Very effective USB hub
Written: Jun 09 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Ease of installation, status lights, comes with cable and AC power adaptor
Cons: Hard to lay flat when 3-4 USB plugs are used
The Bottom Line: Quick and easy to install, great functionality.
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| Jakeblack's Full Review: A D S ADS USB 2.0 Ultra Hub (USBH-2004) Networking... |
It's hard to get too excited (or too eloquent!) when writing about a hub like this. It's just a simple device to turn one USB port into several USB ports.
The Basics:
This particular unit is designed to take one USB port and turn it into 4 USB ports. This model is for high speed (USB 2.0, up to 12 Mbps) but is also backward compatible to USB 1.1 (slower). Hint: Don't buy this if your PC does not have USB 2.0; You would be paying for a USB 2.0 speed hub that you will not be able to use at 2.0 speed. If you have a USB 1.1 card in your PC, and want to keep it that way, you can get a USB 1.1 hub for less money.
This hub has 6 indicator lights on the front; one to indicate power, one to indicate USB 2.0 status, and 4 lights to show which USB ports in the hub are in use.The hub itself is about 2 1/2" deep and about 5" wide; and a little over an inch high. So it does not take up a lot of real estate. It requires a separate power supply, and comes with an AC power adaptor. It also comes with a 6ft USB cable.
The hub installs very quickly. The unit also auto-detects the speed of the devices/connection that are connected to it.
Compatibility:
Win 98 and higher; also some MAC compatibility, check the ADS website for details. Requires an empty USB port in the back of your PC (of course). I would be clicking an option below in this epinions form to indicate that I am aware that drivers for windows and MAC are available. But just "windows and MAC" is not an option on the drop-down (It should be, but it isn't) so I am indicating "other". I have no idea of Linux compatibility. I did not see any mention of Linux in the documentation.
Pet Peeve:
The hub is pretty light weight; but this is the only pet peeve I have with the unit. When you plug several USB cords into it, the front end of the hub tends to tilt upward. I set mine on top of my PC tower case, with 4 USB cables plugged into it; and it is not possible to get it to lay flat. My solution was to get some adhesive backed velcro to securely hold the unit down. But this is an extremely minor thing for me.
Final Word:
This was truely "plug and play" and was a great and fairly inexpensive solution to quickly expand my USB ports to meet the demands of my growing stable of peripherals. I highly recommend it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Jakeblack
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Member: Jake Black
Location: USA
Reviews written: 44
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
Blah blah blah. Does anyone really care? ;-) See my long bio if you do.
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