New toy - Skylyne USB switch box.
Earlier today, I bought an apple keyboard to go with my new macbook pro. Since I'm also using a mac mini at my desk, I need a way to switch the keyboard between the two computers. Enter a cheap solution with little or no information available on the internet, the SKYLYNE USB 2P Sharing Station (art no 173900).
It was a bit of a bet, since there really is next to no information available on the internet about this gizmo, but then it only cost 99 dkr, or about 20$, so even if it was crap I wasn't loosing too much.
I've been playing with it for about 30 minutes, and assuming it doesn't go up in a puff of smoke, I feel like I've gotten a pretty good impression of the pros and cons of this gizmo.
As might be visible from the included action picture, there is no visible feedback. The button on top switches between the two computers, with a few seconds delay, which is what I was expecting. There is no audio feedback either, when switching. the only indication that the switch has done its job is (in the case of input devices) which computer responds when you move the mouse/press keys.
The main surprise, which is a bit of a mixed blessing, is that it is also possible to switch computers using hotkeys, or a keyboard shortcut. The "mixed" part is that this is done by pressing the ctrl button twice.
If you, like me, actually use the ctrl key on a regular basis, you'll probably be switching back and forth at random, which is going to get annoying really fast.
Conclusion of this mini-review: somewhat mixed. It does what it is supposed to do, but I'm reserving judgment on whether the ctrl-ctrl hotkey issue will have me pulling out hair in large clumps.
It was a bit of a bet, since there really is next to no information available on the internet about this gizmo, but then it only cost 99 dkr, or about 20$, so even if it was crap I wasn't loosing too much.
I've been playing with it for about 30 minutes, and assuming it doesn't go up in a puff of smoke, I feel like I've gotten a pretty good impression of the pros and cons of this gizmo.
As might be visible from the included action picture, there is no visible feedback. The button on top switches between the two computers, with a few seconds delay, which is what I was expecting. There is no audio feedback either, when switching. the only indication that the switch has done its job is (in the case of input devices) which computer responds when you move the mouse/press keys.
The main surprise, which is a bit of a mixed blessing, is that it is also possible to switch computers using hotkeys, or a keyboard shortcut. The "mixed" part is that this is done by pressing the ctrl button twice.
If you, like me, actually use the ctrl key on a regular basis, you'll probably be switching back and forth at random, which is going to get annoying really fast.
Conclusion of this mini-review: somewhat mixed. It does what it is supposed to do, but I'm reserving judgment on whether the ctrl-ctrl hotkey issue will have me pulling out hair in large clumps.
posted by Joda at
9:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home