One monitor, two PCs (NNN August 15, 1998)

I am embarrassingly rich.

In some PC hardware resources, that is; and distressingly poor in others. This, I suspect, is a common situation for those of us who tinker with computer equipment, adding or upgrading components in bits and pieces, rather than replacing entire systems at one go. My collection of cables, cords, clips, cards, ports and hard and floppy drives is stored -- rather, scattered -- in varying degrees of disorganization.

The problem with organizing this sort of jumble is that there are so many different kinds of items, few of which fall under any category more specific than "miscellaneous." It is a self-perpetuating problem, because when I can't find a particular part -- say a PS/2 adapter or gender-changer -- I rush out to buy another one, as such things are always needed to resolve the latest self-created crisis.

Worse, when buying in a rush one frequently buys the wrong part, or one with the connections reversed from the current requirement. My solution is usually to buy one of each available component type. An expensive solution, granted, but a solution nonetheless. There are times, however, when this approach is impractical, even for such a dedicatedly disorganized person as I. I recently bought a new PC (NNN, Aug. 1) at a very good price, but decided that another monitor would not only be an extravagance, but would overwhelm my already crowded desk as well.

Thus, in a state of monitor deprivation, I mulled my options. Manually disconnecting/reconnecting monitor cables between two systems was a practical, but inelegant solution, and I am nothing if not elegant. (At least as regards computers.) I knew that switchboxes existed, permitting multiple PCs to be controlled via one keyboard, mouse and monitor, though I had not personally encountered such devices. So some research was in order.

My 1st exploration led me to Cybex Computer Products, makers of SwitchView, a $ 169 box that controls two computers, and a $ 249 switcher for up to four. The units can be linked to run as many as 64 systems. The downside, of course, of this admirable device, was its price: for $ 169 I could buy another monitor. Thus I sought a more elegant, i.e., cheaper yet equally efficient, solution. And I found one.

The monthly Computer Central shows at College of Du Page are always my 1st resort when seeking low-cost computer chic. The excursion to Glen Ellyn often pays for itself many times over in savings on equipment that is often difficult to find elsewhere, at any price. There I encountered Jim, of JRM Data Services, his table piled high with every imaginable (and some unimaginable) cable and connection device, at rock-bottom prices.

Within a few minutes Jim translated my stumbling, stuttering description of my dream switchbox into a marvel of metal, cables and gender changers for about a 4th of the Cybex device cost.

To control many computers from one source, Cybex is the ticket. For simpler needs, recall Marilyn Monroe's comment to Tom Ewell in "The Seven Year Itch," on complementing champagne with potato chips: "I think it's simply elegant."

Marilyn had the right idea.

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E-mail: jerry@maizell.com

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