Are USB hubs particular to pcs and macs?

[Sir Loin Steak]

Maybe it's just me, but I find it confusing going into a computer shop and being faced with hardware labelled as 'suitable for all pcs'.

I wonder if the makers mean that it's suitable for mac as well? I always believed that pcs were pcs, and anything was, well, exactly that, anything else, Amstrad (lol!) or Mac, for example.

I need more USB ports for my iMac, and while I have a small hub on my laptop pc (ie, it's running xp), I don't want to damage anything by putting into to a USB port on this mac.

Would it work? Does it matter the name that maker's use to describe the intended use of their products? I am now becoming obsessive about looking for the mac logo on (like the Finder one) all hardware and software I look at.

Thanks.

 

[flopticalcube]

Hubs are hubs, they work on ALL USB equipped computers.

 

[ChrisA]

The "U" in USB stands for Universal. Universal Serial Bus.

Hubs don't care what they ar pluggedinto as long as it has a USB port.

 

[old-wiz]

In the USB hub world, while the hubs work fine on both PC/Mac, not all devices work well from a hub. Some only work when directly plugged into the computer.

 

[pmcb]

i have a powerbook g4 17", and a problem I have is with my external hd i need to plug it into both of my usb ports that are located on each side of the computer so i bought a cord extender so it could reach.

my question is if i got a usb hub could i plug both cords into it so my device got enough power?

 

[yippy]

i have a powerbook g4 17", and a problem I have is with my external hd i need to plug it into both of my usb ports that are located on each side of the computer so i bought a cord extender so it could reach.

my question is if i got a usb hub could i plug both cords into it so my device got enough power?

You can if it is a POWERED hub. The reason it needs two ports is that one doesn't provide enough power for it.

The powered hub vs. unpowered hub is what usually causes some devices not to work with a hub. Unpowerd hubs share the power from the USB port with all devices attached and some hard drives/pen drives/scanners need more power then that and so won't work.

 

[wackymacky]

Yes a USB port is a USB port and "hubs are hubs", but just casue other hardware has a USB port on it doesn't mean its compatiable with OSX, that obviosuly depends on the drivers etc.

Your not going to damage your Mac by plugging a non-mac peripheral into it anyway.

 

[wackymacky]

i have a powerbook g4 17", and a problem I have is with my external hd i need to plug it into both of my usb ports that are located on each side of the computer so i bought a cord extender so it could reach.

my question is if i got a usb hub could i plug both cords into it so my device got enough power?

If its a matter of the drive not getting enough power then why not get a powered hub?

 

[MactheRye]

Powered Hubs

i have a powerbook g4 17", and a problem I have is with my external hd i need to plug it into both of my usb ports that are located on each side of the computer so i bought a cord extender so it could reach.

my question is if i got a usb hub could i plug both cords into it so my device got enough power?

I've used the Belkin 4 port powered hub for some time now and never a problem.