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All of the units tested were plug-and-play when used with Intel-based platforms. Setting up the UltraView for non-Intel platforms, using the platform-dependent cables provided, was merely a matter of attaching computers to the switch and using an online configuration menu to set the platform type.

With the exception of Apex PC Solution's SunDial, which is designed specifically for Sun Microsystems hardware, and Cybex's AutoBoot Commander, all of the switches tested re quired external hardware adapters for multiplatform support.

UltraView automatically recognizes when a slave switch is attached, so manual configuration changes are not necessary. Naming computers on the slave switches, however, was not as intuitive as it is with StarTech Computer Products' StarView, Raritan Computer's MasterConsole or the Apex PC Solutions' OutLook. Attaching slave switches was easy, but the port numbering for the slave attached computers takes a bit of getting used to. In the end, however, Rose Electronics' solution allows for easy, sequential switching to different CPUs.

Navigating the Switches Switching between computers can be accomplished either by a hot-key sequence or through the use of an on-screen selection menu. We found the on-screen menus easy to use. With them, we were able to name our computers, set scan and scan dwell times, display the computer's name on-screen full or part time and set the position of the computer's name on the display. The switches from Apex, Raritan, and Cybex also offered many of these features.

Like the AutoBoot Commander and StarView, UltraView is mostly problem-free. However, we did experience a problem displaying video from our Sun system. After a quick monitor swap, we were back in business. We had similar monitor compatibility problems with one of our Dell servers and the MasterConsole.

The UltraView switch offers password security protection at the switch level, and its switch-level screen saver really caught our eye. With the other solutions, the monitor goes black after a period of time, only to be awakened to a computer system's own screensaver or the switch's selection menu. With UltraView, however, the screen "wakes" to the last computer system used. We found this feature to be a time-saver because we didn't have to go to the trouble of waking a second screen saver.

Apex PC Solutions OutLook and SunDial
Apex's OutLook and SunDial switches use a combination of platform-specific switch and adapter units to accommodate different hardware platforms. Although not as simple to use as Rose Electronics' UltraView, both the OutLook and SunDial are relatively easy to set up and configure, offer outstanding on-screen controls and expandability, and are competitively priced. During our actual operation, however, we encountered several problems that required help from the vendor.

We configured the OutLook as our master switch and an OutLook and SunDial as slave units. Proprietary cabling is used to attach your Intel-based hardware to the OutLook, and non-Intel platforms require cable adapters. The SunDial switch is designed for Sun Microsystems hardware and does not require adapters.

Although attaching the adapters was straightforward, we experienced problems setting the correct video dip-switch configuration for use with our Apple Macintosh client. The adapters from StarView and MasterConsole are much simpler to configure. Apex's Sun trap adapter, however, worked like a charm.

Award for Simplicity Adding slave units was simple with Apex's OSCAR (On-Screen Configuration and Activity Reporting) firmware. With it, you need only to select the port to which the slave unit is attached and highlight the proper setting. It was one step more than UltraView, but still very simple. We found that the OSCAR system offered the most complete on-screen selection and configuration menuing of the units tested. It allowed us to perform soft resets of the switch (if a mouse or keyboard hangs), set scan modes sequentially or in defined patterns, name our systems and broadcast keystrokes and mouse movements to multiple computers at the same time.

OutLook functioned well when operating without slave units attached, but we experienced a few problems after adding slave units. Specifically, we encountered problems naming slave computers. Our unit's display read "Unused Port 1." This was resolved after accessing the OSCAR menu on our slave unit. We also encountered a display problem with slave-attached computers. They would spontaneously display phantom color blocks and the letter 'V' all over the screen. Although these problems were eventually rectified with the help of Apex's technical support staff, we did not experience these types of incidents with any of the other products. In addition, we occasionally encountered screen resolution problems with one of our Windows NT servers. We had to reboot the server to resolve this problem. Apex technical support attributed this problem to NT's screen resolution being set higher than the monitor could handle.