i need a usb hub!!

[thevessels]

well the 2 usb ports on my pb just arnt cutting it all the time...
do usb hubs really work ?
for some reason splitting a usb port into 4 just seems wrong, and doesnt look like like it would work right...
im sure im wrong - but which usb hubs are actually trustworhy? ive seens alot of pretty shotty lookin ones out there....any advice??

 

[ChrisFromCanada]

Most work fine, but if you are doing file transfers the hub will be slowr then a direct connection.

 

[homerjward]

if you get a keyboard (like the apple pro keyboard) with a usb hub, that'll probably be 1.1 which is much, much slower than your pb's ports. but if you get a regular hub it'll be fine. some hubs come with a power brick in case the devices run out of power. you might want to get one of those so you don't get those "port out of power" or whatever notices.

 

[Westside guy]

some hubs come with a power brick in case the devices run out of power.

USB requires that the current being drawn over a single USB connection be under 500mA (high-power USB). Bus-powered hubs - hubs that draw power over their USB connection - therefore can't offer more than that in total since they're drawing their power from the computer over a single USB port. So bus-powered hubs generally limit the current draw to 100mA per port (called low-power USB). Devices like the iPod, though, want quite a bit more than 100mA - so they won't work reliably on a bus-powered hub.

A hub that has its own power supply is called "self powered". They can offer up to the full 500mA on each USB port. If you want to be able to plug anything into the hub without worrying about its power requirements, you want a self powered hub.

Thing is, though, I've had trouble with USB hubs; at least on Windows (I've never needed more than the two available ports on my Powerbook). It seems to be related to the power-saving features of the OS. Devices get plugged in, get recognized, and work fine... until they've been idle for a length of time. Then they seem to just get lost.

Main reason I see for using a hub, though, is when you've got a desktop machine with all the USB ports in back. 😀 (I've never understood that design) The ports on a Powerbook are easy to get to, so going plug-and-play isn't a big deal.

 

[EJBasile]

I reccomend the Belkin High Speed USB 2.0 7 Port Hub. It has a power brick so you won't have to worry about power draining from your computer or whatever. This one is nice because it has 2 USB ports on the top of it so you can plug in things such as flash drives without having to mess around with other wires and such.

It costs $70 from belkin but i have seen it at staples and CompUSA for $50

Belkin 7 Port Hub

 

[TDM21]

I bought a 4-port usb hub from Wal-Mart and it works flawlessly. The hub came with a power brick so I don't have to worry about power from my powebook. I normally have the base for my wireless keyboard and mouse, printer, and digital camera plugged up the hub and a thumb drive hooked up to the spare usb port. I have yet to have a problem with the setup

one bit of useless info: OS X can detect most usb hubs when connected

 

[Mechcozmo]

Main reason I see for using a hub, though, is when you've got a desktop machine with all the USB ports in back. 😀 (I've never understood that design) The ports on a Powerbook are easy to get to, so going plug-and-play isn't a big deal.

It is so I don't need to have my printer sticking out in front. I like a combination of both, so that a printer, scanner, and the keyboard can all plug into the back and then have two on the front open so that I can plug in a flash drive, etc.