Home > Consumer Reviews > Startech.com SV411K Reliable StarView KVM Switch Kit with Cables (4-port)

It just works fine and stable. In addition to the keyboard shortcut sequences (ex. Ctrl,Ctrl,4 for PC4), you can just press the push button on the box to change the PC. The video are all good for all PCs with different resolutions. No annoying beeps. Good quality on the box and 4 cables. From my experience, this device will NOT work with USB. For example, if connect a USB mouse and then a converter to PS/2, then to this device, it won't work. Another example, if the PC only with USB port, you connect its cable (the one that connect to the PC) with a PS/2 to USB converter, then connect the USB end to the PC, it won't work either.

When I worked at my university's computer repair center, we used this KVM exclusively. I don't know how that came about, but I do know that when the time came that I needed a KVM of my own, this was first on my mind.

I think I paid 60-something for it, including shipping. It's the second KVM I've ever bought - the first being a TrendWare TK-400 series, purchased from Newegg. This serves as the primary basis for comparison.

Pros (for the StarTech, not the TrendWare):
* Doesn't beep when you change ports - thank you!
* Included cables are less stiff, and a bit more compact, so they're easier to manage when running them through a tight space (say, behind a desk), or packing/unpacking them (if you move the KVM around a lot).
* These cables plug in all on one side, with one more side being used only for the two "terminal" PS/2 ports. VERY nice not to have the cables veer off in all four directions like they do with the TrendWare. Even though the TrendWare is the same physical size as this StarTech device, the latter takes up much less room on my desk with the cables all going in the same direction.
* Control the selected port with your keyboard - ctrl-ctrl-, to go to the Xth port. My TrendWare used a Scroll Lock double-tap instead, which really is more of a philosophical problem than a practical one. Scroll Lock is a toggle key - it shouldn't be used as a command key, in my opinion. Like I said - philosophical.
* Like the TrendWare, there is a button on the unit itself to switch ports, though I never feel the need to use it.

Cons:
I can't really think of any. My fairly simple needs are more than met by this device. It'd certainly be cool if it had ports for dual, simultaneous, independent terminals, but if you search for KVMs with that feature, you will notice that they're all high-end and quite expensive.

Resolution note: I've never used this KVM higher than 1280x1024 @ 60Hz, so I can't attest to its performance at higher resolutions or refresh rates.

Conclusion:
The StarTech SV411K is a simple 4-port VGA-and-PS/2 KVM that gets the job done reliably. If you want to control four machines from one monitor, keyboard, and mouse, this little guy ought to do the trick.

There are a lot of crappy consumer-end KVMs that are in the same price range or above (check out Belkin's cheaper offerings). This particular KVM seems to... just do the job right.

After reading all the positive reviews, I thought this would be a good choice for me. Unfortunately, I missed the comment that it doesn't work with USB to PS/2 adapters. I have a mouse that has worked with every other KVM switch I've ever seen, an older MS Optical mouse. It has a USB connector that goes into a PS/2 converter.

Unfortunately, it didn't work with this switch, so I had to return the item. I haven't seen a plain PS/2 mouse in awhile (but I haven't looked for one either--a quick google shows that they're still around) but I didn't want to buy a new mouse just to use with the switch.

I work on multiple computers and occasionally have to bring another computer into the mix for repairs. This KVM is small, well laid out and simple to use.

It has proprietary cables with one end looking like a VGA connector and the other end has three connectors: Keyboard, Video and Mouse. Because of the single head at the KVM side, it takes up less space.

You want your "default" PC - the one that is on all the time - to be connected to port 1. After that, you can use the other ports as you want to. I found that if I didn't have something up and running on port 1, port selections after that were hit-and-miss.

You can switch between screens with a keypress (ctrl ctrl 1, 2, 3 or 4)or you can use a button on the device itself.

It is simple, reliable, small, and affordable. The only possible downside is the proprietary cable.

Very nice at 1920x1200. Earlier StarView KVMs could only handle 1600x1200, but this is very clean at the max resolution--modulo the quality of the analog signal coming from the graphics cards. (That is, if you're used to viewing DVI directly on a display panel, you'll find that different cards have quite different analog quality at high resolutions... and perhaps slightly blurred/ghosted by the KVM; real *digital* DVI signal switching KVMs are still very expensive.) Device is painless to set up, does away with the annoying "channel-changing chirp" of earlier StarView models. Also, by merging the PS/2 mouse and keyboard signals on the VGA connector to the KVM, cabling is much neater with this than for models that bring all the cables separately to the KVM.