Seeking advice 27" monitor with KVM

General Topics
1

The idea:
Use my Framework 13" laptop (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series) with Win11 with a 27" monitor, the laptop shell is closed and in a vertical stand;
Connect the laptop with a USB-C cable to the monitor;
Charging over the USB-C cable;
All other peripherals are connected to the monitor: keyboard, mouse, ethernet, a few USB devices;
The monitor has a KVM switch so I can also use it with a Mac Mini;
Ideally the monitor has an integrated webcam, but that is no dealbreaker;
Ideally the monitor has audio passthrough to external speakers (audio goes over the USB-C to the monitor to the speakers. I am not even sure if that is possible?) Also no dealbreaker.

Found these monitors:

  • HP OMEN 27k UHD 144Hz Gaming Monitor, 4K UHD Display
  • Dell UltraSharp U2723QE 27" 4K UHD WLED LCD Monitor

What do you think? Are any of these monitors usable for this scenario, is there a monitor that I should consider?

2

I have the Dell U3223QE which is essentially the same as the U2723QE. The KVM feature doesn’t work exactly as you might expect. In the monitor is a USB hub. You can hook up one USB-C device and the second device must be over one of the USB-A connections on the monitor. What’s even worse is that when switching between the two, the USB connection, audio and NIC disconnect between the systems (all that goes over USB). So only one can be active at any given time. Maybe this isn’t a problem for you, but I haven’t found that to bet particularly enjoyable. I do like the 90W charging capabilities and the fact that it has NIC and sound integrated, so for my single system need, it just works. So https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/monitors/u2723qe-kvm-using-a-keyboard-shortcut-to-switch-in-linux/647fa06af4ccf8a8de56ccc8 kind of make it easy to switch between systems if you want.

3

Thank you Tim, let’s see if I got this straight.
If you use the KVM feature on the Dell monitor then only the Keyboard, Video (monitor) and Mouse can switch over to the other computer. All other devices plugged into the monitor will stop working, like music playing will suddenly stop when switching over.

a scenario:

PC A

  • Connected to monitor with USB-C
  • keyboard and mouse are connected to monitor
  • receives network connection via monitor
  • plays audio on monitor speakers

PC B

  • Connected to monitor via HDMI
  • also connected to monitor via USB for keyboard and mouse pass-through
  • has it’s own network connection
  • no audio connection

When switching:

  • KVM goes to PC B
  • audio from PC A stops
  • Network to PC a disconnects

Am I getting this right?

4

I don’t know about monitors or KVM but you should be careful using the framework 13 laptop with the lid closed, for the air to circulate properly it needs to be open, so if it’s closed you will at best thermal throttle meaning low performance and have an extremely loud laptop, while also reducing the lifespan of the Cpu, one thing you could try is removing the bezel. but that comes with it’s pack of risks too

5

Correct. Not the end of the world, especially if you use other audio speakers and wifi.

I am very happy with the monitor. The biggest thing for me was more desktop space.

Oh, forgot. If you are on Linux, you won’t have a way to update the firmware (that I am aware of) on the monitor. I have a macbook air my wife uses that I use to update the firmware there.

6

For closed lid, I use a laptop stand anyway. I know there was some talk about that, but I haven’t seen serious problems with performance or temps. I am also just using it mainly for development, the amount of time I spend compiling isn’t enough of a load to really challenge the machine.

7

Thanks again Tim,
I decided not to bother with a built in KVM and finally chose a PHILIPS Brilliance 279P1 monitor.

Also thank you Iori for your off topic advice. I will continue to use my laptop closed and placed in a vertical laptop stand.

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8

Small update now that I have received the monitor last week.
I like it. Especially that there is just one USB-C cable from the laptop to the monitor.
All the other cables are connected to the monitor, even the external speakers.
I’ve not yet tried all features like pip though, so it remains to be seen how I can use this monitor with one or two other PCs.

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