Pros: 1)heavy enough so it does not move slide all over my desk - given the tension in the cables I've seen this happen with other switches. 2) this will be my 3rd from IOGear and 7th (?) overall. IOGear's KVMs have lasted 3-5 years before they go out. Meets my expectations. 3) mouse/keyboard/video and sound have worked out-of-the-box.

Cons: 1) price
2) cable length - while adequate does not meet my needs so I end up buying longer ones (my PC's are in the closet).

Other Thoughts: At this point in the game i don't even look at competitors - unless I can't get what i'm looking for with IOGear (like supported screen resolution). I don't have to worry about it being cheap or breaking down after 6 months.

Pros: Switches DVI & USB together, special USB port for keyboard and mouse, hotkeys for switching work great

Cons: According to IOGear's web site, the mouse port only emulates a "generic 2-button scroll wheel mouse" so that's a problem with all of the wireless mice I've tried including Microsoft and Logitech mice. The issue is the scroll wheel sensitivity. The Mac works great with the Logitech mouse, but each time switching to Windows, Windows "forgets" the scroll sensitivity and cranks it up so one little blip of the wheel and you jump to the bottom of a page. You can unplug the receiver and plug it back in and you'll get the sensitivity fixed. But that's no fun every time you switch over. What's the point of a KVM!? (For a while I had the mouse receiver hooked in through a USB 1.1 hub that was plugged in to the KVM and that seemed to work but when the old mouse broke, the new mouse didn't respond the same way.)

After finally getting sick of this, I re-read the instructions and there's something in there about mouse emulation control so I tried that. It caused the keyboard and mouse to both not be recognized by either Mac or Windows. A little more fiddling and I figured out that removing the mouse receiver from the mouse port and putting it in the front USB port of the KVM seems to get everything working. The keyboard is back to normal and the mouse settings appear to stick even when switching between modes.

Other Thoughts: The KVM is supposedly firmware upgradeable but that's only useful if there is a firmware upgrade released and there has not been. The switch has been around for years and considering I think they have some room for improvement on mouse emulation, I would have liked to have seen a firmware upgrade by now.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for choosing IOGEAR and we apologize for the inconvenience. You can try turning off the mouse emulation and see if this corrects your problem. Also make sure to hold the port selection button for 2-3 seconds if you are switching ports with the front panel buttons to make sure you are doing a full focus switch. There is a firmware upgrade posted on the IOGEAR website. http://www.iogear.com/support/dm/driver/GCS1782G#display To better service you and understand your set up, please feel to contact our customer support at 1-866-946-4327 or email us: support@iogear.com. Once again, thank you for choosing IOGEAR..

Pros: Excellent quality construction
Works very well
Solid/heavy, doesn't slide or tilt due to all those cables
All-digital signal with no quality loss
Audio switching
In case of zombie apocalypse, you could bash a skull with it, unlike plastic junk

Cons: Expensive

Other Thoughts: I've been very happy with this product. It's well built, has good features, and works great. I haven't had any problems. I like the quality - so much stuff is cheap plastic junk these days that slides off your desk from the weight of the cables. The unit and ports feel solid, not loose. It's got heft. I think it will last a long time. I have to say they did their homework and thought things through - it's well-engineered in terms of ergonomics and things are intelligently laid out. It does what it's supposed to do, and I like that it has DVI ports so I have an all-digital signal with no loss of quality. The addition of audio switching is nice too. An HDMI version would be nice.

Even having said all that, I still think it should cost half as much. I don't mind paying a little extra for quality, I don't expect to pay rock-bottom, but it's is really up there. But I guess they can get away with it because most other KVMs really suck. Clearly the competition needs to step up its game. I'd give it five eggs if it weren't for the price.

Pros: Supports 7.1 audio, gaming keyboards and mice*, two external USB devices including printers;
Cables included: 2 - 6 ft DVI-D with integrated USB (for KB/Mouse) and 2.1 audio (presumably for the headset with mic), 2 - 6 ft 7.1 audio, PS/2 KB/mouse to USB adapter;
Switch between systems using hotkeys, front panel buttons, or mouse buttons;
Nicely weighted so they cabling doesn't cause it to sit at odd angles.

* to support gaming mouse, have to disable mouse emulation in the KVM

Cons: The write up on NewEgg does not mention that cables are included with the device. If you need DVI-D, then you can save yourself some money as all the cables you need are included. If you need DVI-I (like I did), you'll need to purchase extra cables. Not really a con if you do your homework.

Other Thoughts: Stumbled across this while looking through the KVMs. I've been looking for some way to share my 5.1 surround system and now I have it. So far, so good. I'm a light to moderate gamer and this does just what I need. Haven't given it a full workout (so far just have the KVM features in use, have not tried the external USB support) but it works as advertised and I am pleased with the results.