Home > Consumer Reviews > IOGAER GCS14 4-Port MiniView PC PS/2 KVM Switch Kit with Cables(PS/2)

The IOGear GCS14's price is quite reasonable: IOGear includes 4 sets of cables that would cost you extra with the equivalent Belkin SOHO unit. If you were to buy 4 cable sets, the price quickly adds up.

Functionally, the GCS14 is a molded plastic box that's slightly longer than a 3.5" hard drive. It requires no external power. There are 5 color coded PS2 and VGA connectors arrayed on three sides of the box. The "front" of the box has a single button for manually selecting which of the four computers you'd like to see in sequence. In addition to this button, you can use keyboard hotkeys: press CTRL-ALT-SHIFT then the number, and the unit will switch.

Now, the down side:

(1) I have an old-school buckling spring 84-key IBM short keyboard (it has no numeric keypad). It's PS/2, but it apparently works differently than the standard 102 or 104 keyboards that most people have. I was unable to use the CTRL-ALT-SHIFT sequence with this unit, so I had to press the button on the box to switch. This makes the unit unusable for me, but most people probably have standard keyboards and wouldn't experience this problem.

(2) The GCS14 (and all current IOGear KVMs, according to their web site's technical support) does NOT support USB-to-PS/2 adapters. If you're not sure what this adapter is, it's the (usually) green-colored plug that is attached to your USB mouse when you plug it into the PS/2 mouse port. Because the GCS14 doesn't work with this, a lot of modern mice (such as my Logitech MX300) are incompatible. You will need to use a "pure" PS/2 mouse that requires no adapter. On a side note, the Belkin 2-port KVM Switch with Built-In Cabling (F1DK102P) DOES work with USB-to-PS/2 mouse adapters.

(3) The build quality and ergonomics of the unit are a bit on the cheap side. The cables splay out from three sides, with no built-in provision to mount the unit on a wall. The plastic, while solid, feels a bit cheap. I peeled a piece of rubber away from the unit with little effort, held on as it was with gummy adhesive.

Aside from those three gotchyas, the GCS14 will probably work for most people using standard PS/2 keyboards and mice. It's a moderately good deal.

I have three machines hooked up to this box and, so far, it's performing no worse than the Belkin and other boxes I've used in the past. Since those vendors charge about as much for one set of cables as this entire unit costs, that makes it fairly impressive.

The only complaint I might have so far is that the fit and finish of the box feels a bit sub-par. The case is a bit flimsy looking but, I suspect, as long as it's not abused, this won't impact functionality.

Video shows absolutely NO noticeable degradation, which I couldn't say about the Belkins I've used. Switching works fine. My vanilla PS/2 keyboard and mouse work without incident.

I'm going to try a USB mouse with a PS/2 adaptor just for grins. If it doesn't work, no big deal since the manufacturer made no promises. But I've heard stories of them working fine.

I don't regret the purchase and I'd buy it again. It's a great deal.

I recently bought this switch, in a package which includes 4 6-foot kvm cables, from another vendor, and I'm very happy with it. It works perfectly.

Unlike one of the reviewers below, my USB Logitech mouse, connected via a PS/2 adapter, has absolutely no problems, neither with the buttons, nor wheel, nor scrolling. I suspect his mouse problem is due to the driver. I use the standard Microsoft PS/2 mouse driver. You don't necessarily need a "pure" PS/2 mouse, though the instructions indicate that serial to PS/2 will not work.

The video quality is also great, no loss or distortion whatsoever. I was actually prepared to see some loss in video, so I was very pleasantly surprised.

The keyboard works great too, as do the hot keys for switching ports. I even connected the mouse and monitor to a DOS machine that uses an older keyboard connection. So for that I have to swap keyboards. Nevertheless, the video and mouse still work fine.

I chose this switch after much review. The decision came down to Belkin vs IOGear. Given the overall consensus and price, I chose IOGear. Also, I found that the cables are very important. So I think it makes sense to buy a package which includes cables; unless you need much longer ones, in which case be prepared to pay extra for quality. Video quality though is dependant on cable length, so shorter is better.

It comes with all the cables you'll need for all 4 PCs and works perfectly. No problems at all. Plugged everything in and it just works without any degredation in performance or picture quality.

