Belkin F1U400 4×4 USB, User interface issues are a..

Overall Rating44444

User interface issues are a drawback

I bought the F1U400 as a KVM switch substitute, allowing me to use a USB mouse and USB keyboard between two computers (I can’t use a KVM for my monitor, due to RF interference).The switch *blinks*. When a USB component is plugged into it, the box indicates this by blinking an LED for that component. The blinking is very distracting, and the design of the LEDs (lots of curves) would make it difficult to cover them up. I’ve ended up hiding the switch behind my monitor.The box has four buttons to swap USB components among hosts. Pressing a button once lights up the current host. You then need to press it again to start cycling through the list. The box waits for input for five seconds; only after those five seconds are complete does it reconnect the component. Any other button presses in that time cancel the change. This means that switching from one machine to another is far more laborious than with a normal KVM (particularly if you’re switching a keyboard and a mouse separately).Because I’m operating in a mixed Windows/Unix environment, I haven’t installed the Windows switching software.The F1U400 is probably a reasonable approach for components like printers, mass storage devices and scanners, which won’t be moving from machine to machine with nearly the frequency of keyboards and mice. You’ll have to hide the LEDs, though.

Update (2/7/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Belkin F1U400 4×4 USB Peripheral Switch 12 Mbps Electronics, was written by Derek L. Upham.

The average rating for this item is 4 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.

Related posts:

  1. F5L007-SCROLL Belkin, Belkin Washable Mouse
  2. DEWALT DW7461 Table Saw, issues with alignment
  3. A3L791-15-YLW-S Belkin, Exactly what I needed…
  4. Kensington K72328US ci95, Mouse, perfected.
  5. K72287US Kensington, Be warned, Express card..

Reviews (3)

Derek L. Upham

March 28th, 2010 at 5:04 pm    


Overall Rating33333

User interface issues are a drawback
Rated 3 stars.


ComputerNut

April 23rd, 2010 at 7:48 am    


Overall Rating55555

GREAT INVENTION
This switch worked great for me, i had two computers, my printer and scanner hooked up and it worked great.,,, no problems whatsoever


Steven Reiss

April 23rd, 2010 at 9:32 pm    


Overall Rating44444

Needed Powered USB Switch for Scanner
In our small computer room with three desktops and a couple of laptops, we need to share the new printer Canon has also had a scanner. Former USB switch that works well on a simple printer does not work at all with the multifunction printer. So I had to make a number of "go arounds" with the Belkin and technical support teams Canon to understand the problem with the old switch. It is a USB switch power is needed for this configuration to work properly. This switch is able to share the printer and three other USB devices from our computers. A quick and easy installation is required on each computer to work with the switch, and printer drivers, scanner.


Leave a reply

Overall Rating

Name *

Mail *

Website