Dammit...

Belkin sucks.

I've bought a ton of their stuff in the past and have usually been very happy, but tonight, I'm crossing them off my "vendors to do business with" list. What happened that's got my undies all knotted?

I tried to buy one of their products, and got screwed.

This product here is the one that has provoked my ire. For the non-technical in the audience, it allows several computers to all run from one keyboard, mouse and monitor. And since it's USB, I can share other things, too, like my printer and digicam. As I have four functioning computers in the house, three of which need external keyboards, mice and monitors, a USB KVM switch is a boon to me, as it means I can have a less cluttered desk. You try putting three 17-inch monitors, three keyboards, and three mice on one desk!

Anywho, back to the story. Tonight I was rearranging my office (with Amelia's help, God bless her) when I realized that my old KVM switch was dead. It was an older, 2 port model (meaning it could only handle 2 computers) that used PS2 connections rather than USB, and since one of my computers doesn't have PS2 connections, I thought I'd bite the bullet and buy a new 4 port switch with USB, plus a new USB keyboard (my mouse is already USB, I just have an adaptor that lets me plug it into a PS2 port). So, after dinner, Amelia and I went to MicroCenter to buy me a KVM switch and a keyboard.

Right when I walked in, I saw the KVM switches. There were several to choose from, but only the Belkin model allowed me to share my audio as well as everything else, so I picked one up and bought one. I looked around in vain for a keyboard (I'm picky about my keyboards), so we bought the KVM switch (plus a new DVI-VGA adaptor for my Mac mini, as my current one is on the fritz) and went to see if we could find a good keyboard somewhere else. On our drive, something finally occurred to me.

I had bought a Belkin KVM switch before. And I was initially very, very pissed off. You might rightly ask why I was so pissed off. Well, it's because the damned thing didn't come with the frickin' cables that make it useful!!! So, I had to go back out and plunk down extra money for the cables before I could use my purchase. And, as I found out tonight, they're still doing the same damned thing. We checked the box when we reached the next store, and it clearly stated that the cables were sold separately.

Since we were hitting other techish stores, I figured I'd be able to find some cables. In fact, at one of my stops, all I had seen in the KVM department on a previous visit was the KVM model I had just bought, plus cables for it. Of course, they didn't have any in stock tonight, and neither did any of the other stores, so it was back to MicroCenter.

Who also didn't have any cables.

I returned the damned thing, and I'm going to do what I should have in the first place: do my research and buy online. I can say in all honesty that I won't buy another Belkin KVM, I'm done being tricked by them. I'm tempted to completely write them off, but, as luck would have it, I finally found a keyboard which meets my exacting standards, and wouldn't you know who the manufacturer is...

Dammit...