HKS0403A1U

Almost six months ago, I signed a second client that I would eventually be given two laptops to do work on. These would be in addition to my personal laptop and my first client's laptop, so 4 in total. I hesitated on purchasing the TES 4 computer to 3 monitor KVM due to the price, but figured if it did work as described, it would be exactly what I need. I'm happy to report, the KVM worked right out of the box and had all the parts and cables I needed. Since this has the smart switching, it took a while to get used to what combo of buttons to use when I needed to be on two laptops at once while being on a conference call with video and audio, but after studying the manual, experimenting a bit, and creating a quick cheat sheet for myself, it became routine. Now, I usually don't write product reviews, but this device impressed me so much, I felt like I had to support it in some small way. There are always some features that don't match personal preferences, and for me, to have the lockable audio switch port be a 3.5mm audio jack when so many peripherals are USB now is a slight inconvenience. Luckily I had been given a Jabra headset by my client which has the right plug, but I had to loose the mute and volume buttons section of the headset cable as that part ends in a USB port. You can do USB only audio, but then that ties it in with the usb keyboard and usb mouse and when you switch you loose the audio or if you choose audio you loose keyboard and mouse. I have only had this a while, so there may be other workarounds, but haven't tried them yet. The only other drawback was the price. It is a bit steep for a KVM switch, but I didn't see any others at the time have the 3 screens show you 3 different laptops. So, in the end, for me, it is well worth the money.

I bought this KVM because there are very few with the exact specifications I need. This one felt very promising, and I didn't mind the high price tag. However, I spent six hours on this and was only met with failure and disappointment. My setup: 3 x QHD 1440p / 144 Hz Monitors. 1 x Windows PC. 1 x Mac Studio M1 Max. 1 x Linux Box. The Disappointment: It was clear that as soon as I opened the box, this $599 KVM was previously used. It was scratched/scuffled, had something that looked like stains, the plastic wrap was already opened, and it was missing 1 HDMI cable plus several bands and HDMI covers (parts that were easily lost after opening). The cables were already loose and sticking out in the box. The attached images show what a "new" KVM looks like. The Issues: While the video worked fine (3 x QHD 1440p @ 144 Hz), there were severe issues with getting any USB connection from the target computer to work. It didn't matter which computer I focused on, it didn't matter which cables I used, USB will not work. Since it came with 4 x KVM Cables, I tried them all, and no USB connection would pass through the box. This meant that no Keyboard or Mouse would work. I also tried multiple keyboards and mice. Nothing worked. I "reset" the KVM using its built-in screen. Didn't work. I tried every step I could find online, their manuals, and looked it up on message boards, but nothing worked. I even tried a Powered USB hub, as they suggested, but still nothing. I tried different computers on different ports, switching out all cables, and it again failed. Either this KVM's design is flawed, or the previous owner on this "new" KVM returned a faulty device, or they messed it up, which was then sent to me. Also, when using a powered USB Hub, it actually powers the KVM. When I unplugged its power supply because its screen told me to reset the box, it remained powered on. If a powered USB Hub is plugged in, the power switch doesn't turn the box off. This could be dangerous since TWO power sources can feed into the box simultaneously. This was the worst KVM experience I ever had, and this one was supposed to be the Chosen One—to undo the evil of my previous KVM, which began to fail. This is a hard pass. And my search continues.

Was the best KVM I have ever used until video output B&C stopped working, returning defective unit and ordering the exact same thing again in hopes to not have the same thing happen since it does work so well I am a complete idiot and did not realize that the input cables for the system that used B&C outputs had become disconnected. This units works perfect and I love it.

I bought this specially to connect my 3 X 32 in 4k Monitors to the home desktop and work laptop that requires a port extender. For the Keyboard, Mouse, and Monitors it works great! Were things break down is with my powered USB 3.0 16 port HUB. I have the hub connected to the KVM's 3.0 input port and connected the KVM 3.0 outputs to the laptop and desktop USB 3.0 ports. When connecting the KVM USB 3.0 into the Laptop Port Extender I get a error that says that Windows 11 can't recognize USB hubs that are 5 or more chained together. The USB 3.0 connector from the KVM has to be connected directly into the Laptop. When connecting the KVM USB 3.0 output directly to the laptop and the desktop USB 3.0 port, when switching between desktop and laptop I get a Windows error that says "Unknow USB Device" coming from the powered USB Hub. I am still researching this and it is a minor issue because all of the devices connected to the powered USB Hub still appears to work.