It might look a little cheap, but the fact is you are going to have 15 cables sticking out of the thing, so you're going to hide it if you have any sense at all, and so how it looks will make no difference. The whole point of a KVM switch is so that you can do your switching from a single keyboard.

This is the one to buy if you have non-USB keyboards and mice. You plug your non-USB keyboard and mouse and your monitor into one set of plugs, then you use the included cables to connect the switch to the PCs you want to use (the PCs must have non-USB keyboard and mouse connections) and that's it. It draws power from the systems to which it is connected.

There are an awful lot of reviews out on the Web for KVM switches. Usually, more information is good, right? In this case, I found so many contrasting opinions on any given switch or company that I was banging my head against the desk just trying to decide what to buy. Usually, the head-banging doesn't start until the equipment has been received and the setup begins.

In this case, I found that most of the head-banging had evidently been paid up front.

I got the box, hooked it up to two computers (a third is on the way, and if that changes anything, I'll try to repost), and turned the computers on. Nobody was happy with anything. The first computer didn't seem to like the display and the second didn't seem to like the keyboard or mouse. (Obviously, I couldn't tell whether the first liked the keyboard or mouse.) The three keyboard lights were stuck on Num, Caps, and Scroll Lock, no matter which system had the KVM's focus. Note that both systems had been verified as working alone with the monitor, keyboard, and mouse, prior to my receiving the KVM switch.

I tried disconnecting the mouse and keyboard individually from the switch and plugging them back in. No effect. I power cycled the "visible" computer, no effect. I powered both down, powered both back up, and now everything seems fine. Don't ask me -- I'm trying not to believe in gremlins or voodoo.

Possibly (ir)relevant detail: When things started working, I realized that I had powered up the first, let it complete the boot cycle, and then powered up the second. It may be that the KVM switch is unable to convince two machines that are simultaneously booting that everything is connected, although this is pure speculation on my part. I'll probably stick to this sequence in the future (no, voodoo, no!) because I like to watch boot sequences. Yeah, I'm a nerd.

System specifics:

o System 1: (The originally non-displaying system) Gateway G6-350, running Windows 98
o System 2: Dell Precision 330, running Windows 2000 Pro
o Monitor: Gateway EV700. Curiously, this is the monitor that shipped with system 1, which made the initial display problem even more puzzling.
o Keyboard: The standard PS/2 keyboard that shipped with the Gateway
o Mouse: Microsoft Wheelmouse Optical (2-button). This is a USB mouse that came with an adaptor for insertion into a PS/2 port. I bought it last week because the Dell didn't recognize the wheel behavior of the original Gateway mouse. The software that came with the mouse was installed on the Gateway, but not on the Dell, by oversight. No biggie -- everything that I need the mouse to do, it does.

Minor Feature Complaints:

o As has been noted here and on other sites, the layout of the switch, with outputs on the two long sides, makes for a bit of an octopus. If you want to have access to the switch, to change between systems without using hot keys, this might annoy you.

o There is only one button on the switch, so you have to cycle among all ports every time you want to change active systems. Not only will this be even more annoying when I hook up my third system, it's just plain annoying that the switch isn't smart enough to only switch between connected ports. However, the hot key functionality makes up for this to some degree.

o The ports are "numbered" internally such that 1 and 3 are on one side, and 2 and 4 on the other. This seems a bit bone-headed.

o The ports are not visibly numbered on the box (at least that I noticed, and if they are labeled, then the labels should be more obvious)

Conclusion:

I bought this switch because it seemed to be a good combination of price and features. The Amazon markdown was almost scarily good; I hoped that it meant that Iogear had come out with something new, and everybody just wanted to clear inventory.

My research indicated that Iogear, D-Link, and Linksys were usually rated mostly okay by users, with Belkin somewhat below, and other, cheaper models not often discussed. The Aten and Avocent lines seemed positively reviewed, especially by online magazines and the like, but you're talking a big price bump (they are usually eight-port switches).

I would have liked better switching, better cable routing, and an on-screen display, but these weren't deal breakers -- I knew what I was trading off to save money. The hot key sequence to change systems is not annoying to me -- as a regular Emacs user, I'm used to "chording" -- but it may be, to others.

So . . . so far, so good. Knocking wood, not because I believe in voodoo or gremlins, but because I'm Irish, and that's what we do.