IOGEAR 4 Port DVI KVMP Switch with Audio and Cables (GCS1764) | 
 enlarge | Brand: Iogear
Category: CE
List Price: $266.73
Buy New: $172.95
You Save: $93.78 (35%)
New (38) Used (1) from $172.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 8
Dimensions (in): 14 x 5 x 9
nv:Console Connections: 1
Computer Connections: 4
Keyboard Port Type: USB
Monitor Port Type: DVI
Mouse Port Type: USB
Audio Ports: Audio Out
Audio Ports: Microphone
Integrated KVM Cable: No
Power Supply Type: Bus Powered (No External Power Adapter Required)
LEDs: 4 Port LEDs
Port Selection: Push Button
Port Selection: Hot-Keys
Auto-Scan Intervals: 5 seconds
Switching Confirmation: Audio Beep
Warranty: 3 years warranty
MPN: GCS1764
Model: GCS1764
UPC: 881317003041
EAN: 0881317003041
ASIN: B0009UFOTS
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Device Type - KVMP Switch | | • | Form Factor - N/A | | • | Dimensions WxDxH - 2.93" x 10.25" x 1.65" | | • | Weight - 6.7 Lb | | • | Package Contents: 1 x GCS1764 KVMP switch 4 x 6' custom cables 1 x Firmware upgrade cable 1 x Power Adapter 1 x User Manual 1 x Quick Start Guide |
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Product Description
The IOGEAR DVI KVMP Switch GCS1764 charts a revolutionary new direction in KVM switch functionality by providing an interface for today's digital monitors while integrating a 4-port USB KVM switch with USB peripheral sharing capabilities. As a KVM switch, the unit allows the user to access four computers from a single USB keyboard, USB mouse, and monitor, and also share among the computers peripherals such as external hard drives, printers and scanners. The GCS1764's independent (asynchronous) switching feature allows the KVM focus to be on one computer while the USB peripheral focus is on another. The user can switch from one computer to another without interrupting print jobs, downloads or other functions being handled by connected peripherlas. This eliminates the need to purchase a separate USB hub as well as the need to purchase separate stand-alone peripheral sharers - such as printer servers, modem splitters, etc. It further improves on previous designs with DVI (Digital Video Interface) connectors, and the transfer of keyboard and mouse data to the computers via a fast, reliable USB connection. DVI supports both digital input (flat panel displays, data projectors, plasma displays, digital TVs and set-top boxes) and analog video input (traditional monitors and TVs). Fully compliant with the USB 1.1 specification - supports transfer rates of up to 12 Mbps DVI digital and analog monitor support - fully compliant with the DVI specifications Computer selection via front panel switches and hotkeys LED display for easy status monitoring Auto Scan Mode for monitoring all computers Complete keyboard emulation for error free booting Superior Video quality - 1600 x 1200; DDC2B Hot pluggable - add or remove computers for maintenance
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Completely Failed To Work January 8, 2009
This KVM switch completely failed to work. I hooked up my Mac G5 Tower and my Dell PC and it wouldn't send a signal through to the monitor, a Samsung 24" flatscreen. Just.. nothing. A black screen. I tried restarting all of the computers, powering on/off the monitor, the KVM switch, and nothing worked. The USB light for the second computer wouldn't turn on either, even though it was connected properly. This KVM switch is worthless.
I was unable to try the firmware upgrade because it required a serial port on a Windows machine. A SERIAL port? What year do they think this is?
 Works Well Except for Weird Sound Problem December 19, 2008
I just received this switcher, and for the most part it works well. I did discover that when first connecting it to a Windows box using PS2 keyboard and mouse, it's good to first connect box, let Windows discover it, then add USB mouse and keyboard to switcher. Linux did not have this problem (of course!). Anyway, as someone else mentioned, there is something wrong with the sound switching. The sound does get switched as expected, but it seems that the switcher is adding weird noises into the mix. Basically the switcher has the capability to leave sound and USB peripherals connected to one machine, while KVM (keyboard, mouse and monitor) is connected to another. This is actually a nice option, as I can listen to internet radio that is being played from one computer, while editing on another. But, unfortunately, weird noises get added to the sound when doing this. Really weird sounds! So, this box is almost great. I'm using it with a 1920x1200 monitor without any problems. The price also seems reasonable as well.
