Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

i need more USB ports on my macbook pro

lPHONE

lPHONE

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 17, 2009
671
1
tdgrn said:
Normal USB Hub?
Click to expand...

2.0.
i'm running an mBox, some usb powered speakers, and an m-audio midi controller, and also need one free port for a thumb drive or whatever

Surely said:
There are a plethora of USB hubs that you can get. Just google, for example, "4 port USB 2.0 hub".

http://www.google.com/products/cata...log_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQ8gIwAA#
Click to expand...


no hubs.
the whole thing has to run off the mbp battery.
there is NO ELECTRICITY where we are recording.
 
Surely

Surely

Guest
Oct 27, 2007
15,042
11
Los Angeles, CA
lPHONE said:
no hubs.
the whole thing has to run off the mbp battery.
there is NO ELECTRICITY where we are recording.
Click to expand...

Um...... Perfect lightweight travel tool, this compact Hub tucks easily into the pocket of your laptop bag, and requires no extra power supply.

Did you even look at the link?:confused:
 
lPHONE

lPHONE

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 17, 2009
671
1
Surely said:
Um...... Perfect lightweight travel tool, this compact Hub tucks easily into the pocket of your laptop bag, and requires no extra power supply.

Did you even look at the link?:confused:
Click to expand...

been there, done that, and failed.
the usb powered hub seems to split the power between all peripherals connected.
from my tests, i could only have either the mbox plugged in or just the speakers, but with both connected simultaneously, neither would not function. it wouldn't even recognize an external usb 2.0 drive while the mbox was plugged in.


i'm pretty sure the route i have to take is via EXPRESSCARD, so i'm hoping someone here can report on their success and give a recommendation
 
mikes70mustang

mikes70mustang

macrumors 68000
Nov 14, 2008
1,591
0
US
lPHONE said:
no hubs.
the whole thing has to run off the mbp battery.
there is NO ELECTRICITY where we are recording.
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty ghetto, maybe you should upgrade your recording site. Or get a generator or something, or at least a battery and inverter.
 
lPHONE

lPHONE

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 17, 2009
671
1
mikes70mustang said:
Sounds pretty ghetto, maybe you should upgrade your recording site. Or get a generator or something, or at least a battery and inverter.
Click to expand...
i'll tell you what's really ghetto: unplugging devices to plug in others. on that note, i would like to add one thing to this discussion in case anyone @  development is reading:

  • the macbook pro is bar far the greatest laptop I've ever owned, but i still haven't seen where the "pro" aspect comes in
  • i know FW is superior- and i've maxed all those ports out as well, but 95% of digital peripherals use usb.
  • by no means am i trying to start another mac vs pc debate- but look at the dell inspiron 6000- it has 6 usb ports. THE POINT IS NOT the fact that it's a pc but rather, it's a $350 laptop.
  • i don't expect anyone to agree with me, (especially here) and i don't regret my $2800 purchase, and this is just my personal opinion alone: i do not think there is anything "pro" about having to unplug devices to plug in other devices. it's kinda... how did you say, ghetto?
  • and before you say "get a mac pro" or something along the lines of "you should have thought about..." i actually did a significant amount of research and weighed in the fact that i would have to use an expresscard for more ports and EVEN THEN, i thought the mbp's lack of ports was a little mediocre, but went ahead and bought it anyway because it's the most awesome laptop there is. :D (fyi, i don't want electricity anywhere near me- it's just me, my cabin and 12 mbp batteries)
  • now, i'm one of those people that upgrades every time a newer version comes out, but the lack of usb AND firewire ports inthe unibody was an instant dealbreaker for me. in that sense, i couldn't think of a reason to buy the unibody this epic thread illustrates that i'm not alone in thinking that the unibody took a step back. i was shocked because i was hoping for MORE PORTS, NOT LESS!
  • so in closing, i am pleading for more ports in the next release. not just usb, but everthing: 2 external monitor ports, 3 FW, 6 USB, hold 1 trillion songs and come in 15 different colors!!!1 :D
 
