Mohnish Thallavajhula

How I removed friction when switching between computers – Part 1

Two computers

Alternate titles

  • Using two computers with a single set of computer peripherals
  • Using a single mouse with two computers
  • Using a keyboard/video/mouse (KVM) setup with two computers
  • Logitech MX Master 3S review

TL;DR – I got the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse with multi-device support and use it with the Keychron K3 Pro, which also has multi-device support.

My setup

I use two computers at home. My personal MacBook Air M1, and my work MacBook Pro M1. I use the Keychron K3 Pro with two Magic Mice (v2), one for each computer. I have one monitor as my main display.

The annoyance

Every time I switch between my computers to use the main display, I have to do the following:

  1. Unplug the monitor cable from my first computer
  2. Turn off my Magic Mouse1 connected to my first computer
  3. Plug the monitor cable to my second computer
  4. Turn on the Magic Mouse2 connected to my second computer
  5. Use a key combo on my keyboard to switch from first computer to second (my keyboard has multi-device support)

While this process doesn’t seem too bad, it’s still annoying and that’s something I wanted to fix.

Friction points

  1. Having 2 mice and switching between them whenever I switch computers
  2. Having to plug/unplug my monitor cable to my computers

I love my Magic Mouse 2. I think it’s a fantastic device. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have multi-device support. In order to fix friction point #1, I needed a new mouse. So I first came up with a list of non-negotiable requirements.

My non-negotiable requirements

  1. Multi-device support
  2. Rechargeable battery
  3. Wireless

After googling for a bit, I found the only mouse that checked off all of my requirements. The Logitech MX Master 3S. I went to BestBuy and picked it up.

So far, I like the mouse. I’m not a fan of using custom software to update hardware (mouse, keyboard etc). But for this one, I did install the Logi Options+ software that helps you configure the mouse. I only did it to customize the ridiculous DPI and set it to 1000. It supports up to 8000. For the monitor I use, 1000 is perfect.

(Left) Keychron K3 Pro, (Right) Logitech MX Master 3S – on the SteelSeries QcK XXL Mouse Pad 67500 (blurred the surface out a little to remove the dust on the pad)

How does the mouse fare against my requirements?

  1. Multi-device support: This is nice. It’s seamless and quick. However, the fact that the device switch button is at the bottom is disappointing. I get why they chose to put that button at the bottom. Device switching is usually the least used on a regular basis compared to other buttons on the mouse. The M720 Triathlon has the device switch keys on the side and I like them that way. I wish the next version of the MX Master brings the button(s) to the side
  2. Rechargeable battery: It has it. Also, you can use the mouse while you charge it. The charging port is on the front side of the mouse, which is obviously a good spot to put it. One of the annoyances with the Magic Mouse is that the charging port is at the bottom of the mouse and you obviously can’t use it while it is charging
  3. Wireless: I’ve noticed that my AirPods connectivity has become horseshit ever since I started using the mouse. My hunch is that there’s bluetooth interference between my AirPods and the mouse. I’m not sure about it, but I’ll definitely look into it further
  4. Bonus: The battery percentage is displayed in the bluetooth device panel on the macOS, which is very nice (wish my K3 Pro showed the battery percentage too)

Cons

  1. I’ve always used the Magic Mouse and it’s quite low on the surface in terms of the form factor. I’m so used to it that I keep knocking my new mouse off, accidentally, every now and then. I’m sure I’ll get used to it though
  2. The Magic Mouse never jitters. The MX Master 3S does sometimes. I don’t know if it is a janky bluetooth connection or something else, but it’s not a good UX. I’ve never had that issue with the Magic Mouse.

Conclusion

If you have a similar use case as mine, the Logitech MX Master 3S is not a bad mouse to pick. Personally, if Apple introduced a mouse that had multi-device support, I’d ditch this one in a heart-beat. Until then, I guess this is not a bad interim solution.

Next up, I want to fix the issue with switching the monitor and power cables. I don’t want to use the standard KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) setup. It just looks fugly. I want something more sleek and minimal. I will write about it when I figure something out, as a part 2 to this post.

PS: I also plan on writing about my desktop setup sometime later 🙂

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4 responses

  1. Abhishek

    Keyboard: MX keys or MX keys Mechanical
    Get additional Monitor:
    KVM : will increase your step count every time you wish to switch devices.
    Reason: MX ecosystem had some thing called MX flow, both Keyboard and mouse will move to the machine you move your Mouse too.
    https://support.logi.com/hc/en-in/articles/360023188134-Logitech-Flow

    Reply
    1. Mohnish Thallavajhula

      This looks very similar to Apple’s Continuity feature. https://www.apple.com/macos/continuity/

      My use case is that I don’t use both the computers at the same time. With my current setup, mouse and keyboard seem fine as is. I need a solution to have both of my computers plugged in to the same monitor and have some sort of a KVM-like setup where I just hit a toggle switch (or something similar) to select which computer gets the monitor.

      Reply
      1. AB

        I was in the same spot, and tried almost everything, and finally settled on 3 monitors and computers (Personal WS, Home server, Office Laptop) connected to MX master 3 and MX keys.

        I used to have an Aten CS1824 KVM switch, oh boy, it has its own problems. the major one was Monitor resolution / detection issues; when ever i put my computer to sleep mode.

        Best i can think of is, Get a monitor with 2 USB C inputs (in the mac land they call it lightning i guess), plug both your computers with USB C and you only need to switch monitor sources, you can plug your mouse and keyboard to the Monitor USB ports.

        Some thing like an LG UL 950 W

        Reply
        1. Mohnish Thallavajhula

          I like the idea of just switching the monitor sources. I think my monitor already has 2 ports. I didn’t think of this idea before. I will try it and let you know. Thanks for the idea, bud.

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