Makes Having Multiple Computers Much Less of a Pain.
Written: Feb 11 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Best switchbox I’ve seen.
Cons: Seems Expensive. Way too Expensive!
The Bottom Line: If you need it and can use it, it is invaluable.
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| grimjack2's Full Review: Belkin Omnicube F1D094 |
I cannot believe what this thing costs! It was $200 for the four port model. The two port model is still $150 if you can believe that! I’ve seen older, non powered four PC switchboxes selling new for $28, and maybe even for $10 less at computer shows!
The Belkin Omnicube lets you use one PS2 keyboard, one PS2 mouse, and one standard monitor with up to four different PC systems. Most businesses may have multiple servers where this would be especially handy. In my apartment, I have two computers, and one is just used as a CD burner, so this could be handy for me. Currently, I have to share a monitor by unplugging and switching the cable between them. I have a friend who has a second computer that is just used for downloading stuff from the Internet. He is the one who recommended this brand to me and says it is perfect for his needs.
There are two big problems with the cheaper switchboxes that make the Belkin worth the huge price difference. On a cheaper non-powered switchbox, the computer will not detect the mouse and keyboard if it hasn’t been selected to that computer upon bootup. The Belkin makes machines think there is a mouse and keyboard hooked up to it all the time, even though no keypresses or mouse movements are sent to it. The other big problem with the non-powered switchboxes is that they cannot handle monitors larger than 17” without severe noise distortions.
On the Belkin you select which computer to use with one large button that only counts up between one through four, and then back around. It might have been nicer with four separate buttons. Or maybe even a button that lets you also go backwards.
There is a flashing red light that shows which machine has been selected. The numbers are a little close. It might have been better if there were vertical lights so that you could write on a sticky note what each station was. One of our machines doesn’t work with the Belkin because it uses a serial mouse and the older style keyboard. However, I do still have this machine hooked up to the monitor. The Belkin’s red light on this station flashes as if it weren’t hooked up to anything. I’m actually very annoyed by the constantly flashing red light. I wish it would just stay on, and only flash if the mouse, keyboard and monitor weren’t attached or something.
Overall, it is actually a very nice design. It is small being only 4.5" deep, 7.25" wide, and 1.75" high. The four outgoing ports in back are nicely labeled with large pictures of the keyboard & mouse. The incoming mouse & keyboard ports in the front have a raised black image on the black case. These are actually very hard to see. But, they are also all colored green & purple for easy visual reference when there is nothing plugged into them.
This product is linux tested, according to the box. I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t work with any operating system, but they seem to brag about the linux compatibility as if competitors cannot do it or something. My favorite quote on the box though, is where it says that it is Y2K compliant. What exactly does that mean coming from a device that has no clock, or dealings with time at all?
The keyboard and mouse emulation seems to work perfectly for me. When I’ve booted up a machine not selected on the Belkin, neither the BIOS or Windows gives a mouse or keyboard not found error. The cube even recalls the Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock key's status for each computer automatically. This can actually be very helpful with some systems.
After switching stations, the mouse doesn't register anything for between one & two seconds. The book says this is ensuring proper mouse synchronization. On my older non-powered switchbox, the mouse doesn’t respond for one or two seconds after moving it. This is much more annoying.
If you are forced to put the switchbox out of easy reach, there are hotkeys you can use to access it from the keyboard. If you double click the scroll lock key, and then press 1-4, or the arrow keys, you can select a station or cycle through them. You can also press '0' to autoscan each station for 10 seconds until the spacebar has been hit. This could be used by server monitors the same way some security cameras cycle between their views.
I’ve read other reviews here that say the Belkin cubes have MS Intellimouse and Intellimouse Pro support problems, but I don’t seem to have any. I hooked one up just to try, and it worked fine, although I didn’t try using all the extra buttons to see if they registered too. I didn’t want to install the software just to test these out when I wasn’t going to leave the mouse hooked up to that machine. My cube says “Version 2” on the box, so maybe the older “Version 1” has the problem.
I’ve seen this hooked up to a 19” monitor, and can say that there is no extra noise or fuzziness that I get with my older cheaper switchbox. Some 17” monitors have noticeable noise with my old switchbox when used at resolutions above 1024x768. The documentation boasts being able to handle up to 1600x1200 @ 65Hz without visible signal degradation. That sounds pretty impressive.
If I have any complaints besides the price, it is that my old style extension cables didn’t work with the cube because they have male connectors for the monitor in the back. I bought three Belkin cable kits from my local CompUSA for $22 each that included two PS2 extensions, and one monitor extension for each of the three machines we hooked up to it. I could have bought the cables separately for almost the same price.
It should also be noted that it can be used on a Macintosh monitor only by using an adapter cable.
If you need something like this, it is worth the price since the competition is far inferior. It is just hard to imagine purchasing one of these for the home.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
grimjack2
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Location: San Rafael, CA, Marin County
Reviews written: 181
Trusted by: 124 members
About Me:
Film is my favorite art form. I live a life of constant amelioration.
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