Hey everyone! I'm looking for some advice regarding my home office setup. I have a work laptop that connects to my dual monitors through a USB-C hub, which also allows me to use my keyboard and mouse through USB-A ports. Now, I'm planning to get a mini PC for my desk, but most mini PCs only have HDMI outputs and not USB-C for display. My question is: if I use a converter to turn the USB-C hub's output into HDMI for the mini PC, will it still let my keyboard and mouse work through the hub? Or does HDMI not transfer the USB-A data? I'd like to avoid buying anything unnecessary, so ideally, I want to just switch the output between my mini PC and my work laptop. Thanks for your help!
1 Answer
It sounds like you're trying to keep things convenient, which is great! Instead of just using a converter, I’d recommend looking into a KVM switch. This device can manage both the HDMI and USB connections for you, allowing you to easily switch between your mini PC and your work laptop without having to fiddle with cables. So, you'd connect your keyboard, mouse, and monitors to the KVM, and then the KVM connects to both computers. This way, you can smoothly transition between your devices without losing any functionality!
Thanks for explaining that! Just to clarify, with the KVM switch, I'd plug in the HDMI and USB devices into the switch, and then that would connect to both my mini PC and the hub for the laptop? I’ve only used built-in KVMs on monitors, so I'm not super familiar with standalone ones.