Co-ordinating many different things is the job for a Director. In this case Input Director and the job is allowing multiple machines and in the case with multiple monitors – to be easily controlled with one keyboard and mouse.
A software KVM.
I hear you say but we can do this with lots of different bits of software. Well I also wanted something that could scale from say 4 screens and 2 PCs to say 8 screens and 4 Pcs. It didn’t have to be cross O/S since all of the machines will be Windows based. Having looked at Maxi Vista and Synergy before I was looking for something a little different. Input Director ticked all the boxes and some. I was able to extend control from multiple screens on one pc to another two screens on a second PC and potentially add another in a few minutes. I added a hotkey sequence which allowed easy switching between the two physical machines and was able to seamlessly scroll from one set of monitors to another.
So far the process has been very easy and I have a capable old workstation providing additional screen space without having to add more cards to my main machine. So if you have a laptop or tablet or other screen that you could press into use – get Input Director from here and get started.
PS – since writing this I have added an XP tablet (HP TC1100) and it works a treat mounted in a docking station – easily flipped from portrait to landscape as required.