Per my previous review, http://www.devhut.net/2013/03/07/iogear-gcs24u-4-port-usb-cable-kvm-review/, I was on the market for a KVM switch. Sadly, none of the IOGEAR were acceptable since they all presented the same issue of needing 2 usb ports on each computer. I ended up finding the D-Link KVM-222 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Audio Support.

The D-Link KVM-222 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Audio Support installed very easily, only required 1 USB port (rather than 2 like the IOGEAR) and also included audio support (bonus!). So now at the click of a button my screen switches, my keyboard and mouse switch and the audio system switches between my computers.

PROs:

• Super easy to install, simply plug-in
• Only requires one free USB port
• Switches fast and without any screen flicker

CONs:

• The plug where the video connection is made is very tight against the cable, so it took a bit of pursuation to make the connection. This is a one time deal, but D-Link designers could have given an extra couple milimeters in their design.
• Unlike the IOGEAR where there is a central unit from which connecting wires go from, the D-LINK doesn’t have a central unit, rather each connector is a large (relatively speaking) connector. So you need to be able to accomodate a good 5-6″ to the side, or behind, of your USB port to allow for the unit add cables.

To summarize, the D-Link KVM-222 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Audio Support, thus far (3 hours in to testing) was easy to setup and worked without any configuration. I would give it a 10/10 for functionality and 7/10 for design (considering size and interference with the video connector). All in all it appears to be a good unit.

I will post back in a few weeks to append this review based on reliability…

Update 2013-03-13
So far, so good. I have been plesantly please with the unit for the past few days a discovered a few nice features.

• If you start up a single computer, it automatically detects and cycles to switch the input/output to that device.
• Likewise, if you have multiple computers running and you shutdown the active computer, it will automatically cycle to the other computer.

Just minor features, but they are still very useful (and were not present on the IOGEAR units that I have previously used).

So a couple months ago, I finally broke down and bought a new printer since Windows 7 x64 didn’t support my existing printer. After perusing the weekly flyers and speaking with a good friend, I ended up purchasing the Brother HL-2270DW. Below are my thoughts on the printer after several months of usage.

 

Pros

• Extremely faster printer (up to 27 page per minute)
• Wakes up fast from sleep mode
• Decent size paper tray (250 sheets)
• Easy duplex printing without the need of manual intervention on the part of the user
• Relatively cheap toner (when compared to my previous printer – about half the cost for the same yield)
• Good quality printing (from my perspective)

 

Cons

• No USB cable supplied (although it is a wireless printer, it is recommended for the installtion)
• I found the installation process ‘confusing’ referring to terms the average user will not know
• Envelop printing is very poor as it crumples the envelop (unacceptable for business purposes)

In conclusion, I like this printer, but am disappointed with the envelop print quality. If I had to give it a grade it would be 88/100. All in all, it is a good printer for individual and small business use.

I was looking for a monitor which could rotate Landscape/Portrait for my programming needs and a secondary monitor for my laptop. So i went looking and hit all the normal stores: Best Buy, Future Shop, Bureau En Gros, MicroBytes. I was very surprised that I only managed to find 2 monitors which had this capability. A few years back, most offered this option…

From a technical standpoint, the SyncMaster BX2440 had everything I was looking for:

• Decent resolution: 1920×1080; Full 1080p resolution
• LED technology with power saving features
• And it could rotate

In a general sense this is a nice monitor:

• It is large. Actually, at 24″ it is huge, but that means no more squinting!
• It has a beautiful quality of image, nice and bright display
• It was easy to setup and configure. Actually there was no real need to do anything since it is a plug & play monitor. Although I did choose to install the specific drivers that came with it rather than relying on the generic plug and play, but that was merely my personal choice.

However, the main reason I made this purchase was to have the flexibility to rotate my screen at a whim to easy my programing process. Sadly, I have been greatly disappointed by this. Yes, you can set up your monitor in either Portrait or Landscape orientation. However, you cannot change the orientation on a whim, as you have to unplug the monitor, rotate it and then replug it?! Now which brilliant engineer (and I say this with the upmost respect as I myself am an Engineering graduate) was unable to foresee this problem! No really, they go to the point of allowing a user to rotate the screen but then don’t position the connection to avoid clearance issues? And no one caught this during the design or testing phases!!! In my humble opinion, if you are considering this monitor because it rotates, don’t. No seriously, don’t! I know there aren’t many options, but put your money into a monitor which will enable you to work properly, rather than frustrate you endlessly as this one does (me). Heck find one online and order it. I know at my old company, we had beautiful HP monitors that rotated easily, it may be worth looking to see if HP still has such monitors. And one can always hope the store will start to carry a few more such monitors.

Also, hopefully Samsung will resolve this MAJOR design booboo in their next monitors.

 

Update: 2011-09-02

Well I’ve had the monitor for several months now and I am sad to report that it has recently started to have issues. The monitor flickers different ‘hues’ on the screen. I will be working when all of a sudden the screen will go yellowish. I can still work, but all the colors are yellowed. Then a short period will go by and everything will return to normal. And back and forth we go all day long!

 

Sadly this is turning out to be another bad purchase recently.

 

UPDATE 2011-11-29

I have to take back my previous Update comment and appologize as I was mistaken.  Further testing has revealled that the monitor is not at fault, but rather my KVM switch has failed me.  That said, this experience still enabled me to test out Samsung’s warantee/service and I was very impressed at how easy it was to request service.  Everything can al be done online in a matter of a couple of minutes and they gave me a UPS waybill so I could send it back to them for servicing free of charge…  In the end, I didn’t need to because I was able to determine the true culprit, but never the less, it showed Samsungs dedication to customer satisfaction.  A lot of companies could learn from them (BELL perhaps!)!