Belkin F1DK102U 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Cables

Average customer rating: 2.0

Works for me.
Does not work well
Waste of money!
Good company misusing its reputation
so far so good...could use 1 more feature (see review)

Belkin F1DK102U 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Cables

Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B0001JXAQ6

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Product Description

This Switch provides an affordable KVM solution that saves workspace while giving you control of two USB computers from one console. Its compact design - with 8-foot, built-in cabling - saves you time on installation, space on your desktop, and money you don't have to spend on cables and peripherals. The Switch includes such features as a manual port selector and software that makes switching ports easy. The unit supports high-quality video resolution of up to 2048x1536 through built-in Belkin coaxial VGA cabling.

Customer Reviews:

Works for me........2007-02-05

I have one of these at work and one at home. Both are about 2 months old and both function as advertised. One PC video is set at 1600x1200 and the other at 1280x1024. Both produce good images through the switch.
ISSUE #1: When rebooting one PC the switch may get "lost" and must be unplugged and reconnected. It then works ok.
ISSUE #2: There is no keyboard or "hotkey" switching. This is a minus but the software switch does work correctly.
ISSUE #3: There is a delay of 3-4 seconds after switching before the mouse and keyboard are re-enabled.
ISSUE #4: The USB connector for the switched PC is on a fairly short wire. The distance between the video connector and USB connector may be an issue.
EQUIPMENT: Desktops, Toshiba Notebook. WindowsXP, Windows 2003 Server. MS 4000 Ergo Keyboard, MS 3000 Comfort Optical Mouse, MS Wireless Mouse.

Does not work well.......2006-07-24

I bought this product to switch between two PC's. Since both use USB. Did not work well, a few times I had to unplug it and get manually plug up one of the computers just to save my work. I am now using a linksys KVM and so far so good.

Waste of money!.......2006-05-02

This piece is a total waste of money.

1. No hot keys
2. USB mouse and USB Keyboard freeze more often than not !
3. Monitor freeze occasionally

I am not sure why Belkin makes such products and puts its reputation at stake.

Good company misusing its reputation.......2006-03-08

I developed hardware for an international company and I know the value of a Design Verification Test. It looks like the SOHO KVM was conceived by a desk jockey, thrown together and shipped with the thought of "let's try our luck". Sometimes you get lucky. Not this time. I have to add this KVM to my list of great disappointments and considering I use Belkin HW for my WLAN I am amazed that they ship such junk to the marketplace.
I had the Belkin "simple" version of KVM w/cables attached and it failed after one year - kept switching all by itself. Without problem, Belkin admitted to a design error, gave me an RMA and shipped me the "better" SOHO KVM. At first I was honestly impressed until I tried to hook it up. Why anyone would design such a device with non-standard VGA hookup is amazing to me. So you have to buy two cables on top. It looks like they OEMed the power supply and bought one with a 90-degree output plug. How dumb is that? It blocks the "device 1" USB socket. And trying to place the cable cover on this thing is a battle that tests your patience.
Some weeks later it failed - lost contact with KB and Mouse, beeped like a smoke detector and then would not switch at all to CPU2. Belkin sent me two WWW links - one for a flash and one for the flashing application. I did this and still it is stuck on "1" so I guess I'll get an RMA and another pass through the loop.
Had I known before about the history of this thing I would have gone for the IOGEAR device. My advice is don't buy such HW from Belkin - they just haven't done their homework. To Belkin I send my advice to design it, test it and then send it out to a few trusted souls in the field to stress it - going direct from lab to shipping dock doesn't work.

so far so good...could use 1 more feature (see review).......2006-02-28

Bought it about 1 month ago. I've had no problems with it at all.

the reasons it doesn't get 5 stars are as follows:

1. the online documentation is contradictory (1 part says that it won't work with Linux OSs and another part says that it will). This required me to call Belkin tech support to verify that it does indeed support linux.

2. there is another version of this device (I believe for ps2 connections) that has a keyboard shortcut for switching between machines. This particular version (USB) does not have that feature. It would have been nice to have.

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