Why are kvm switches so expenssive?

[Lord Athetos]

I've been looking for a kvm switch for my setup because i currently have a system with a r9 fury, a xeon based system with and an old graphics card, and a 3D printed dock that i made for my laptop. I have 3 monitors, one for each system, and 3 USB hubs on the table to switch the mouse and keyboard. Recently i saw linus' video about the ultimate streaming machine and he uses a kvm switch to change between the gaming pc and the encoder one. But they are extremly expenssive. Excluding 2 port VGA ones (and i want to avoid VGA if possible) dport, HDMI, and dvi ones  cost 300$ or more. And that without talking of triple monitor triple system ones. They are between 700$ and 1800$. Anyone knows about a cheaper way yo switch between monitors? Or a kvm that doesnt cost like a whole system?

[NrKj105]

https://store.level1techs.com/products/kvm-switch-dual-monitor-model

[flibberdipper]

Demand is probably the contributing factor. Not a whole lot of people really buy fancy KVM switches, so naturally they're going to be overpriced like hell.

[Sauron]

KVM switches actually do a lot more than you'd think, there's quite a bit of internal processing involved. This partially explains why they are so expensive and as @tmcclelland455 said it's not a very popular product so prices are naturally higher. While it may not be quite as seamless you're probably better off switching inputs on the monitor through the menu.

[Nikz Jon]

 

 

Any idea of such a KVM switch available anywhere?

[Lord Athetos]

23 hours ago, Nikz Jon said:

 

 

Any idea of such a KVM switch available anywhere?

I've ressearching for some time, and i arrived to the conclussion that they are simply not worth it. So i'm literally building my own with Lego pieces. It wont be pretty, but when it's finished it will be considerably cheaper than that overpriced enterprise stuff.

[Pixel5]

On 14.1.2018 at 11:54 PM, Nikz Jon said:

 

 

Any idea of such a KVM switch available anywhere?

i would almost dare to say its not even possible without basically having a full PC in a small box handling this stuff.

 

just forget this idea and install some software solution on the notebook like synergy or something, if the prices of existing solutions are too high its probably not worth the effort for you anyways.