Home > Consumer Reviews > Cables To Go 35566 Trulink 4-Port VGA/USB 2.0 and PS/2 KVM Switch with Audio and Cables

I found this KVM switch very easy to use - pretty much just plug and play. I am able to use one keyboard and mouse for 3 computers. The impressive part is that I have 2 Macs and 1 PC. All work great with this switch, including sharing a printer. I especially like the fact that there is an available USB port for another device or flash drive.

As a software developer working on multiple platforms I have four PCs on my desktop and needed a good KVM to share a single keyboard and trackball between them.

After reading reviews on many products I chose the CablesToGo TruLink VGA and USB/PS2 KVM with Audio, model 35566.

The unit comes bundled with power supply and four cable sets to support keyboard, mouse and audio for each connected PC.

The cable sets appear to be of high quality but are only four feet long and it would be nice if they were a bit longer.

The unit itself is compact and well built, with a confidence inspiring heft that keeps it flat on the desk and rubber endcaps that keep it from sliding around. On the front panel are four PC selection buttons, LED indicators to show active PC video and USB ports, three USB ports for keyboard, mouse and another USB device that can be shared, and PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports. Connectors for power and for the cable sets to each PC are on the rear.

The unit can use hotkeys to switch between PCs but that only appears to work with PS/2 keyboards. Perhaps the included software could be used to switch but being that I work on three different OSs I didn't try it, relying instead on the front panel buttons to switch between computers.

For the first hour or so it seemed as if I had hit the "holy grail" of KVMs as the unit worked flawlessly. Then it happened, after switching from one computer to another the unit became confused, with LEDs showing video from one PC and also that the Keyboard and Mouse were simultaneously connected to TWO PCs. What? Well, the keyboard and mouse stopped working and the unit refused to respond to further front panel button presses.

Fortunately there is a small paperclip reset hole on the front panel. After resetting the unit started working again. This problem then repeated itself every few hours throughout the day.

Originally I used a USB Kinesis brand keyboard with a wireless Logitech trackball. Thinking that maybe there were compatibility problems I switched to a wired Dell USB keyboard with a wired Dell USB mouse. No joy, the problem continued.

I contacted CablesToGo support and was asked to return the unit for an exchange since it was defective. To their credit they had a real human answer the email quickly and politely. I asked the support representative if they had ever seen this problem before and was assured that they had seen the problem and it was always due to a defective unit.

Amazon quickly shipped a replacement unit overnight. I swapped it out and it worked for a few hours before the inevitable lockup occurred. The new unit locks up as often as the old "defective" one so it seems logical that they all have this problem.

I'll keep the unit and live with having to reset it every couple of hours but CablesToGo should really either fix the bugs or, at the very least, replace the inconvenient paperclip reset with a real reset button since it is needed so frequently.

My advice would be to pass this unit by when looking for a KVM and try something else. I'd recommend another brand but, alas, they all seem to have these quirks. Inexcusable really.

I have owned this KVM switch for about 8 months or so. I thought this would be a good KVM switch. Came with cables, supports audio and PS/2 (on input, at least), which is getting harder and harder to find. But, this KVM switch has always been a little off. For example, if the KVM is not on the port of a rebooting computer, the screen size will be off, larger than monitor, and it requires a reboot to fix. This could be a resolution limitation or incompatibility with widescreen monitors, though.

The KVM does not play well with motherboards on boot (hitting delete to go into BIOS does nothing). I have had to reset the KVM frequently and keyboards will act like there are keys "stuck." The mouse can do the same thing. This is bad when you are trying to accomplish a simple task and the computer thinks you are holding the "Shift" key down or double-clicking on an icon keeps giving you the properties window instead of executing the program. But, it is really annoying when you are not even at a computer only to return and find that thousands of "a's" have been typed. Even worse when your browser thinks you keep clicking on something over and over and over again and get 500 tabs open in Firefox.

After less than a year of ownership, it has started to completely die. While dealing with yet another instance of the mysterious "stuck key" issue, the monitor suddenly went blue tinted to purple tinted to almost black. I thought it was the monitor, but a different monitor had just a black screen, too. I was able to get a picture again by unplugging the power and all USB cables (USB cables keep switch powered) and letting it sit. But, when I powered it back up, there is very, very bad ghosting that will not seem to go away.

Alas, this KVM is going the way of the trash man as I await another brand that will hopefully give me better luck. I have yet to find a KVM switch that will last forever -- they all seem to have a short lifespan -- but, 6-8 months is ridiculous, especially for something in the $150 range.

I have owned 2 Trendnet KVM's. One is the Tk 403KR which is supposed to support my wireless mouse. NO WAY. It even loses my old IBM Keyboard. I bought this switch and was impressed as soon as I took it out of the box. It is SOLID. The rubber ends mean that if you put it on something or something on it, air can circulate. For the first time I was able to use all the buttons on my mouse. To date my keyboard has not been dropped nor has my mouse gone "crazy" on my #2 machine which happened often with the Trendnet.
What they could have done better was to let us use the numeric keypad to hotkey switch instead of the number keys on the top of the qwerty keyboard. For a better look, they could have put the mouse and keyboard ports on the back instead of the front. I find the former an irration; the latter is just esthetics.
Would I reccommend this switch,"Yes" with no reservations at all. Would I buy it again, "Definitely."

Works exactly as advertised. Consolidated 2 displays, keyboards, etc., and two other RDP controlled systems with a lot of deskspace returned. Handles Win2k3 Server, Win2k-Pro and WinXP with no issues. I did have to update my older ATI Wonder drivers. For some reason the ATI card wanted to span and scan my 24" wide screen instead of running the 1920x1600 resolution direct. Update and a few setting changes solved the problem. CablesToGo has an excellent reputation and this product excellent reviews. For XVGA displays, this is a winner.