 Great switch November 17, 2008
Works great .Fast Shipping. All accessories included. Cons. Vga cards will not work even with adapters.
If clean sound is important then you won't be happy November 1, 2008
The short story:
If you just want basic KVM functionality you'll probably be happy. If you want clean sound through it you won't.
The longer, drawn out story...
I've owned a few IOGear KVM switchers in the past and liked them (although I've had to occasionally do a reset on them). This was my first experience with one from them that supports DVI or sound.
I was hopeful that the sound switching would be good after reading a review here on Amazon that said that sound worked perfectly through it. It may be that there's been a redesign since that review since I had the same problem with 2 different samples of the GCS1764.
For basic switching of KVM it works fine. My only complaint with the non-sound functionality is that I don't like the choice they made with the LEDs indicators within the individual switches themselves. They have 2 LEDs per switch to identify what's on and what's active. The upper light is amber and is right in the middle, skinny part of the switch, and it indicates if a PC is turned on (by glowing low) and if it's the active connection (by glowing high). The lower LED is green and is in the lower, fat portion of the switch. It glows high to indicate when the rear USB connections are routed to that connection. To me, what the amber lights are indicating (what PC is active) is more important than what the green ones are indicating (where the rear USB connections are routed), but the amber lights don't do as good a job of it as I would hope. For one thing, our eyes are more sensitive to green light, so if they had just done the colors the other way around it would've been a better choice. In addition, the design of the plastic cover on the individual switches is such that you can't see the amber LED as well as the green LED - the edges of the narrowed part of the switch block about a quarter of the light (there are 2 black lines (from the edge of the plastic cover) going through the LED). So being able to discern the active and passive inputs is compromised a bit by 2 different design choices that I wish they hadn't made. No, it's not horrible, nor is it a deal-breaker for me, but I don't like it. I take off half a star for that.
The other star and a half is because of some sort of design flaw that adds noise to the sound. The nature of the noise is high frequency whines, whistles, and buzzes, with a regular beat to the sound that happens every half a second (2Hz). If my Windows sound settings are at default (all the sliders are at the halfway point) and my speakers are at a low-medium sound level, the noise is audible anywhere in the room, and even discernable out in the hallway outside of our home office.
After experimenting with it quite a bit I figured out that the noise is not added if only a single DVI device is connected to the switch. So, if I have the PC's KVMS outputs connected to the GCS1764, and my speakers (Klipsch) connected to the output from the GCS1764, but the DVI monitor isn't, (and no other PC) then the sound is clean. The moment that I connect either a DVI monitor or another PC's DVI connection the noise jumps into the sound.
It doesn't matter the model of monitor (I tried 3 different models of monitors (all from Dell)), the maker of the video chipset (I tried nVidia and ATI, integrated and PCI Express), or whether the speakers are powered or not (the noise is there in headphones), or whether they're 2 channel or 2.1 channel speakers (for some reason IOGear tech support labeled that as a possible issue). I also tried 3 different kinds of sound cards, add-in (Creative Audigy 2), Creative USB, and integrated Crystal Sound. Even though the noise wasn't a 60Hz hum I checked for ground-loops by plugging all devices into the same power strip (a Trip-Lite that does some waveform filtering). I purchased a 2nd GCS1764 (which I returned) to make sure that I didn't have a bum sample. So I feel that I tested it fairly well.
I contacted IOGear's support when I first noticed the problem and got an email response within a day that was for basic troubleshooting that I'd already gone beyond (e.g. telling me how to reset the unit and that they only support it with powered 2 channel speaker systems (i.e. my 2.1 system isn't supported)). I did what they suggested even though I was 99.9% sure it wouldn't help, which it didn't. Then after I did the more complete testing I wrote an email discussing my findings to their tech support, asking them to escalate the issue to higher-level techs, and let them know that I would be willing to help them troubleshoot the issue further or work with them to help fix the issue, but I never heard back from them (that was about a month ago).
If you have any questions, or want me to try something else, I'll try to check back occasionally in the comments section for this review.
Worked flawlessly October 19, 2008
I bought this KVM to support my two monitor setup on 3 different machines. I use it in parallel with a Symphony KVM for the VGA monitors and this on for the DVI monitors. The cabling is a snap and the monitor and keyboard emulation is better than the Symphony. The only thing that would make it better is easier keyboard switching. It would be better if the keyboard and mouse ports were on the back since it would provide a cleaner look.
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