanks for all the info. Im not trying to control my Apple, just hook it up to my existing monitor,

[U2Lynne]

We used a KVM switch for the kids when they each had their own computer but only one monitor for it (the other one had broken). It was an active PVM like the one you linked to. There is also a passive type which is much cheaper. The only thing is that you need to turn a knob on the KVM to indicate which computer gets to use the monitor.