|
He removed power. It is a device that fans out 4 outputs, from 1 input.And I thought, for the most part that; A hub is a hub is a hub, right.Given that Tripp lite is a well known brand; this must be a good product, right.While I have used these without any issues personally, and they seemed to be an average USB hub.(Nothing special, but also nothing problematic).We bought about 15 of these USB hubs (maybe 20), and for the most part, they worked okay.However, a couple of my end users had overheating problems.1. What can you say. The hub had died.We discarded the hub.2. an end user was charging his mp3 player. He smelled a burning smell, and noticed the hub's lights were out.The hub itself was slightly bulged, (like it had developed a blister the size of a quarter) and the hub felt hot. A second end user was using the hub to transfer data, and it just died.It too had an overheating problem; being warm/hot to the touch.That hub was also trashed.The remaining usb hubs are still in use; a few years later.Looking at the percentages, I'd have to say it is an "average" USB hub.Because it is small, I can understand that overheating could become an issue.The usb chassis should have had more air holes/slots, for cooling. The unit has a 3 year warranty.But that is more for marketing, than for the end user's piece of mind.Who would spend 8 or 10 bucks to ship a warrantied item back.And then have the company send the same type product [and it might even be refurbished]Something this cheap, you would buy a new unit and pitch the old; regardless of any warranty.
(No Mac, and no Vista) It does have a dual-voltage power cord and a 4ft extension cable as advertised. Also, the thumb drive that works on both the laptop and the Mac when directly connected was unreadable when plugged into this hub connected to the Mac.The blue light on the top is VERY bright if you look directly at it. It's about 3.5"L x 1.5"W x 0.5"H.Although the description of this item includes Macs, the packaging says that the system requirements are Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP. It looks very much (but not quite exactly) like the USB hub in this kit: Tripp Lite PK3022ET Notebook/Laptop Peripheral Kit with Network Cable/Mouse/USB Hub. The item pictured is not what you receive. I wouldn't even consider paying the full list price ($49.99) for this device. However, the iPod is not reliably visible from iTunes. I can use it for the printer, and if I plug in an iPod it does charge it (slowly).
Since that was half of the reason I bought it, I suppose I'll keep it. The packaging doesn't say anything about being USB 2.0 "certified", only that it's USB 1.1 and 2.0 compatible.In fact, it doesn't work on my Mac G5 desktop. As a previous reviewer has noted, you get a long thin silver hub with all of the ports on one side. I was looking at the top of the unit when I plugged it in and I was seeing spots for minutes after that.It works OK on the Windows (XP) laptop that I have for work. It is the same item number (U222-004-R). Since the hub is not supported for Macs, this is not surprising. At less than $25, it's very cheap, after all. It is just not worth it.
The one I got works fine. The hub I got doesn't look like the one in the picture. This one is silver with a blue light in the middle of it and all four of the ports are on one side. It is ideal for a laptop. Just in case you are wondering thr cord which attaches to the computer IS that short.
Nice little hub that's been working fine for me for over 4 months now. And the price sure was right.
It does not operate to spec. This is advertised as a powered hub and I did in fact plug it in, but apparently it does not announce itself as such to the computer. I leave my original review intact - that said, this hub does not work correctly. That explains the behavior on the G4 laptop with/without power adapter plugged in. I returned it and got a small Belkin four-port powered hub called the "Clip Hub". On most computers, this will not matter. My iPod Shuffle needed power and would not mount via 2.0, only the USB1.1 port.
I kept getting low power warnings and the drive wouldn't appear. I put it against a USB 'scope and watched the packets. My thumb drive would not work through the hub -- it would work directly -- power or no power. On any with a strict USB implementation, this does not meet it. On a desktop, the power issue will never come into play, which is why it apparently works, but on many laptops, it will fail, even with power plugged in.====I got this hub to provide me with 4 USB 2.0 ports on my Apple Powerbook G4. The Shuffle just didn't work - but I did not expect it to at this point.I know the USB2.0 port on this laptop in a little strict in its implementation, but the hub should have at least powered a thumb drive (it did light its LED) and allow the computer to detect it. Plugged it in and connected it with two thumb drives, and my iPod shuffle to the same USB port on the laptop -- no problems and quick performance.
|
