Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (K33900US)
by Kensington
List Price:
Our Price: $39.99
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Category: CE
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Customers in the UK,
buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: KensingtonFormat: CD-ROM
Platform: Windows 2000, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional
Model: K33900US
Color: black
Product features:
- Easily share access to USB devices between two computersâżżLED lights indicate which computer has access
- Gain instant access to your USB devices by plugging one USB cable into your computer
- Simply press a button to switch individual USB devices from one computer to another
- Both computers have direct access to the printer thanks to Automatic Printer Sharing
- Plug and play set up and easy to use with no network required
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to B-Male Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (3.3 Feet/1.0 Meter)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to Mini-B Cable (6 Feet / 1.8 Meters)
- AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters)
- Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500 GB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 2.5 Inch, 8 MB Cache, 5400 RPM SATA II WD5000BEVT
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (K33900US)
Customer Review: Awesome Product and Very Good Price
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this device a few weeks ago to share my keyboard and mouse among two computers (one desktop and one laptop). The device works very well and I have not had a single problem. It even works with a USB hub!! How cool is that!
I bought the device for $8.50 on Amazon which I think is really a bargain. What I really don't get is why the 1 port USB share (Kensington ShareCentral 1 for USB Device Sharing (K33903US)) is more expensive than this one, which shares 2 USB ports. Anyways, after using it for a few weeks, I like the device so much that I bought another three. I don't really need that many myself but I'm sure my siblings' families will love this device for their home. I mean, who doesn't have more than one computer these days.
There are few things I want to bring to your attention before you consider buying this device:
1) Switching Scheme
Initially, I was a little confused on the nature of the sharing scheme. This devices shares USB devices, NOT computers. I originally thought the two buttons are for Computer 1 and Computer 2. But actually, it's for USB device 1 and USB device 2.
How is that different you might ask. Well, when I plugged my keyboard and mouse in to the two shared ports, I pressed the first button thinking that both keyboard and mouse will work on Computer 2. But in actual fact, only the keyboard switched to Computer 2, the mouse is still on Computer 1. This is because the button is for switching the shared device (Device 1, which in my case is just the keyboard). So if I want to switch BOTH keyboard and mouse, I have to press both buttons once to switch both devices to the alternate computer.
I can see how this works better for peripherals such as printers and scanners where if you just press the printer icon, it will switch the printer; if you press the scanner icon, it will switch the scanner. However, this is a pain for sharing keyboard and mouse since every time I want to switch, I have to press two buttons!! Yup, I'm just that lazy ...
Thankfully, my keyboard is also a two port USB hub (which is standard now on most keyboards) so I plugged my mouse to the keyboard and keyboard to the USB share unit so I only have to press one button (i.e. the keyboard share button) to switch both devices. Pain free!
Oh, I should also mention that I use a PC (Windows 7 on Dells).
2) Magnetic Icons
If you are NOT sharing printers and external hard drives like me, you can take the default icons off very easily! The icons are magnetic, NOT stinky stickers. You can take them off and put different icons on in a flash while not leaving any sticky residues. I think this design is awesome!! Well done Kensington!
3) Switching Latency
There is a small delay when you do the switch (about ~2 sec). I'm a trigger happy guy and 2 sec seemed like eternity. I expected things to work as soon as I press the button, but this is not the case for this device. Therefore, you can't play CounterStrike and also MSN at the same time using two different computers because it just can't switch back and forth that fast...
4) Manual Override
There is an auto/manual button at the bottom of the device. So if you set it to auto, it will automatically switch between two computers (if one of the computer is turned off, or un-powered like in hibernation mode). This is a useful feature but I like mine set on manual. It's sorta like buying a car with tip-tronic transmission. It's just good to know that you have an option to go both ways.
5) USB Cable Length
One of the USB cable is fairly short (I think it's the orange one). It works out for my laptop/desktop configuration but I imagine it would be a problem if you have two desktops that are located at opposite edges of a large table, the short USB cable will NOT reach. However, USB cables are fairly cheap (~50 cents) so I don't really see this as an issue and I think most people nowadays probably do have a laptop and a desktop so it may not be a big deal.
6) Cable Organizer
The cable organizer is utterly useless! It is provided in the package as an add-on but I think Kensington should just not include that in the package and reduce plastic waste. I mean, really, most people run their cable at the back of their monitor so what's the point of having a cable sorter on the side of the device???
7) Weight
I consider the device having a near perfect weight. It is not too heavy to carry around when I need to. It's also not lite enough that if you fiddle with the cables at the back, the cable moves the position of the box on the desk.
8) Color
It is dark in color. Like the picture shown it is dark-dark gray, which matches very well with my computer systems but I can see this may be a problem for Mac users since most Macs are either silver or white.
9) Size
It is not the smallest USB switch I saw while shopping but I think the size is not too big to fit on my desk.
10) Price
The price is just unbeatable. Just do a search on USB share and you'll see what I mean. Similar devices costs around than $20 if not more.
Description of Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (K33900US)
Kensington ShareCentral 2 for USB Device Sharing (Digital Cameras and Photo Categories
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