J

Jazojas12

macrumors regular
Apr 24, 2009
228
1
lPHONE said:
[*]so in closing, i am pleading for more ports in the next release. not just usb, but everthing: 2 external monitor ports, 3 FW, 6 USB, hold 1 trillion songs and come in 15 different colors!!!1 :D[/LIST]
Click to expand...

in for MBP coming in this color:
nano-black.jpg
 
topgun072003

topgun072003

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2006
309
0
Los Angeles, CA
Why don't you get a midi-midi cable from your midi controller to the mbox? Then you only need 2 USB ports and go firewire to a external hd if you really want to go crazy! Then you won't have to get an express card.

Otherwise, get a card with USB ports on it. If you do though, make sure to use the ports connected directly to your computer for the mbox.
 
eawmp1

eawmp1

macrumors 601
Feb 19, 2008
4,158
91
FL
So...you are in the middle of nowhere and are recording. I guess you are recording acoustic source. The problem with more USB ports is each one supplying power for additional devices sucks more power from your laptop battery. Unless you are only going to record for short segments and then return to civilization to recharge your computer your suggestion is impractical.
 
M

mesq

macrumors member
Jan 11, 2010
81
1
topgun072003 said:
Why don't you get a midi-midi cable from your midi controller to the mbox? Then you only need 2 USB ports and go firewire to a external hd if you really want to go crazy! Then you won't have to get an express card.
Click to expand...

Sorry but what is going to power the midi controller?

i'm running an mBox, some usb powered speakers, and an m-audio midi controller, and also need one free port for a thumb drive or whatever
Click to expand...

What are u recording?

Pretty much you can ditch your speakers - I can't see any reason why you would need them.
A firewire 800 interface would be much better for you and leave your USB ports for less intensive stuff.
 
K

King Mook Mook

macrumors 6502
Apr 15, 2008
447
1
Who can it be now? (Werewolves, go 'way, don't com
You can get eight port (or higher) USB hubs that plug into one of your computers' USB ports. So just plug the two usb hubs' connectors (the power and the data) into the computer and one into the computer itself and the rest of your devices into the hub.

Some ExpressCard USB Hubs don't work on Mac so that cannot be guaranteed.

You really don't have any other options.

King Mook Mook
 
M

mesq

macrumors member
Jan 11, 2010
81
1
lPHONE said:
last time we did this we recorded about 40 minutes of vocal, flute, sax and a bunch of crickets.
yea, forgot to mention the speakers stay- it's headphone world all the way.
got my fw800 port filled with a oxford 924 chipset hdd
Click to expand...


Don't understand why you need speakers... Anyway you could always power the speakers from a car battery with inverter.
 
Q

quadG5guy

macrumors member
Jan 26, 2010
96
0
Richmond, VA
lPHONE said:
no hubs.
the whole thing has to run off the mbp battery.
there is NO ELECTRICITY where we are recording.
Click to expand...
Why then are you using USB? :confused: There's far more options for audio recording with Firewire devices, plus the Firewire port provides more than 3x the amount of bus power that USB does. So you can run many more bus-powered devices off of it (you can daisy-chain up to 127 devices to a single firewire port, no hub required). USB is a joke.
 
lPHONE

lPHONE

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 17, 2009
671
1
mesq said:
Don't understand why you need speakers... Anyway you could always power the speakers from a car battery with inverter.
Click to expand...

i'm sorry, i meant "stay" as in stay at home
but the car battery thing is brilliant
 
Inutopia

Inutopia

macrumors 6502
Apr 8, 2009
299
84
South of Heaven
hehe.. If you are you are using condenser mics on that Mbox and usb speakers AND external storage each one of those dozen batteries is going to last you about 10 mins. Have fun with that...

You are also going to need to make sure whatever hub you buy gives the full 500mA on each port or you are SOL there too
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom