Docking Station and/or KVM Switch

[saurabhec]

Hi,

I had a "poor man's manual docking station" in my home office in that I connected two external monitors, an external keyboard and mouse directly to my personal laptop. When I needed to take my personal laptop for travel I would simply unplug everything and replug when I got back. Now that setup doesn't work as I have been issued a work laptop and need to use both at the same time. My personal laptop is a ThinkPad T410 and the work laptop is a ThinkPad T450. I cannot find a Lenovo docking station that works with both models, so I am considering using a docking station for the work laptop in conjunction with a KVM switch. The monitors in question are a ThinkVision and a ViewSonic, both of which had DVI-D and VGA ports. Since the T410 only has one DisplayPort and one VGA port, I was using a DVI-D to DisplayPort adaptor to connect the ThinkVision monitor and connecting the ViewSonic to the VGA port of the T410.

Could anyone recommend a KVM switch that would make sense for my situation? For the T450 work laptop the docking station would most probably be a ThinkPad Basic, Ultra or Pro dock.

I guess one alternative for me to consider is a universal USB based dock. However I would guess that the downside of that is that I have to manually unplug/replug the cable when I need to switch laptops.

Thanks for your help!

[saurabhec]

I should also mention that I would be open to a universal USB based docking station as long as it had some functionality that mimicked a KVM switch, i.e. I did not have to manually unplug and replug cables. However I don't know if such a thing exists.

[pkiff]

Since you haven't received any responses yet, I'll describe my current docking station strategy for you to consider.

I stopped using KVM switches several years ago.

For keyboard + mouse, I use Synergy, a software-based solution to control multiple client computers from a single "server" computer:
http://synergy-project.org/
Synergy connects to the other computers over your local LAN network. It also lets you cut and paste from one computer to the other. Or even drag and drop in most cases. If you don't like Synergy, there are other software choices available that do the same thing.

For the video connection, I use the built-in switches on my monitors. All my monitors allow at least 2 inputs and have a simple button on the front to switch between them. But I don't switch monitors that often.

So I've got a Thinkpad USB Keyboard with Trackpoint connected to a USB switch. And then I've got USB cables running from that switch to each of my laptops. But I very rarely actually need to switch computers with the USB switch. It's only there in case Synergy breaks down, or I need to use one of my "client" Thinkpads when my "server" Thinkpad is not docked. For the video displays, I have one or two cables running from each Thinkpad (or docking station) to each monitor.

Phil.

[saurabhec]

Thanks Phil, that is something to consider. I would have to get permission from my IT department to install Synergy on the work laptop but that is something I can seek. I know each of my monitors has a DVI-D and VGA port, need to check if it can switch between them.

[crashnburn]

Since you haven't received any responses yet, I'll describe my current docking station strategy for you to consider.

I stopped using KVM switches several years ago.

For keyboard + mouse, I use Synergy, a software-based solution to control multiple client computers from a single "server" computer:
http://synergy-project.org/
Synergy connects to the other computers over your local LAN network. It also lets you cut and paste from one computer to the other. Or even drag and drop in most cases. If you don't like Synergy, there are other software choices available that do the same thing.

For the video connection, I use the built-in switches on my monitors. All my monitors allow at least 2 inputs and have a simple button on the front to switch between them. But I don't switch monitors that often.

So I've got a Thinkpad USB Keyboard with Trackpoint connected to a USB switch. And then I've got USB cables running from that switch to each of my laptops. But I very rarely actually need to switch computers with the USB switch. It's only there in case Synergy breaks down, or I need to use one of my "client" Thinkpads when my "server" Thinkpad is not docked. For the video displays, I have one or two cables running from each Thinkpad (or docking station) to each monitor.

Phil.

Something I will have to try for sure.

[dr_st]

Since it's only two computers, it is possible that the built-in Remote Desktop will be sufficient (if both PCs run Windows). Otherwise, a VNC solution may also work. Simply connect from one computer to the other.