Alfa BBT

I’ve been doing some research lately as I wanted to buy a KVM switch. While most brands seem rather barebones I did notice the KVMP line of ATEN. These devices do not only switch keyboard, video and mouse but also audio- and USB-peripherals.

Afterwards I lost some time figuring out where I could actually buy one. I ended up ordering via komplett and had an excellent experience with that shop. Delivery took place in exactly 1,5 days.

Initially I wanted to buy the Aten CS1784 because of these specifications:

• DVI digital and analog monitor support – fully compliant with the DVI specifications; also HDCP compliant
• Superior video quality – supports up to 2560 x 1600 (DVI Dual Link)*; 2048 x 1536; DDC2B (DVI-A)

I thought I would be set with this one because of it’s support for both DVI and VGA (by using an additional DVI-a to VGA adapter). Unfortunately the KVM cables are DVI-D only, meaning one would need to run a DVI-A cable in parallel for every VGA device. (Thanks to the people of ATEN Belgium for pointing this out.) I’m not investing in a KVM switch to actually increase the desktop clutter and thus chose to stick with the CS1734b model.

The first impression is a good one. Especially the solid build quality. Each audio plug is protected by a cap. Even better, where does one find metal housing in “The Plastic Age”?

Some pictures for you to take a look at:

I’ll try to update this post when I have a bit more experience with it…