Dr Bott Moniswitch ADB

[beachycove]

Does anyone have one of these higher-end older KVMs, and are they as good as the publicity bumpf at the time (c. 1999-2000) said they were?

I have a very old KVM from the early 90s which works fine at 640x480 resolution, but is pretty much unusable at higher resolutions. I'd like to get something to allow for the display to function acceptably at 1024x768 minimally.

A Dr. Bott Moniswitch, even one of the old ones with ADB ports, still costs real money to buy ($50+), so before spending such real money, I'd like to be sure that it will do what I need. And yes, I will also want to be sure to get the high quality cables that came with the product when it was still shipping.

 

[Unknown_K]

Yes they rock. I have used one daily for 5 years or so (4 port version) at 1024x768 on a Sony 17SFII and like it. I also have a 12 port BlackBox model that isn't used because I never got around to getting enough cables for it, but it does work well at higher resolution when I did use it.

The major difference between the 2 is the Blackbox has jumpers on each video port to force whatever resolution you like (so if you are using one machine you can boot another at the resolution you like without having to switch to that machine when you power it up).

What kind of KVM are you using now that has issues above 640x480?

 

[beachycove]

The one I have is beige metal with a rotary dial and is unbranded as far as I can tell. It gives allows me to connect a single keyboard and monitor to four older machines. I bought it in a lot of parts from a former Apple tech some years back, and I use it on some of my older gear. Works fine for those purposes, but things get fuzzy with the higher resolutions.

 

[Unknown_K]

Those cheap ones are junk. I think you also have ADB reset issues where you jump from one machine to another and the mouse speed settings are different.

 

[beachycove]

The one I have works well with a 14" monitor - or indeed, any monitor displaying at 640x480 resolution. I also have not experienced any ADB anomalies. So it does just fine for its intended uses, and is one of the most useful bits of old kit that I have.

I will, however, now definitely keep my eyes open for a Dr. Bott Moniswitch in the light of the comments made. Thanks. A couple of the switches have been on eBay lately, but only the two connection units, whereas I want one of the four connection units.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Those cheap ones are junk.

That might be just a little bit overstated, some of the inexpensive KVMs work fairly well!

I think you also have ADB reset issues where you jump from one machine to another and the mouse speed settings are different.

Indeed, which is why the avid KVMer keeps an alias to ADB-Reset on the desktop of all KVM empowered ADB Macs! [] ]'>